Tag Archives: Community

Communication, General, Research, Resources

Strengthening Networks, Sparking Change: Museums and Libraries as Community Catalysts

https://www.imls.gov/

The results are in, and we have all kinds of information on strategies you can use in your library to strengthen your connection with your community!

This is a free report, from the Institute for Museum and Library Services. Not all of it will be relevant to everyone; but it would be worth taking a few minutes to flip through this file to see what kinds of ideas you might get to help you in your library. And, as an advocacy note: this is just the kind of thing you can be showing to your administration to demonstrate the value a library can bring to you!

The report can be found here.

More information is available here: Continue reading Strengthening Networks, Sparking Change: Museums and Libraries as Community Catalysts →

General, Public, School Media Specialist

See to Read

For many children, learning to read is challenging enough. Learning to read if they have an undetected vision problem makes the process even more difficult. In Oregon, they began the program “See to Read” in 2013 that aims to correct this issue, with the help of public libraries!

Check out this article in OLA Quarterly that describes how the program began through a partnership with eye care professionals, legislators, and public libraries. Then visit the “See To Read” site to learn more about this great program!

What is “See to Read”?

  • A series of free vision screenings for children at public libraries
    throughout Oregon.
  • A campaign based on the belief that no child should begin learning to read with an undetected vision problem.
  • A community service project that helps children be ready to read and that links families, schools, local service clubs, and legislators to public libraries.
  • A way to assist implementation of the law that all children entering public kindergarten in Oregon must have a vision screening.
  • A pure good.
General, Public, School Media Specialist

Pokeman Go and Libraries

Gameplay_of_Pokemon_Go
By Sadie Hernandez [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
The odds are pretty good that this past summer you witnessed (or participated in!) the craze of Pokemon Go. The free app took off with incredible popularity, and had people of all ages wandering their communities in search of Pokemon. (Personally, I’ve never played, but while visiting a friend, I heard all about Pokestops, the frustration of running out of Pokeballs, and the excitement of catching a water Pokemon). Luckily, while people were out and about in search of Pokemon, their quest often brought them to their local library!

In this blog post from ALSC, librarian Sarah Bean Thompson does a great job of explaining the logical partnership of libraries with Pokemon Go. The author shares how libraries can use the popularity of the game to get more people to come to the library, especially since so many libraries are already Pokestops. Her library offered a “life size game day” and featured activities like decorating Pokeballs and having players share on wall displays what Pokemons they have caught at the library. Library staff also used that time to promote their summer reading program.

Thompson has written another article that mentions several other libraries that have incorporated programs like “Pokemon Go Safaris” and activities like Pokemon trail walks, all taking place under adult supervision. Within this same article, she describes an additional advantage of the collaboration between Pokemon Go and libraries, which is the opportunity it offers to  families to learn about digital citizenship and online safety.

 

 

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Recap of Minitex ILL Conference

trendsThis year was the 25th anniversary of this annual conference, and a festive atmosphere was definitely in the air. Just when I thought I may need to fetch more caffeine, Lee Rainie took the stage for the opening keynote, which worked better than caffeine! He was brisk and energetic, yet thoughtful about the future of libraries. He admitted libraries (and much of society) is going through a disheartening, disruptive time, and that no one has the playbook yet . He also said we need leaders, that there are declining levels of trust in much of society. Not so much for librarians, who are regarded as friends in most networks, which makes me proud to be a librarian. Some key points I noted:

According to Rainie, there are six big puzzles for us to solve:

  1. What’s the future of personal enrichment, entertainment and knowledge?
  2. What are the future pathways to knowledge?
  3. What’s the future of public technology and community anchor institutions?
  4. What’s the future of learning spaces?
  5. What is the future of attention?
  6. Where do you fit in ALA’s Confronting the Future report? (30 pgs.) According to this report…”In order for libraries to be successful, they must make strategic choices in four distinct dimensions, each consisting of a continuum of choices that lies between two extremes. Collectively, the choices a library makes along each of the four dimensions create a vision that it believes will enable it to best serve its patrons” (see pg. 21 to see the four dimensions)

The program moved on to Katie Birch from OCLC as she dipped her toe into the past and the future of ILL. Interesting factoid: Year to date, When Breath Becomes Air is the most requested OCLC interlibrary loan title!

Participants were able to choose from three breakout session; I chose the Ignite sessions and was not disappointed! I learned lots.

Valerie Horton wrapped up the day with her thought provoking talk, Skating on the Bleeding Edge. She described innovation as the process of discovery. She also encouraged us to accept failure, that it is indeed the norm of experimentation. According to current business literature, employers are looking for people who can say, “I failed and I learned!” She concluded with a few additional facts: The next trend is “messy”, and we have to accept that we don’t know the right answers. Accept messy structures, partnering can be messy and frustrating. And, if you are burnt out and exhausted, you cannot reflect, think well, or innovate!

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/lfpv7xn, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Academic, Check this out:

Why do people love their library?

Snow TracksBrian Mathews is Associate Dean for Learning and Outreach at Virginia Tech, and usually has interesting things to say about libraries. Brian shares….”It is easy to develop assumptions about what a library is or what it should be, especially if you work in administration. But I encourage everyone to stop once in a while and ask people why they are in your building. Not just what they are doing, but why library space instead of anywhere else. The answers may surprise you.”

Some of the stories he tells remind me of why I frequented the library during my college career! Read Brian’s post at Why do people who love libraries love libraries?

 

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/m484bpg, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0