Exciting news from one of our public library members! There are no more overdue fines for children or young adult materials AND the Read Down Your Fines program is now available for all ages!
“Yes, you read that correctly! Effective immediately, Great River Regional Library will not collect overdue fines on materials for children and young adults.
Overdue children’s and young adult materials (including books, DVDs, CDs and more) will no longer accrue daily late fees.
We still want you to bring items back, so overdue notices will still be sent after 10 days as a reminder. Items can be renewed twice … as long as nobody else is waiting.
Read Down Your Fines for both children and adults is available any time at your local library!”
This post was written by a CMLE Guest Blogger: Connie Laing is a Patron Services Librarian with Great River Regional Library.
A few weeks ago at the Long Prairie Public Library, I was part of a unique collaboration of teachers, students and librarians. We had a common goal of sharing information about using Great River Regional Library services with a class of English language learners, but we spoke three different languages. How did this work, you ask? Here are the highlights:
The environment was noisy and chaotic.
Many voices were talking at once.
My agenda did not go according to plan.
I did not cover all the material I brought.
It was about the most inspiring class I have been a part of!
Background: The Library Services Coordinator in Long Prairie, Nancy Potter, has developed a relationship with the local instructor of Adult Basic Education classes in her area, which includes this class of English Language Learners. Amy, the instructor, is determined to get her students out of the classroom and into the community, and the first place she thought of to visit was the local library! After she contacted Nancy Potter in Long Prairie, Nancy contacted me for reinforcement, since one of the duties of the three Patron Services Librarians at GRRL is to assist at any of our 32 branches with class visits and information presentations. I was charged with creating a presentation on GRRL services for the adult ELL students.
Last week, Angie and I visited the St. Cloud Public Library. As you could guess, this library is filled with all kinds of great things for their patrons, and for patrons across the Great River Library System! We have a few things below, but as is true with any library, we encourage you to go visit for yourself to really appreciate everything our CMLE libraries have to offer. We will be setting up some group visits for members to visit other CMLE libraries, so we can have time to connect and to see some of these great things in person!
Wall-E lives!
This was a very exciting part of our behind-the-scenes tour! I love the automated systems in libraries that can free up some staff time from the repetitive tasks, and let them spend more time helping patrons more directly. In the back of the picture, to the right, you can see where books come in from the return slot at the Circ desk. Books can also be returned outside from a car, and travel underground to pop up here where they are sorted by area into these bins.
so many books – it’s library paradise!
This is just one corner of one “backstage” areas in this library, which should give you some perspective on just how huge the whole operation is here! Books are sorted for processing to various departments and destinations, including sending to other branches, to libraries around the state, to the Friends of the Library sale, or weeding. Great River is a net library lender in the state of Minnesota, second only to the Hennepin County Library while not having nearly the budget or population size. The busy staff here who are doing all this work behind the scenes to serve patrons are an great example of the work that needs to happen to make libraries successful, but that patrons rarely even know is part of our service!
decals make everything better
You can see that commitment to good service continuing in the staff area of the Children’s department, with decals from prior summer reading programs. They are re-purposed back here after they are done out front for the patrons – just another way to keep the idea of service at the forefront of everything that happens here! And it makes the staff areas feel more fun, which is always good in a workplace.
The old Carnegie Library!
This is a picture of the original Carnegie library in St Cloud! It’s always so great to see these, as it is something else that connects communities across the country (and the world) with the libraries all from the same person’s funding, and looking very similar no matter where you go. You can look through a list of all the Carnegie libraries built in Minnesota: 66 were built here, and 25 are still working as libraries. This kind of communal history is part of the glue that binds us together as a profession; we are more than just nice people who hand out books and computers (though we also are that!), we are part of a heritage of providing information and serving our community. Yes, this means we are awesome!
I need that book, and that one, and that one…
Even the shelves of books in this library speak to the time spent thinking about usability for patrons. The thousands of books on the second floor of the library, where adult fiction and nonfiction are found, are neatly arranged on these nice shelves. They are not too tall to reach the top shelf, and there are not any books down on the floor where it is also hard to reach. And it is tough to see in this photo, but the endcaps of the shelves are just lovely! They have words all over them, making them perfect for a library!They are also translucent, so let in even more light to the aisles. And the bright open feeling is enhanced by the long lines of sight here, so you never feel crowded. Thinking about this kind of space planning really makes a big different to your patrons, and encourages them to use and enjoy their library!
excellent keyboard!
Yet another accessibility feature of this library is the computer available to people with impaired vision. Patrons can sign up for this computer at the Reference desk, just behind this computer, and can easily access everything they need! As we are all planning for serving our communities, it is important to remember that making materials accessible to everyone matters. You can also see a fun feature here, with the giant crossword hanging on the wall outside the computer lab! Community members have been stopping by to fill in answers, so everyone can have fun together.
it just looks like fun here!
This is one of the special areas set up on the first floor for kids to have fun on their library visits! (Okay, not just kids – I had fun here too!) This is Pat’s Place, named for Pat Christianson, a former deputy director of the library. Setting up these memorial areas can have many benefits, including giving the kids an excellent place to enjoy their library, and in providing a way to physically represent the service someone gave to the library.The rest of the children’s area is filled with interesting books, some great art and other specific play areas, and has more of that great open feel that makes it welcoming to patrons -and easy for parents and guardians to keep an eye on kids as they rocket around the area having fun!
meeting rooms mean community outreach success!
This is a really large meeting room, able to fit 300 or so people! There are two other meeting rooms for community members, smaller so there is something sized to fit the needs of any type of gathering. The US flag up front was donated to the library by the Sunrise Kiwanis club of St. Cloud – some great community connection building! In more rural areas around the country, there many not be other places for community members to meet if they did not have access to a public library’s meeting room. St Cloud is demonstrating what a library could be providing to meet the needs of community members in all sorts of ways!
As always, we encourage you to reach out to your colleagues in other libraries, to talk about ideas and experiences, and to support each other as we work together to provide some great service to our communities!
Contrary to popular belief, change CAN be a good thing! At the beginning of this month, the Great River Regional Library premiered a new catalog system. This new catalog has a responsive design, meaning it adapts to the format of whatever device you are viewing it on. This makes it mobile friendly!
When searching on the new catalog, you may find that you get more results. These are broken down into different topic areas, and even by format (so you know which are DVDs, eBooks, etc). There is also an autocomplete function that brings up suggestions based on what you are typing, so your search may go even faster.
And not to worry, they are continuing to run the original catalog for a time while people get accustomed to the transition. Have you used the new catalog yet? Be sure you offer helpful feedback to GRRL as you test out this new exciting tool.
Image credit: https://unsplash.com/ (Manuel Barroso Parejo), licensed under CC0 1.0
Don’t let the summer slide affect your students! In the CMLE region we’re lucky enough to have two great public libraries with two great summer reading programs. Below are the two press releases from ECRL and GRRL about their summer reading programs. Get those kids signed up now and keep on reading!
East Central Regional Library – 2015 – Read to the Rhythm Summer Reading Program
Have you heard? It’s time to Read to the Rhythm at your local East Central Regional Library branch. Our libraries will be hoppin’ and boppin’ all summer long. This music-themed program encourages children and teens to read through the summer. There will be a program for both kids and teens. Stop by your local ECRL library branch and pick up a flyer listing all the activities and events offered this summer for both kids and teens. You can also check out the News Bits section or the events calendar on our webpage at www.ecrlib.org for the big events being held around the region.
There will be contests, special programs and events, reading logs and prizes and tons of fun. Research has shown that reading over the summer prevents summer reading loss and those students who participate in their local summer reading program do better in school than those that do not. To kick-off the Read to the Rhythm summer program, the Teddy Bear Band will be performing at each of our 14 branch libraries.
Plus our Outreach program will be getting in the groove as well as every Outreach site will also be offering a children’s Read to the Rhythm program at each of our 7 sites. Glen Everhart will be presenting his Heebie Jeebies program at each of the Outreach sites as well. So hop and bop on over to your ECRL branch or Outreach Site this summer and Read to the Rhythm.
Great River Regional Library – 2015 – Read to the Rhythm Summer Reading Program
Great River Regional Library (GRRL) will begin its annual Summer Reading Program for children and teens ages 0-18 on Monday, June 8, continuing through Saturday, Aug. 8. Two programs are offered, both with the theme, “Read To The Rhythm.” Both programs will feature activities built on a music theme, and include prize drawings.
The Read To The Rhythm program for children from birth through age 12 has two age groups:
Children from birth to age 5
Children from age 3 through 6th grade
Parents of children ages 3 to 5 may choose which group is best for their child.
Children in both groups will be given a reading record on which to mark their reading activities. Children may read as much as they want and complete as many records as they like. Each record represents five hours of reading. Reading records must be completed and returned to the library by the end of the program in order for the child to be eligible for prize drawings.
Teens in grades six through 12 are encouraged to complete and turn in reading records as the program progresses. Each completed reading record is an opportunity to win prizes in library prize drawings. Sixth-grade students may join either the teen or children’s program.
The goal for both programs is to encourage children to read during the summer school break. The Summer Reading Program emphasizes reading for pleasure, which has been shown to have beneficial effects on children’s reading skills. Participation in summer reading programs has been shown to reduce summer slide effects.
Libraries across the entire region are planning fun kick-off programs and special events to encourage participation. Numerous musicians will perform at area libraries. Singer/songwriter Paul Spring will perform at all 32 GRRL locations between June 8 and June 20. Check the events calendar on www.griver.org to find out about special programs at your local library.
Partnering with libraries for visioning, advocating, and educating
