I could tell just walking into the building that this was going to be a fun library to visit.
Check out that bison!! He’s not in the library (outside the office); but he clearly sets the tone for fun things to happen – and that carries right through to the library.
I managed to be here as they were celebrating Kindness Week – and the library was an enthusiastic participant! Librarian Amy Sparks showed me all around the library, pointing out all the interesting things she and her staff have set up. Any had just finished submitting a grant proposal, and had included a video of the library with a student who raved about the service – fantastic!
For someone who is not regularly around small kids, it’s always a treat to visit an elementary school library – you see just how much thought goes into making everything size-appropriate for the patrons! That kind of usability is important in all libraries, but in a library like this it is clearly on display and fun to see.
This library is a fun open-concept design! No walls cut them off from the rest of the school, so everything feels very open and flexible. They are recessed below the hallways around them, so there is privacy and a sense of specific place; and I love this feeling of being connected to the daily activities around them.
Continuing the idea of design making the library connect with the kid patrons, this art on the wall was just lovely. Kids could see this and be really inspired to read books – but also to just dream about great things!
Okay, it’s not generally polite to invite yourself to someone else’s place. But this is different – it’s library visits!
You have probably been following the reports of our visits to CMLE member libraries (and if not, check them out). Every library has interesting things, interesting programs, and interesting materials. When you spend all day with your stuff, it’s hard to remember to notice how much great work you are doing. When we come to visit, we are fully prepared to admire the great things you are doing! Even something that feels like an average day to you will provide something interesting to us. And being able to share this with your colleagues across the system helps everyone with their service. It’s always good to be able to see how other people are handing displays, materials, and patrons in their libraries.
Plus: it’s just a lot of fun to visit our members and get to know each other!!
At CMLE Headquarters, we are working to help our members build connections with others! With our regular dinner gatherings underway, we want to implement the next request from members: group visits to libraries across the system!!
From our feedback, it seems like there is a lot of interest in visiting other member’s libraries. (And at HQ we endorse this idea: our member libraries are SO interesting to visit!!)
We want to be sure we schedule visits at days and times that work for you! So fill out the comment form below to send your best day/time to us. Feel free to write more info into the open-ended question, or email us with ideas!
A visit to Kimball High School library reveals a library dedicated to helping student patrons, and thinking about the future of libraries! Library Media Specialist Lori Miller showed me around her library; and then we had a chance to sit down and chat with some other technology staffers to talk about libraries and the future. That is one of the really fun parts about these visits – talking with colleagues about libraries is just great! And CMLE is here to help our members to be successful; so we are always available to talk about library history, present, and future.
Of course libraries are more than “just” books (as if that would be bad!); but our foundation is always books – the original technology for reading! Never needs charging or refreshing; and having a paper copy means you never worry about losing your license to the content. So the books are important. The bookshelves are neatly arranged, have cool posters on the end-caps to draw in prospective readers (it worked on me!), and the display of books makes them easily accessible and ready to grab – always a benefit when considering circulation stats! Continue reading A visit to Kimball High School→
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