Going to our members is excellent, and we have a lot of visits that you will be able to read about over the next few weeks!! This library is one of three I was able to visit in North Branch – and it was such a good experience!
You can tell this school has neat stuff to do, because right out front is this excellent garden area! Yes, it was covered in snow at the time I visited; but just having a garden right there at the school is a very special thing.
I always like to see the library area clearly identified, and you can see how easy it is to see it all. (Okay, I confess I always get excited when I walk into a library for the first time!)
As with so many of our member libraries, you can see how these shelves are set up to be easily accessible by shorter patrons. See how easily kids can flip through these large books, without having to hold them all, and still see the cover art? So handy!!
Kids today all need to know how to use technology, and that means tech of all types and uses. It’s cool to see kids working to check out their own books here! Self-check machines are a great way to free up staff from time consuming work so they can spend more time working directly with the public!
I really like these snazzy shelves, all neatly read to be emptied by happy readers who check out all the books! And those chairs look so very comfortable!! This is a huge thing libraries need to think about: comfy seating encourages people to settle in and enjoy themselves. Libraries should be about positive experiences; good seating is a good start!
These are not unique to this library; but I think they are such a good idea! They are handy tools kids can use to help browse shelves in search of just the right book. They can also put these sticks into the shelves to mark the location of a book they are only going to use for a few minutes and then put back. Sometimes analog solutions are the best ones!
Art in libraries, and making books into art and looking beautiful, is always a good thing! Information is conveyed in all kinds of ways, and visual art can be a very powerful tool for sharing information. Plus, look at this: it’s so cute – I love it!
Continue reading Member Visit: Sunrise River Elementary School in North Branch
I had an idea this was going to be a fun school when I walked up to it. Check out this excellent dragon on the playground!! The snow sets it off beautifully, but I bet it’s super fun all year round.
I love these shelves! You can see throughout the library how the shelving is at different heights, to add to the usability for patrons who themselves are different heights. It sounds like a small thing, but libraries need to be thinking about these kinds of usability tools to make our resources accessible to all patrons. Our entire purpose is to serve our communities; making books (and other good stuff) easy to reach is just one important way to do that.
Here you can see shelves set up for smaller patrons. The picture books are arranged so they can be easily flipped through by small hands. One of the basic rules of librarianship is “Every book its reader.” This kind of shelving lets patrons spend the time to find the book that should go home with them!
Books are always a draw in any library, so it is fun to see the library showing off their great resources!
You can see the children’s book section here. It is always good to see materials organized for kids to easily grab things themselves. Usability is important when it comes to any patron, and kid-sized furniture and shelving makes a library accessible to kiddos.
There is also a teen corner, away from kids. (When you are a teen, you of course do not want to accidentally get mixed in with mere kids!) The library does not have a lot of space to work with, but they are using what they have in a way that makes materials accessible and usable to patrons – which is always the right answer!! Every library is different in space and materials; but we all work to organize and display materials to best reach their intended audiences.
Of course in any public library, there are many more things to check out than the books in the collection. People will often visit libraries to sit and enjoy magazines they like but do not subscribe to, or magazines they may not have seen elsewhere. I love this display of magazines – not only cheerful and inviting, but also easy to browse!
And few libraries are complete without computers offered! This is particularly important in smaller communities, and in our rural areas. People may not have access to computers for a whole variety of reasons, and they really depend on the library to provide computers or at least WiFi access. Libraries are important bridges for people to cross the digital divide, so it’s always good to see this important service!
