via libraryadvocates: Report: Libraries put BTOP funds to work, strengthening communities nationwide The ALA’s “U.S. Public Libraries and Broadband Technology Opportunities Program” is the first to highlight state and local library BTOP projects nationwide and the improvements they have made to public access technology resources, digital literacy, and workforce development. Library projects in 29 states and the District of Columbia are featured in the report. “Libraries have served as first responders in these tough economic times,” said ALA President Maureen Sullivan. “Millions of Americans have turned to us to gain new technology skills and access to specialized resources. BTOP has helped to enable expanded services and to develop the improved infrastructure to meet these community needs.” Highlights: Nearly all statewide library projects include digital literacy training. More than 367,000 Coloradans increased their digital literacy skills through that state’s BTOP project. Ninety-five percent of those who took formal classes in Colorado stated they learned a valuable skill and would recommend the classes to others. Nearly 600 people who participated in New York State Library’s “Broadband Express @ your library” programs and used online job resources went on to secure employment. The Nebraska Library Commission has more than doubled its grant goal, which was to upgrade broandband speeds for 45 libraries in this mostly rural state. Of the 101 libraries upgraded so far, the average speed moved from 2.9 Mbps to 21.4 Mbps. Alaska, Delaware, Maine, Oklahoma and Rhode Island have established new videoconferencing capabilities in several, if not all, libraries in their states. The Maine State Library is deploying its statewide network to provide legal information clinics through the Volunteer Lawyers Project. The clinics are offered in real time, allowing patrons at multiple locations, and especially in rural locations, to attend and ask questions directly of the presenting attorney. Libraries bridging the digital divide all across the US!
View Separately

via libraryadvocates:

Report: Libraries put BTOP funds to work, strengthening communities nationwide

The ALA’s “U.S. Public Libraries and Broadband Technology Opportunities Program” is the first to highlight state and local library BTOP projects nationwide and the improvements they have made to public access technology resources, digital literacy, and workforce development. Library projects in 29 states and the District of Columbia are featured in the report.

“Libraries have served as first responders in these tough economic times,” said ALA President Maureen Sullivan. “Millions of Americans have turned to us to gain new technology skills and access to specialized resources. BTOP has helped to enable expanded services and to develop the improved infrastructure to meet these community needs.”

Highlights:

  • Nearly all statewide library projects include digital literacy training. More than 367,000 Coloradans increased their digital literacy skills through that state’s BTOP project. Ninety-five percent of those who took formal classes in Colorado stated they learned a valuable skill and would recommend the classes to others.
  • Nearly 600 people who participated in New York State Library’s “Broadband Express @ your library” programs and used online job resources went on to secure employment.
  • The Nebraska Library Commission has more than doubled its grant goal, which was to upgrade broandband speeds for 45 libraries in this mostly rural state. Of the 101 libraries upgraded so far, the average speed moved from 2.9 Mbps to 21.4 Mbps.
  • Alaska, Delaware, Maine, Oklahoma and Rhode Island have established new videoconferencing capabilities in several, if not all, libraries in their states. The Maine State Library is deploying its statewide network to provide legal information clinics through the Volunteer Lawyers Project. The clinics are offered in real time, allowing patrons at multiple locations, and especially in rural locations, to attend and ask questions directly of the presenting attorney.

Libraries bridging the digital divide all across the US!

via librarianbyday: Libraries are Powerful Partners. Now start acting like it. Powerful partners: contribute share bring something to the table show up at the party even when they aren’t the belle of the ball realize that there are many stakeholders offer support for initiatives and ideas they didn’t think of are not defensive or hostile are team players even when they can’t be leaders contribute to the success of others don’t insist on doing things “my way” (via Libraries Are Powerful Partners) Shared by one of my library heroes, Bobbi L. Newman! *fangirl moment* “Libraries are the place where all literacies meet” Yes!  Libraries and librarians empower these literacies through access to resources, instruction and support.  <3
View Separately

via librarianbyday:

Libraries are Powerful Partners. Now start acting like it.

Powerful partners:

  • contribute
  • share
  • bring something to the table
  • show up at the party even when they aren’t the belle of the ball
  • realize that there are many stakeholders
  • offer support for initiatives and ideas they didn’t think of
  • are not defensive or hostile
  • are team players even when they can’t be leaders
  • contribute to the success of others
  • don’t insist on doing things “my way”

(via Libraries Are Powerful Partners)

Shared by one of my library heroes, Bobbi L. Newman! *fangirl moment*

“Libraries are the place where all literacies meet”

Yes!  Libraries and librarians empower these literacies through access to resources, instruction and support.  <3

Oolong and Oddities: Library as a Safe Place

via drdandy:

Today, at the circulation desk, my boss and I had our hearts warmed.
A woman who suffers accute PTSD as a sexual assault survivor and usually is accompanied by a service animal (news to us- since we never see it) approached us. She informed us that our library is one of the few places in the city where she does not feel the need to bring her service animal because she feels safe here.

What is it about our locataion specifically that makes her feel so safe? we asked her. Our staff, our lighting, our layout and colour scheme. Just everything about our little branch makes her feel safe.

Libraries and librarians are a lot of things in today’s world: homes for books and other information or media, places of study, places of meeting and debate, places of art, purveryors of information, teachers, technology educators, counselors. We are also safe places. A home away from home or a home where no other home can be found.


We talk a lot about being safe places for kids/teens after school and a safe haven for childern with bad home lives, but we don’t always talk or reflect on the fact that we are a safe place for many invisible adult survivors of many traumas we may never know about. And that is something to be proud of.

What a wonderful library story!  Indeed, as centers of community, libraries should be safe places.  I hope more libraries share these stories  to reinforce their value and contribution to their communities. 

Please submit a story about how a library has made an impact on you or your community and I’ll post it!  Thank you!

Valarie

via thehannahmachine: To Protect and Preserve: Getting the word out to the public about collection preservation | By Jeanne Drewes The voice on the phone sounded exhausted. “I have lost my life’s work,” the man said. He was an artist who had his paintings stored in a basement somewhere in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It was November 2, 2012, four days after Hurricane Sandy hit the New Jersey coast… This call was one of many inquiries from archives, libraries, museums, historic sites, artists, gallery owners, and collectors, all trying to save their valuables from the effects of water damage and mold. I had answers and I had resources. And I had experts to help when my knowledge didn’t go deep enough… All this was in addition to my regular preservation job at the Library of Congress. It’s sad that it took a disaster for people to call, but the experience exemplifies the role of a typical preservation librarian. We take for granted what we have until it is ruined or lost.  Only then do we appreciate the skills of those who can help preserve our treasures.
View Separately

via thehannahmachine:

To Protect and Preserve: Getting the word out to the public about collection preservation | By Jeanne Drewes

The voice on the phone sounded exhausted. “I have lost my life’s work,” the man said. He was an artist who had his paintings stored in a basement somewhere in Lower Manhattan in New York City.

It was November 2, 2012, four days after Hurricane Sandy hit the New Jersey coast…
This call was one of many inquiries from archives, libraries, museums, historic sites, artists, gallery owners, and collectors, all trying to save their valuables from the effects of water damage and mold. I had answers and I had resources. And I had experts to help when my knowledge didn’t go deep enough…
All this was in addition to my regular preservation job at the Library of Congress. It’s sad that it took a disaster for people to call, but the experience exemplifies the role of a typical preservation librarian.

We take for granted what we have until it is ruined or lost.  Only then do we appreciate the skills of those who can help preserve our treasures.

via lawrencepubliclibrary:

Residents of a local retirement community surprised mobile librarian Gregor last week with this show of thanks. 

Wow, what a fun and sweet way to say thank you for a very special service!

via myimaginarybrooklyn: DON’T MISS OUT on Bike the Branches! Register today and don’t miss out on this adventurous bike ride through Brooklyn! {Follow link below.} Bike the Branches &#8220;Bike the Branches and support Brooklyn Public Library with a rewarding day of wellness, literacy and community.&#8221;  &#8220;Experience the borough and BPL like never before, while connecting with family, friends and fellow Brooklynites as you bike our network of 60 neighborhood libraries that serve each community. Choose your own route and set your own pace as you visit as many of our branches as you want, or follow one of our suggested routes to take a tour of Brooklyn’s storied waterfront, literary history, culinary highlights or architectural gems. Sign up to ride as an individual or with friends and co-workers, and ask your friends and family to sponsor your ride for BPL. Get your “passport” stamped at as many branches as you can visit between 10am and 5pm. Throughout the day, stop in at select branches to recharge and enjoy entertainment and fun activities, and top off the day at Central Library’s Finish Line Celebration from 5-7pm—you won’t want to miss it!&#8221;
Pop-upView Separately

via myimaginarybrooklyn:

DON’T MISS OUT on Bike the Branches! Register today and don’t miss out on this adventurous bike ride through Brooklyn! {Follow link below.}

Bike the Branches

“Bike the Branches and support Brooklyn Public Library with a rewarding day of wellness, literacy and community.” 

“Experience the borough and BPL like never before, while connecting with family, friends and fellow Brooklynites as you bike our network of 60 neighborhood libraries that serve each community.

Choose your own route and set your own pace as you visit as many of our branches as you want, or follow one of our suggested routes to take a tour of Brooklyn’s storied waterfront, literary history, culinary highlights or architectural gems. Sign up to ride as an individual or with friends and co-workers, and ask your friends and family to sponsor your ride for BPL.

Get your “passport” stamped at as many branches as you can visit between 10am and 5pm. Throughout the day, stop in at select branches to recharge and enjoy entertainment and fun activities, and top off the day at Central Library’s Finish Line Celebration from 5-7pm—you won’t want to miss it!”

Business Classes and Workshops @ the Library @LongmontLibrary Helping Your Small Business Grow Free, monthly two-hour workshops at the Longmont Library, Sept-May, for local small businesses includes Marketing Essential/Blogging for Business, and Moving Your Business Forward (a round table discussion).  Sponsored by the Longmont Gardening Initiative, Community Services City of Longmont &amp; the Friends of the Longmont Library.  (via Small Business Support Workshops)
View Separately

Business Classes and Workshops @ the Library

@LongmontLibrary

Helping Your Small Business Grow

Free, monthly two-hour workshops at the Longmont Library, Sept-May, for local small businesses includes Marketing Essential/Blogging for Business, and Moving Your Business Forward (a round table discussion).  Sponsored by the Longmont Gardening Initiative, Community Services City of Longmont & the Friends of the Longmont Library. 

(via Small Business Support Workshops)

Source: ci.longmont.co.us

Denver Public Library Helps Local Authors

@denverlibrary

“…hosts a workshop designed to help writers navigate the changing world of self-publishing. In 2008, there was a paradigm shift in the publishing world: more book titles were self-published than published through traditional means. In 2009, 76% of new book titles came into being by self-publishing. London-based author Dean Fetzer is leading the charge for the brave new world of publishing. He helms our upcoming workshop focused on self-publishing for new authors.”

(via Everyone Has a Story To Tell. Get Yours Published. | Denver Public Library)

Source: denverlibrary.org

@WPLTelluride &#8220;&#8230;a public library isn’t just about the information inside, but about the community that’s developed when people come together around information and learning.&#8221; &#8220;Library programs have inspired innovation and collaborations in the community that improve the place we live, make us stronger and more sustainable.&#8221; (FIVE STARS: LIBRARIES BUILD COMMUNITY | Telluride Inside… and Out by Barbara Brattin,via Librarians Build Community) And, the way the Wilkinson Public Library dedicates a webpage to recognizing their community partnerships is smart and wonderful!
View Separately

@WPLTelluride

“…a public library isn’t just about the information inside, but about the community that’s developed when people come together around information and learning.”

“Library programs have inspired innovation and collaborations in the community that improve the place we live, make us stronger and more sustainable.”

(FIVE STARS: LIBRARIES BUILD COMMUNITY | Telluride Inside… and Out by ,via Librarians Build Community)

And, the way the Wilkinson Public Library dedicates a webpage to recognizing their community partnerships is smart and wonderful!

Source: tellurideinside.com

Librarians help spread the joy and love of reading on World Book Night, April 23

“Held in the United States, as well as the U.K. and Ireland, the initiative aims at promoting the value of reading, printed books, bookstores and libraries to everyone year round.”

“In the U.S., a half million free books will be handed out in towns and cities across America all on one day — April 23, 2013 — by enlisting 25,000 volunteer book lovers to help promote reading by going into their communities and personally handing out specially printed copies to light or non-readers and to those without the means or access to printed books.”

I’m excited to be a part of #WBN2013!  I’ll be sharing Willa Cather’s My Antonia in Seward, Alaska, a small town at the head of the Resurrection Bay.

*The beautiful aerial photo of Seward, Alaska was taken by Ginger Irvine and shared by Kayak Adventures Worldwide.

Eliterate Librarian: Book Tasting in the Library

via thelibrarybug:

I absolutely love this!  What a great way to highlight what a library and librarian have to offer.  I must remember this for when I (hopefully) am working in a school library.  

“This event served many purposes: highlight and share the books, build collaborations, showcase what I have to offer the teachers as they adjust to Common Core standards, thank the district administrators and school board for additional book funding this year, and invite many of our stakeholders into the library.”

(via Eliterate Librarian: Book Tasting in the Library)

Serving Deaf/Hard of Hearing Teen Patrons

via morerobots:

(h/t Anna/ehbeesea)

This is a list of tips on how to serve your teen patrons who are deaf & hard of hearing, and it’s pretty great! Teens are such a specialized population group to work with anyway, since they deal in all manner of emotions (or non-emotions) and can even be intimidating. Deaf/hoh teens may still be struggling with advocacy skills (I know I sure did), and need that extra boost of confidence. If you recognize a teen is deaf or hard of hearing, use these tips! 

The only one I really question is the use of the microphone, because while microphones make sound louder, they don’t clarify the sound. The issue sometimes isn’t hearing the other person, but understanding them, and there’s a huge difference there that people don’t seem to grasp. I would suggest reserving spaces/seats specifically for your deaf/hoh teens to sit in the front, as close as they can be, on the off chance they can see the speaker better and therefore pick up on visual cues.

Fabulous advice for all libraries!

Building a Library and Helping a Village: The Peace Corps at Work

via peacecorps

As a librarian, I was particularly tickled to hear about Peace Corps Volunteer Karri Stout’s endeavor to establish a library at a school in a small African village in Tanzania. Education and access to information are important developmental tools everywhere in the world.

Of course, this young lady wasn’t just thinking of a standard library, but a bilingual library that would serve students as well as adults living in the village of Utelewe. For the 2013 school year, the school has 342 students enrolled; a library serving this many children will improve literacy rates, and can have a far-reaching impact on their lives.

What I love about this project is that it will be open to the whole community, a lot of community members are pitching in to make it happen, and it will be stocked with books that are relevant to the community:

  • Environmentally friendly and sustainable farming methods
  • Starting or developing a business
  • Health, with particular emphasis on HIV/AIDS and malaria
  • Reference material of all sort for the teachers
  • “novels by African authors written in Kiswahili. It will be wonderful to show the children that they too could become writers and create stories of their own for others to enjoy.”

May this and many more libraries across the world be thoughtfully built for their communities to sustain lifelong learning and creativity!

(via peacecorps)

via rutgersprl:

Some photos from the Rutgers University Libraries Edible Books Festival that took place yesterday at Alexander Library.

From Top to Bottom:

Naked Lunch
book by William S. Burroughs.
entry by Rachel Craver.

Winner of the 2nd place award, for ‘Least Edible’
@ the Edible Book Festival

————————-

Breakfast of Champions
entry by Jennifer Hunter

——————-

As A Driven Leaf
book by Milton Steinberg
entry by Harry Glazer (with some help from his daughter

———————————

A Clockwork Orange
book by Anthony Burgess
entry by Jiyoung Ohn

————————————

The Grapes of Wrath
book by John Steinbeck
entry by Melody Tomaszewicz

Winner of the ‘Public Choice’ award
@ the Edible Book Festival.

—————————-

Charlotte’s Web
entry by Jessica Gluck

—————————

Fanta of the Opera (Phantom of the Opera)
by Bethany O’Shea and Roslyn Grandy

Second prize winner for ‘Puniest’ entry
@ the Edible Book Festival.

————

@thegloballibrarian- check out this Naked Lunch one!

Libraries are fun and creative places!  *chuckle*

(7 images)

Top