To help area residents identify next steps, Hammes helped organize a panel on climate change in February 2018. Held in conjunction with the local Coulee Region Sierra Club Group and the La Crosse Citizens’ Climate Lobby, the panel brought together five area farmers and entrepreneurs to discuss their personal experiences with changing weather patterns. Topics … Continue reading Climate Change and Sustainability
At one time, cursive was routinely taught in US schools as a way of writing more quickly and elegantly than printing was perceived to permit. In 2010, the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers removed cursive from the Common Core State Standards on the grounds that teaching students cursive was … Continue reading Lending a Hand
Louisville (Ohio) Public Library opened an innovative Sensory Space in August 2018 with the help of a $50,000 Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant. It offers teen sensory relaxation sessions, adult sensory exploration, sensory storytimes, and other activities for patrons on the autism spectrum. Louisville is one of the first public libraries to offer … Continue reading A Sensory Wonderland
“When people with developmental disabilities become 21, that’s the end of education for them, as if they don’t need to keep learning like other people keep learning as they get older,” says Comer, a trustee of the Port Washington (N.Y.) Public Library (PWPL). She enrolled her son in a local day program but found that … Continue reading Everyone on the Same Page
“Sandy’s willing to take a look at anything, from mending pants to replacing zippers to sewing buttons on a shirt or pants,” says Director Jennifer Tallman of Sandra Vardell (pictured), a former board member who volunteers one Saturday per month to tackle the town’s toughest tailoring. JMML, at the suggestion of Vardell, started its garment … Continue reading Bookend: Tailor-Made Fundraising
That’s why, in 1989, Chicago Public Library (CPL) Children’s Librarian Elizabeth McChesney (now CPL’s director of children’s services and family engagement) visited a local laundromat to introduce herself to families. How she responded to what she saw there would help change the landscape of children’s literacy initiatives for decades to come. “What I saw was … Continue reading Front-Loading Literacy
Conceived in 1996 by author Pat Mora, with support from Reforma and the Association for Library Service to Children, Día is a celebration of children, literacy, and diversity. This year will mark 20 years that San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) has been proudly supporting Día in our community, with the goal of connecting kids to … Continue reading Spreading ‘Bookjoy’
“These are the new shiny things for [teens and 20-somethings],” Betha Gutsche, WebJunction program manager at OCLC, told attendees at “Return to the Real: The Library As Social Connector,” a Symposium on the Future of Libraries session at the American Library Association’s 2019 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Seattle on January 26. Analog objects give … Continue reading Getting Real Again
Beginning in 2016, Library of America (LOA) awarded grants to 120 libraries around the country as part of its World War I and America program. The grants were created to support library programming that would bring together US veterans and their communities through shared exploration of firsthand writings from WWI. To establish the connection between … Continue reading Bridging Past and Present
Patron paint-alongs During the events, patrons watch an episode of The Joy of Painting and paint along, while library staffers facilitate and provide canvases, paints, and other supplies. Some libraries hire Certified Ross Instructors, trained by Bob Ross Inc., to lead the workshops; others obtain video permissions from the official Bob Ross YouTube channel or … Continue reading Painting with Purpose
Your youth services staffers may already be doing this outreach. For instance, your library might bring storytimes to local day cares or crafts to after-school programs. But what about reaching the adults in your community as a means of reaching the kids? This outside-the-box approach to youth services outreach can reap results beyond what you … Continue reading Outside-the-Box Outreach
Why libraries must expand their community role is explained in Transform and Thrive: Ideas to Invigorate Your Library and Your Community, by Dorothy Stoltz with Gail Griffith, James Kelly, Muffie Smith, and Lynn Wheeler. The authors explain how to build a culture in which risk-taking is encouraged and “unlearning” is developed to spur innovation. They … Continue reading Reimagine Programming
