“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
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
“The city of Camden has only one grocery store, and most city residents rely on small stores and bodegas for food,” says Devlin. “These stores have a more limited supply of healthy food, which limits meal planning.” Inspired by a visit to the nearby Culinary Literacy Center at the Free Library of Philadelphia, Devlin decided … Continue reading A Movable Feast
In San Antonio, residents of affluent neighborhoods are four times more likely to have broadband access than residents of low-income neighborhoods. “There’s definitely a need in the community,” says Candelaria Mendoza, library services administrator at San Antonio Public Library (SAPL). “We understand it’s not just about having the internet but having internet that’s fast enough … Continue reading Allied Against Inequity
Offer nonpartisan voter registration The data couldn’t be clearer: Millions of Americans miss the opportunity to vote in major election years because they aren’t registered to vote. In fact, nearly one in five (21.4%) eligible Americans is unregistered. Electoral underrepresentation is particularly high among young people, especially those with no college experience. Offer nonpartisan voter … Continue reading Successful Voter Outreach
Jason Kruse, undergraduate engagement librarian at Northwestern University; Amy Wainwright, outreach and student engagement librarian at John Carroll University; Kristen Mastel, outreach and instruction librarian at University of Minnesota; and John M. Jackson, head of outreach and communications for the library at Loyola Marymount University, introduced us to their strategies with a level of enthusiasm … Continue reading We’re All in It Together
It’s a question that Marisa Conner, manager of youth and family engagement at Baltimore County (Md.) Public Library (BCPL), says her staffers are often asked when doing outreach at Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) centers. She explains: Many WIC clients, particularly those originally from other countries, aren’t sure what a library is or whether it … Continue reading Bringing Libraries to WIC
I’ve thought a lot about this disconnect and realized that, at least in part, library staffers continue to stay inside because of systemic barriers. What are some of these barriers? Job descriptions. Think about how your work is defined. Do your responsibilities include regularly going outside of the building to build relationships with teens and … Continue reading Organizational Barriers
Many libraries have turned to embedded librarianship as one solution to better serving patrons and demonstrating value to their communities. The term comes from the expression embedded journalism, which was first used at the start of the Iraq War in 2003 when journalists traveled with military units and reported from within the action itself. Similarly, … Continue reading Get Out of the Library
11 Date in April 2018 that National Bookmobile Day—part of National Library Week—will be celebrated. 2010 Year that National Bookmobile Day was first observed by the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services (ABOS), Association for Rural and Small Libraries, and American Library Association’s Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. 1905 Year that the first … Continue reading By the Numbers: Bookmobiles
But are these seemingly wholesome book boxes helping or hurting staffed libraries? And how are librarians and communities across the country leveraging the presence of these outposts? Little Free Library Capital of the World When Pam Weinstein first noticed the school bus parked outside her home in Detroit’s Rosedale Park neighborhood and her lawn crowded … Continue reading The Question of Little Free Libraries
