Over the past few years, there has been a growing awareness in public libraries that children within their service areas may not be getting enough to eat during the summer months when school breakfasts and lunches are unavailable. Many libraries have partnered with state and local organizations to address this “food insecurity” by offering summer food programs, but this may seem like a daunting enterprise for small, rural, and/or understaffed libraries. Caroline County Public Library, one of eight rural Maryland libraries that my organization serves, began offering a summer food program last year. I decided to interview Amanda Courie, Youth Services Manager, to find out how this kind of program can work on a smaller scale. Amanda, I understand that Caroline County Public Library is a small system. How many full time staff members are there? How many of them work in youth services? “We are a small system! We…
Tag: ALSC Liaison with National Organizations Committee
Partnering Through StoryWalks®
Looking for a project to generate new partnerships? How about a StoryWalk®? These deconstructed picture books, assembled page by page, onto signs along walking paths are ideal outreach activities. StoryWalk®, first developed by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vermont, promote literacy, a healthy lifestyle and so much more. Signage provides space for partner recognition on each page, too. For a permanent StoryWalk® installation, partnering with local government and parks and recreation departments are a good starting point. Prepare to speak about your project at a council meeting to gain support and funding. If the installation will be at a local park, the parks and recreation office will be key in maintenance of the project. These departments may have a website to help promote the project as well. StoryWalk® is flexible and mobile, too. Stakes or yard signs can be used to create temporary installations of a StoryWalk® project, suitable for festivals,…
Taking the Lead in Helping Kids Become Good Digital Citizens
Digital citizenship. It’s a complex subject that I’ve thought a lot about in recent years- and one that I’ve been figuring out how best to address in my role as a public librarian. For our kids to be contributing participants in the Digital Age, they need to be informed about a whole host of issues such as internet safety, privacy and security, cyber bullying, digital footprints, information literacy, copyright and creative credit, and more! So when Mariah Cheng, one of my regular patrons who also happens to be an elementary school teacher, approached me about teaching a series of digital citizenship workshops at the library for children and parents I jumped at the opportunity to partner with her. Mariah had recently become a Certified Educator through Common Sense Media’s Digital Citizenship Initiative which offers training and curriculum for free to K-12 educators so that they can teach their students and…
Partnering with Homeless Serving Organizations
Located in an urban area, my library has a large population of people experiencing homelessness. All of the schools in the area are Title 1 funded schools, which also indicates a high level of need for transitional housing and other services for families. Although we regularly see homeless populations in the library, I wondered why we don’t see more and what we could do to make these potential patrons feel welcome and aware of not only our warm building in winter months but also our wealth of resources and programming for families. I developed a loose plan to visit the shelters and homes that serve families, provide a storytime, talk about resources and distribute library cards. I honestly thought it would be a cinch to get the shelters on board. But I was setting myself up for difficulties. I had an elevator pitch that largely skipped why this might…
#alaac15 Prescription for Reading Success
I attended the session “Early Learning in the Library: Tools, Partnerships, and Promising Practices” and was enthralled with the information presented by the guest speakers, who were grantees in the IMLS program. Since 2013, IMLS has funded $8.5 million in early learning projects in communities nationwide. One of the most interesting? A partnership that is brewing with the national organization Reach Out and Read. Pediatricians in the Reach Out and Read network routinely distribute books to babies during well visits – but the IMLS partnership looks to have pediatricians “prescribe” a visit to the library as well, so young families are encouraged to continue to read and share books with their young ones. Click here for more information, and to view the contents of the “Prescription for Success” toolkit.
United Way-Partnerships that create Partnerships
Have you ever wondered-“Where can I get help with a big initiative in my library? Who would be a partner that can stretch beyond our walls and bring more partners to the table?” We have found this partner with our local United Way. With a new focus at the national level, the United Way has changed. With dedication to providing good education, financial stability, and healthy and strong communities, local United Ways are reaching out to their communities more than ever. Our local United Way responded to a county wide assessment that pinpointed three areas that we as a community needed to focus on-Early Literacy, Mental Health, and Low-Income families. The library was a natural partner with early literacy. We now have a partnership with United Way of Medina County that is funding our R.O.C.K.S. Program (Reading Opportunities Create Kindergarten Success). Medina County R.O.C.K.S. is an interactive workshop for parents…
Partnering with your local 4-H group
My branch of the Geauga County Public Library has been lucky to have a long standing partnership with a local 4-H club. Our branch is the home to a vibrant genealogy reference department. Over the years library staff and 4-H clubbers have worked on family trees, family history projects, photography and scrapbooking. The library staff shares expertise with the members and in turn the members help create local history displays in the library and plan library volunteer parties. Don’t have a genealogy department? Here are some ways that other library youth services departments are partnering with local 4-H clubs: Small Pet Information day – club members brought in gerbils, rabbits, etc. in cages and spoke about how to care for pets (also a Chicken Day and a Rabbit Day!) Agricultural Literacy Day – club members read farm stories to young patrons, passed out gardening informational materials and introduced 4-H to…
A Sweet Story: Girls Scouts and Libraries
Girl Scouts. Cookies. The two have become synonymous, but there is much more to being a Girl Scout than selling cookies. As it turns out, libraries and librarians are often right there helping the troops during their non-cookie-selling time. Juliette Gordon Low organized the first troop in Savannah, Georgia, in 1912, and since then this organization has grown to include over 59 million American women and 10 million international members spread over 145 countries (source). Chances are that many of you reading this blog post are counted among that number. That was definitely the case when I inquired across the listservs to see how libraries across our nation are working with their local Girl Scouts. Many of the responses were from librarians that were once Girl Scouts themselves and were more than happy to help the next generation of young females earn their badges. The responses ranged from as simple…