{"id":25585,"date":"2021-08-28T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-28T04:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=25585"},"modified":"2021-08-14T10:28:56","modified_gmt":"2021-08-14T14:28:56","slug":"community-art-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2021\/08\/community-art-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Ties: A Community Art Project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each year at the Simsbury Public Library, CT we create our own Summer Reading theme. By creating our own unique theme, we can reflect our community and to be responsive to trends and themes that are important locally. Our 2021 Summer Reading theme was \u201cReading Reconnects Us,\u201d which coincided well with the expanded library hours and services we were able to offer this summer. Our community was eager to return to in-person browsing, programs and volunteer opportunities and it was clear they were looking for opportunities to connect with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From this theme grew the idea for a community art project and passive program that would foster community engagement and visually represent the types of connections that are made at the library. The resulting community art project, dreamed up by a talented local artist and patron, Jennie Loomis, is called \u201cSocial Ties.\u201d It features pieces of ribbon (ours are made out of t-shirt fabric) that are knotted together in a textile sculpture. Each color ribbon represents an action and a connection that someone made. As our promotional materials explained. \u201cReading reconnects us. So does a friendly smile, a random act of kindness, and saying hello to a stranger. Help make our community more beautiful as we strengthen our social ties and make a little art along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The instructions were simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" type=\"1\"><li>Do the action listed on one of the containers and pick a ribbon from that container.<\/li><li>Double knot your ribbon to the ribbon strand on the table.<\/li><li>Repeat all summer long!<\/li><li><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The actions\/color coded ribbons included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Yellow \u2013 Attend a library program<\/li><li>Red \u2013 Check out something fun from the Library of Things<\/li><li>Light Blue \u2013 Say hello to a stranger<\/li><li>Dark Blue \u2013 Read to someone or a pet<\/li><li>Green \u2013 Tell a friend about a book you love<\/li><li>Orange \u2013 Do a random act of kindness<\/li><li>Peach \u2013 Visit the StoryWalk<\/li><li>Lavender \u2013 Donate a book to the Friends of the Library<\/li><li>Purple \u2013 Create a \u201cThinking of You\u201d card for a Simsbury senior citizen<\/li><li><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/IMG_0887-650x488.jpg\" alt=\"Image of ribbons tied together in representation of connection. \" class=\"wp-image-25586\" width=\"650\" height=\"488\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/IMG_0887-650x488.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/IMG_0887-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/IMG_0887-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/IMG_0887-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/IMG_0887-667x500.jpg 667w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/IMG_0887-120x90.jpg 120w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/IMG_0887.jpg 2016w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><figcaption>Social Ties art installation at the Simsbury Public Library, CT<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By the end of the summer we had a vibrant visual expression of our community\u2019s connections, which stands as a testament to how the library can help bring people together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> <em>Stephanie C. Prato is the Head of Children\u2019s Services at the Simsbury Public Library, CT. With experience in youth services, community outreach, leadership, instruction, and technology, she has developed innovative programs for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-aged children. She is an active member of the American Library Association and is the Co-Chair of the&nbsp;School Aged Programs and Services Committee of ALSC. If you have any questions, email her at&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:sprato@simsburylibrary.info\">sprato@simsburylibrary.info<\/a>.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This blog post addresses the following ALSC Core Competencies: I.\u00a0Commitment to Client Group<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>III. Programming Skills<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Each year at the Simsbury Public Library, CT we create our own Summer Reading theme. By creating our own unique theme, we can reflect our community and to be responsive to trends and themes that are important locally. Our 2021 Summer Reading theme was \u201cReading Reconnects Us,\u201d which coincided well with the expanded library hours and services we were able to offer this summer. Our community was eager to return to in-person browsing, programs and volunteer opportunities and it was clear they were looking for opportunities to connect with others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":25587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[287,1605,231,9,38,1607,102],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogger-school-age-programs-and-services-committee","category-commitment-to-client-group","category-displays","category-partnerships","category-programming-ideas","category-programming-skills","category-summer-reading"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}