Index
- Columbus Public Library named finalist for ‘Best Small Library in America Award’
- OverDrive to add personal history page
- Coding for Fun (youth and above) with Scratch
- You have collected data…now what?
- Libraries Can Be More Than Just Books
- Continuing Education Calendar
Columbus Public Library named finalist for 'Best Small Library in America Award'
Each year, Library Journal accepts nominations for the “Best Small Library in America,” and for 2017 the Columbus Public Library was named one of two finalists.
“This is an exciting and humbling recognition for our library and community,” said Cindy Fesemyer, library director. “Columbus Public Library strives every day to make a difference for local residents, and this award is a much-appreciated recognition of that hard work.”
Library Journal‘s annual award for the Best Small Library in America, with the support of sustaining sponsor Junior Library Guild (a division of Library Journal’s parent company, Media Source, Inc.), was founded to encourage and showcase the exemplary work of smaller libraries across the country. Now in its 11th round, the award honors the public library that most profoundly demonstrates outstanding service to populations of 25,000 or less. The winning library, Idaho’s Bounty County Library District, will receive a $5,000 cash award, a feature story in the Sept. 15, 2017 issue of Library Journal, and online coverage. Columbus Public Library, as one of two finalist libraries, along with Pottsboro Area Library of Texas, will be awarded $1,000 worth of JLG products and services, and special mention in Library Journal.
In the nomination materials, Columbus was asked to explain how, in the last two years, they raised the profile of the library in the community, reached out to new users and remote users, impacted literacy in the community, and used technology to support and grow patron access to materials and information. Their application highlighted the ways the library is helping residents feel more connected to their community:
- Root for Columbus Action Potlucks connect adults with each other by encouraging citizens to make small, visible changes in the community, with the library acting as a bridge to resources like partnerships, small sums of money, or research into other community’s civic engagement efforts.
- School-age children connect outside of school at the library’s weekly After School Clubs, which now include a Pokémon Club, LEGO Club, Inklings Teen/Tween Writing Club and Crafternoon.
- The library supports the Columbus area business community by partnering with the Chamber of Commerce and Columbus Downtown Development Corporation. Downtown Story Walks are now a regular part of the holidays in Columbus.
- As the City of Columbus gears up for strategic planning, the library is participating in early discussions, ready to help when needed.
All of these offerings resulted from the 12 Community Conversations held in the Columbus area in 2015. By simply asking people what they want for their community, the Columbus Public Library has stretched the mission and scope of its work by, for and with the community it serves.
Columbus’s nomination was evaluated on the following key factors:
- Innovation in developing services and programs that can be replicated by other libraries, including outreach to underserved populations
- Success in educating patrons in computer use and other new technologies, expanding the reach of library services via technology, and measuring the outcomes of technology usage
- Creativity in addressing literacy (or multiple literacies, such as digital literacy, information literacy, etc.) across patrons of all ages, including programs focused on early literacy and school readiness
- Demonstrated community support
- Sustained cooperation and partnership with other libraries, schools, other agencies, and businesses.
- Increase in library use, particularly by new users
- Evidence of library’s role as community center
For questions or further information, please contact Library Director Cindy Fesemyer, at (920) 623-5910.
OverDrive to add personal history page
OverDrive is making updates that will add a personal history page to the Wisconsin's Digital Library site the week of Oct. 2, 2017.
The History page will automatically display titles a user has borrowed (beginning the day the feature goes live), and users have the option to manually add titles previously read (through OverDrive or other sources).
Each time a title is borrowed, it is added to the user’s history. At launch, a user will see an empty history until they borrow a title, or manually add it. Titles can be manually added through the context menu (…) or from the title details page. For example, users can add titles they read before the start of the history, or titles read from other sources (print, purchased, etc.). Users can remove individual titles from the History page through the context menu (…) or on the title details page.
A user can choose to hide their history from the Settings page. If the user opts to display their history again at a later date, they will only see titles added from that point forward.
This has been a highly-requested feature from users over the years. Some users have been tracking their read titles via ratings, so the history includes an option to import their rated titles list. If a rated title is already on the history, it will not be added again.
Users will see personalized suggestions on the home page in a "You may also like" collection that recommends titles based on the most recent titles in their history (excluding titles that received low ratings).
For more information, contact Jean Anderson at (608) 246-5613.
Coding for Fun (youth and above) with Scratch
Have you always thought that learning to code is a bit on the dull side? That it’s text-based and a solitary activity for adults only?
MIT’s Lifelong Kindergarten Project has slayed that preconception with a drag and drop programming language called Scratch. Scratch was designed with 8- to 16-year-olds in mind (but anyone can 'play'), and it encourages an interest in coding by emphasizing creativity, collaboration and community by making it pure fun.
The Scratch website offers tutorials, galleries (by category) of peoples' creations and the ability to remix them and re-post. YouTube offers close to a million short tutorials as well.
Here are three brief examples of what you can do with Scratch;
- The Scratch Movie (about a cat buying a sofa at Ikea)
- 4 types of school kids
- Interactive Violin
May the fun begin!
--by Pat Dolan, SCLS Network Administrator
You have collected data…now what?
Join Morrill Solutions Research for the final webinar in the WPLC User / Non-User Research Program on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 1 pm. The webinar is free and open to all Wisconsin public libraries and will be recorded and shared if you are unable to attend at that time.
This webinar will explore the basics of analyzing data. Analysis moves you from having data to having information. You will learn some basic principles for approaching all different types of data, pointers on visualization of data, as well as some basic statistical concepts. Don’t worry -- even people who are math-phobic are welcome. This module is designed to get you started analyzing data you might have, and being able to create a basic, informative report for yourself or for a stakeholder group.
Register to attend this free webinar at https://goo.gl/forms/mHD9WT1omZNCVyXD3.
Libraries Can Be More Than Just Books
by Matt A.V. Chaban, New York Times
For all of Sunset Park’s celebrated taquerias, dim sum parlors and picturesque piers, the most popular destination in that neighborhood might just be the local branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. Despite its squat concrete frame and fluorescent lights -- a far cry from the neighboring brownstones -- the library draws a capacity crowd most days.
On a recent afternoon, students from down the block and around the world scribbled out homework, studied with tutors, practiced English and honed their chess skills. On the walls, posters promoted not just reading but citizenship services and business-planning classes. Parents and children alike sat at banks of computers, indulging in a world of knowledge that many New Yorkers take for granted.
It was a hive of activity, one that actually buzzed. Four portable air-conditioners the size of refrigerators blasted air through coiled ducts. One could be forgiven for thinking the place was being fumigated, but really, the central air was broken and has been for years.
The patrons of the Sunset Park library, one of the 20 busiest in the city, are hardly alone in their love for, and frustration with, their local branch. Demand for libraries reaches new highs with each passing year (nearly 34 million visits in 2016), while many of New York’s branches are woefully outmoded (the average library is 62 years old).
Read the complete opinion piece online.