Windsor Library staff brainstormed fundraising ideas, and came up with a traveling piggy bank. Wandering Wilbur has his own Facebook page, carrier, and pleasant personality. He raises funds for books and children’s programs, whatever his hosts want to donate. According to an article in the Claremont NH, Eagle Times, donations have ranged from 10 cents to $350.
Wilbur has been to New York, Philadelphia and Lake Sunapee– obviously this guy gets around!
Jaquith Public Library in Marshfield, VT hosts a laptop slideshow during town meeting. They put together a tri-fold display and this year, plan to hand out magnets with the library logo, contact information and hours. The display has “Patron Pics,” photographs of patrons with their favorite authors and books underneath.
Guilford Free Library does the PowerPoint slideshow as well– mostly featuring kids doing things at the library. They sell tickets for a restaurant raffle, and draw the winners after town meeting lunch.
The Ilsley Public Library in Middlebury has dreamed up a Valentine for the community. The Digital Media Lab, a collaboration between the Library and Middlebury Community Television, is holding an open house Tuesday evening, February 10, for patrons and guests to visit the Lab and film brief video Valentines.
According to a story in the Addison Independent, the Lab is designed to support the creating of digital media and the digitization of audio, video and photographic sources. The Digital Media Lab has equipment for video conferences, Skype calls, podcasting and video editing. Patrons can sign up for access to the room and get specific training for their project needs. Imagine taking old photographs or a home movie in and being able to walk out with a digital record. Awesome!
Rochester Public Library anticipates stretches of time this summer when the building will be closed. The children’s room is under construction. People need books — so the librarian put together a Rochester PL brochure to hand out ahead of time. What a good idea!
Where can you find a prom dress in Highgate, Vermont (pop 3535)? According to a Facebook post March 12, the answer will soon be the Highgate Public Library. Way to explore new horizons!
“It’s PROM SEASON and we are trying to help make this event a memorable event for youth in our area. If you have a bridesmaid dress or prom dress just hanging in your closet and you want to clean house- we will take it (as long as it is of current fashion and clean). All the dresses that we collect will be available (for free) to girls in Franklin County to come and try on– and hopefully find one that will make their night perfect!”
Wilder Memorial Library in Weston came to town meeting this year. Here, In librarian Kerri MacLaury’s words:
Last year we had a table to register new library patrons and we were able to register 50 patrons (which for our town of 566, that’s a big deal…and it was our first month with LibraryWorld up and running).
This year we decided to not only register patrons, but I took all of our newest DVDs, fiction and nonfiction books to set up a display table. What we did differently this year was brought our laptop and scanner so we could circulate materials from Town Meeting. It was so much fun! About 15 items went out today and people who had items on hold were able to pick them up at Town Meeting too.
It was a great way to show what the library had and to get items into the hands of people who don’t come through our doors too often. People were also blown away by the mobility of our library and they really saw how much of an effort we are making for our town. Several conversations were sparked on how we could bring our library to other places and I think this summer we are going to bring a table of books to our local rec center and check books out to kids there! Maybe even throw in a Story Time. Imagine all that fun brainstorming with citizens, town leaders and board members!
It was such a fun experience and I would recommend it to any library working with a cloud-based system like LibraryWorld. Just make sure you have a wi-fi connection! That’s the only catch. It’s library advocacy in action! And there wasn’t a question about our budget when it came up for approval! Phew!
Bradford Public Library encourages trustees to get comfortable with library services. Each trustee gets a punch card to document what they’ve done. Here are their punches:
Attend a library program
Borrow a library kit
Join the Friends
Try Mango to learn a foreign language
Experiment with the Vermont Online Library
Set up a Bradford Public Library account
Take a Universal Class
Here’s a PDF of the punch card:
Trustee Punch Card
Posted in Accessibility, New Services and Outreach, Advocacy
Tagged Bradford Public Library, trustees
The Elementary School in Fairlee purchased eReaders for the school with a grant from the Vermont Rural Partnership.
As part of the after school program, the school Visions Director took students to the Fairlee Public Library with the school eReaders. Students met community mentors and the mentors and students used the eReaders to read stories together. Fairlee librarian Judy Russell pointed out that senior citizens are the fastest growing group to use eReaders.
The Rochester Public Library has an inventive use for the Kindle: the librarian loads it up with classics (free from Project Gutenberg and other sources). Handy substitute for an interlibrary loan and saves shelf space for books which may not circulate as much. Libraries will still need to purchase new translations or remarkable editions, depending on demand.
Several librarians have passed along the news that eReaders sit on the shelf once people have tested them and made a decision about whether to purchase. The classics solution gets a little more mileage and perhaps encourages readers to try a device. Great for lesser known Conrad, Bronte, Austen and L. Frank Baum. (Yes, many of the Oz books are at Project Gutenberg.)
Do add cataloging to the library database for every title on the eReader.
Libraries all over Vermont are experiencing the usual technology rush as library members come in with their new iPads, smart phones, Kindles and other e-readers to get staff help. Nancy Tusinski at the Springfield Town Library decided to hold tech talks to encourage people to gather (flyer from this workshop is posted below). The Library owns some equipment, and is happy to help with ebook downloads, audiofiles, and general questions.
Debra Tinkham and Gail LaVaude at the Bradford Public Library (www.bradfordvtlibrary.org) have experimented with tech night themes. Pick a general topic like digital photography, make sure there are plenty of computers to go around, and dig in. Of course the public library doesn’t have a lock on technology; look to the community to find savvy volunteers willing to share what they know. Programs are held the first Wednesday of the month at 6 PM. Other topics have included downloading audio and eBooks from Listen Up! Vermont, Google Voice and Google Talk, and switching from PC to Mac with an Apple laptop or iPad.
If your library has some insights on raising the staff comfort level and offering training, please add your comments.
Here is the flyer from Nancy Tusinski’s Tech Talk workshops:
Good Ideas from VT Public Libraries 