The Social Library, Volume 26
In Volume 26 of our Social Library series we're featuring libraries who are creating community engagement opportunities both online, and face-to-face. One library has invited patrons to help celebrate, in a unique way, their 75 anniversary, and another is celebrating the wrap-up of their Summer Reading program. Another library is teaching teens important information literacy skills while others are connecting with patrons through film, music and a ComiCon. Each week brings a new glimpse into the great work going on in library communities around the globe. Thank you for sharing with the WebJunction community!
- Howard County Library System in Maryland is celebrating it's 75th anniversary this year with a variety of social media outreach campaigns. In their #HCLS75 To Go campaign customers are taking HCLS's red 75 circle around the world to help celebrate. A special prize will go to a random winner selected at the end of September. "For 75 years Howard County Library System has taken customers places with books, movies, cultural events and more! Here's where our customers took us this summer to celebrate our anniversary year." Open the map and click on the red 75 circles to check out the photos or browse the #HCLS75 tag on Facebook. (A special thanks to HCLS staffer, Victoria Goodman for sharing this great campaign with WebJunction!)
- The Music Department, Free Library of Philadelphia recently hosted an interactive event to allow teens to test their information literacy skills. With no school librarians in the city's public school system, the library serves a critical role in teaching these skills. In this blog post, the library shares that "the Music Department at the Parkway Central Library hosted an Information Literacy game for 30 music students in a summer enrichment program. Our hope was to open up a window for these students into the wealth of resources available in a conservatory-quality music library, and to do so in a fun way. We divided the students into six groups and set each team on quests to discover the hidden tools that help to unearth clues about the lives of 12 jazz musicians associated with Philadelphia." The resources have been made available for others to try the game!
- Like many of the libraries we follow on Facebook, the Cecil County Public Library in Maryland celebrated a record-breaking year of Summer Reading. Their Summer Reading Picnic Highlight Reel (created with Magisto - a tool new to us!) features many happy faces enjoying the music, games, prizes, and treats from local sponsors.
The Eisenhower Public Library in Illinois is hosting the Music and the Movies series on their big screen each Friday afternoon in August. This Friday they'll feature Wattstax, "a document of the 1972 Los Angeles concert with Isaac Hayes, Rufus Thomas, the Staple Singers, and other greats of soul and R&B commemorating the anniversary of the Watts Riots and celebrating a renewed hope in the future."
- The Anderson County Library in South Carolina hosted the Electric City ComiCon featuring a Fan Art Contest and a Cosplay Contest. The library shared the wonderful write-up from Nerd Caliber, which includes some fantastic photos.
We look forward to seeking out next week's treasures from those we follow on Facebook AND to hear from more of YOU! If you have innovative and impactful programs going on at your library that you'd like to showcase, let us know at [email protected], or find us on Facebook.
Thanks to all of this week's featured libraries for such outstanding service to your communities!