News
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Library as a Social Assistance Office
With a determined stride and a big smile, Ida Abolins walks over to the writing desk at the window of the library in San Francisco and asks a young man bending over a pile of paper, "How are you doing?"
Overlooking the lavish City ... -
Outreach Programming: Serving Hidden Patrons
Perry Memorial Library in Henderson, NC is a rural library serving Vance County where approximately two-thirds of the county's population is either under the age of 18 or over the age of 60. Yet mobility issues and lack of transportation meant these ...
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Opening Doors and Minds with a "Yes!"
"Yes!" That’s what Kathy Zappitello, Executive Director of the Conneaut Public Library wants her staff to be able to say to patrons, to colleagues, and to new opportunities. The library, which serves a community of 12,841 residents in north...
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Always Be Listening: How Public Libraries are Approaching Community Engagement as a Mindset
ALA Annual is always overflowing with sessions to help library staff take a step back and think about their libraries, services, and approach to their communities. This year was no exception, and there were many stand-out sessions dedicated to rethin...
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Planning a Library Con or Pop Culture Festival
Librarian Recommended blogger, Elia Juarez, shares her experience and expertise on planning and hosting a LibraryCon.
We hosted our library's sixth LibraryCon on May 4 (with over 650 attendees!), and each year, we've learned somethi... -
Community Engagement: Redefining the Library as Town Square
Libraries are evolving, leaning outside of our walls, connecting with our communities in new and powerful ways. Defining our "why" requires understanding how to shift our focus from books to people. Our purpose is to support people and thei...
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Memory Kits Serve Community Members with Alzheimer’s
For people with Alzheimer's disease and their families, a remembered moment from the past is a gift. Memory loss and confusion are the hallmarks of dementia and Alzheimer's, as the diseases progressively damage brains cells, but photographs, music, a...
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New Tools for Getting Beyond the Survey to Discover Your Community Needs
For the cohort of small/rural libraries that participated in WebJunction's Small Libraries Create Smart Spaces project in 2017-18, the most transformational aspect of the process was realizing new ways to meet and collaborate with their communities. ...
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Blessing Box: Take What You Need, Leave What You Can
This is the second article in a series published in collaboration with the Association for Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL), highlighting innovation shared on ARSL's amazing and active Listserv.
ARSL member Jennifer Johnson-Spence, serves as... -
Seniors and Financial Scams: When Traditional Workshops Aren't Working
Consumers lost a total of $905 million to fraud in 2017, according to the Federal Trade Commission's 2017 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book. The FTC fielded 1.1 million fraud reports last year, with fraudulent debt collection, identify theft, and i...