Simple and Easy Shared Library Ideas

The 8bitlibrary blog shares lots of great ideas - get inspired!


http://blog.8bitlibrary.com/2010/08/18/nj/

TD Summer Reading Club Library Awards

Each year, beginning in 2007, the TD Summer Reading Club has been awarding Canadian libraries for their creative and innovative summer reading club programs by handing out the TD Summer Reading Club Library Awards.

The Library Awards promote excellence in summer programs by:

• celebrating the creativity of library staff who administer successful TD Summer Reading Club programs;
• promoting community partnerships that strengthen children's reading skills; and
• encouraging the sharing of information among public libraries across Canada so that they can further develop exemplary summer reading programs.

So, if your library put on a really great summer reading program this year (and I know you did!) why not apply for the award?  First Prize is $5000 and second prize is $2000.  All you have to do is submit the application form (found here) including a program description and some supplementary material.  The supplementary material can include photographs, stories, letter, drawings, etc. from your program.  All entries will be assessed for their creativity and effective outreach strategies in the Spring of 2011 before the annual Canadian Library Association Conference.  All libraries who have participated in the TD Summer Reading Club this year are eligible to apply.

To be considered for the award, entries must be received no later than November 15, 2010.  

You can send your entry to:

          Library and Archives Canada

          TD Summer Reading Club Library Awards
          395 Wellington Street, Room 196
          Ottawa, ON  K1A 0N4

For more information on the Library Awards, visit the TD Summer Reading Club website.

Dangers on the Web

Have you ever worried about keeping your privacy and your computer safe online?  Protect yourself and your library's computers by checking out the top ten most dangerous things you can do online.

http://gizmodo.com/5614047/the-top-ten-most-dangerous-things-you-can-do-online

Surf safe!

Why do Young Adults Matter?

I must admit that every week I check the inbox on my desk to see if the latest issue of Public Libraries has arrived. In particular, I look forward to reading the column 'Passing Notes' by Michael Garrett Farrelly. And the May/June issue did not disappoint! When I read it, I felt somewhat enlightened. Why do Young Adults matter? "The answer is simple: it's the age when we lose them" (Farrelly, 2010, p.26). Genius, right?! And yet surprisingly obvious. Farrelly (2010) goes onto say that teenagers are somewhat liminal in that they "exist between childhood's end and the dawn of adulthood" (p.26). At such a transitional time in their life, it's not surprising that many teens choose to leave the library behind. One statement Farrelly (2010) made, really struck me: "Teenagers today are presented with so many options for their time that it's staggering they're able to make a choice at all" (p.27). And with "all the shiny wonders of the world" (Farrelly, 2010, p.27) today, it's no wonder many teens choose to turn their back on an institution that they view as dull and outdated. We, of course, know that the library is far from dull and outdated. We know that libraries today are community centres. Libraries are internet cafes, job banks, bookstores, and so much more. That is why we need to focus our attention on teenagers now! If we loose them now, we may not get them back when they become adults. So let's give teens "an affection for a place that can be a window to a wider world, a center of culture, and a safe place" (Farrelly, 2010, p.27).

Farrelly, M. G. (2010, May/June). Why Young Adults Matter. Public Libraries, 49 (3), 26-27.

What would you do ...

Emily Lloyd, author of the Shelf Check blog (http://shelfcheck.blogspot.com/) recently blogged about the premise "What would you do if you didn't need the approval of 15 committees?" The idea is to post all of those great ideas that you have for your library that are often stymied due to organizational red tape. What I love about this post are the ideas it generates. Here are a few snippets with some interesting ideas:

If your library has a Facebook page, slap together a gift app. It takes about an hour. Create fake book covers in Picnik or wherever, covers that say things like "Pulse-Pounding Thriller" or "Savvy Historical Romp." Patrons can send them to people, and each should come w/the attached message: "For 10 Great Pulse-Pounding Thriller recommendations, call _____ Library at XXX-XXXX" [or insert ask-a-librarian's email, etc]". Boom. Facebook gifts. Reader's Advisory promotion. An hour or two of work. (Facebook quizzes are also a piece of cake. Have *something* fun & light to offer aside from your library's info, at least. Local history quiz? How Well Do You Know Your Library? quiz?) ....

National Poetry Month promotion for kids (or adults, really): run weekly drawings for personalized poems. You've got a poet on staff, or on your teen advisory board, or in your local literary community. You make up forms, or have a web form--kids write in 5 things they want included in the poem (give them suggestions: a sport, Harry Potter, a favorite color, toad guts, etc), and check whether they want the poem to be silly or serious. Draw one name a week, or 5 names a week, or 10 names a week during National Poetry Month--whatever your poet/s can handle. ...

What else? Some kind of free reading-type content to download to e-readers/iPhones/etc. A free ebook, courtesy of the library. That's right; your staff puts it together. A selection of our librarians' favorite short stories in the public domain, if no one on staff wants to write original stuff. A compendium of library-related humor. An anthology of literary mash-ups (Pride and Prejudice and Librarians) by staff. Our Library's Got Talent. Anecdotes. Whatever. People LOVE free ebooks. I slapped up an e-chapbook of previously published poems--poems! who reads them ... in May, and it's seen almost 1500 downloads. ... People are downloading it because they want free ebooks. But you, you promote your library's free ebook via your library's social network presences, your library's web page, etc. Boom. You've given people something different, for free, and folks, it really wasn't much work at all."

You can read Emily's full post (and the comments which offer more ideas) at: http://shelfcheck.blogspot.com/2010/07/what-would-you-do-if-you-didnt-need.html