Social Library, Volume 87
Jennifer Peterson
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11 July 2017
We continue our Social Library series with a fresh set of inspiration from libraries and their community partners. From Milwaukee to Western Australia and from sketchbooks to naturalization ceremonies, these libraries are growing readers and engaging with citizens in the best of ways. Thank you to all these libraries for your great work, and if you'd like to see your library featured in a Social Library edition, please let us know via social@webjunction.org or find us on Facebook.
- We love to see other community members or officials posting to social media about what's happening at the library. Milwaukee's Mayor Tom Barrett shared this fantastic photo of some of the city's Super Readers, holding up their yard signs, which is a fabulous way for readers to show off their superpowers! The Mayor includes in his post, "Milwaukee Public Library wants your children ages 12 and younger to read throughout the summer. Create a daily habit of reading and help your children avoid the summer slide by winning prizes and earning free admission to fun places around town."
- And in another example of a community partner posting about the library, Visit Northam highlighted The Travelling Sketchbook Exhibition on display at the Northam Public Library in Western Australia. Propel Youth Arts hosts The Sketchbook Project each year, in partnership with the State Library of Western Australia, sending "sketchbooks to participants across Western Australia, ready to be cut, painted and inked, filled with designs, stories, drawings from young people across the State." The finished sketchbooks are on exhibit at the State Library and then embark on a travelling exhibit to a number of public libraries. For more inspiration on sketchbooks, check out the Brooklyn-based Sketchbook Project at the Brooklyn Art Library.
- We noted a number of libraries posting videos and photos from USCIS Naturalization Ceremonies and wanted to share them with you from NYPL The New York Public Library; Ramsey County Library, Shoreview Branch, in Minnesota; High Plains Library District with Centennial Village Museum in Colorado; and Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library in Memphis, Tennessee.
- We learned about a readers' advisory service offered by at least two libraries on Facebook. Denver Public Library in Colorado hosts a monthly Three-For-All, where patrons post in the comments, the names or authors of three books, audiobooks, movies, TV shows or bands they enjoy, and then the librarians share back, three more suggestions. Similarly, Onslow County Public Library in North Carolina hosts a Three for All Friday from 10am - 4pm each week.
- And last, but certainly not least, Barboursville Public Library in West Virginia hosted our favorite internet pig, Hank, at a recent storytime. The library shared photos and Hank shared a video that will surely melt your heart.