The Social Library, Volume 35
With Volume 35 of our Social Library series, we learn of libraries gathering community around fitness, reading, early literacy, the great outdoors, and of course, zombies. These ideas can be stolen and applied to libraries of any size, and with partners of many types. Whether looking for new ways to reach your community or for fresh ideas to connect in old ways, these examples are sure to recharge your library batteries. We look forward to seeking out next week's treasures from those we follow on Facebook. And if you'd like to see your library highlighted in the Social Library series, please let us know via [email protected], or find us on Facebook.
- Pine River Library- Bayfield's Public Library announced Uptown Library Funk, a wonderfully welcoming approach to community exercise. "Early mornings are the time to get funky at this novice led dance exercise class. Start your day with a party! Join this FREE class at anytime. No sign-up needed; head "uptown" to the library and join in on Tuesdays and Saturdays."
- Edmonton Public Library in Canada has launched their One Book One Edmonton program and they have a wonderful tweet collection feed all things related to the program: the book (Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper), the events, the readers, and the weekly missions. The hashtag #OBYEG, by the way, refers to Edmonton's airport code, YEG. And as trend-setters in the library world, EPL is the first Canadian library (perhaps anywhere?) to offer a One Book program with unlimited e-copies.
- 'Mr George' from the Dover Area Community Library promotes each upcoming week's storytime theme in videos posted to Facebook. 'M is for Me!' and 'F is for Firefighter' are just two of the videos in the growing collection of weekly posts that inform, entice and entertain!
In keeping with news of libraries as a safe-haven during a zombie apocalypse, we thought it only appropriate to share a few zombie events we learned about this week. The zombie at right (Christoph, undead library security officer) was shared by Lawrence Public Library in Kansas, as part of the 9th Annual Lawrence Zombie Walk. Not sure what happens when the security officers are zombies! And we also heard about next week's Teen Zombie Walk at Rodman Public Library in Ohio. The Friends of the Library are providing make-up; just bring your tattered clothes!
- And last but not least, we were excited see the announcement about a new program, Check Out a Pass and Backpack at Colorado Libraries, created by Colorado Parks and Wildlife in collaboration with the Colorado State Library. We saw media coverage about the pilot libraries participating, including the Mesa County Library report on Fox4. The program will launch to all 260 libraries in the state next year, extending the initiative which offers residents the ability to reserve and check-out a backpack from their local library, with key ingredients for exploring the state park system, including a seven-day park pass, wildlife viewing guide, pocket camping guide, compass, magnifying glass and more!
Thanks to all of this week's featured libraries for such outstanding service to your communities!