It can be tough to plan programs to engage the whole family. Research shows parent involvement means better learning outcomes for our kids. And the public library is an ideal community space for these types of programs.
The Public Library Association (PLA) is seeking persons interested in serving as regular column editors for the association’s official magazine.
Implicit bias contributes to health disparities within minority populations and thus affects individual as well as community health. Libraries can be part of the solution by increasing their community’s health literacy, a proven, effective tool in addressing health disparities for vulnerable communities.
Why is it we always find what we are looking for in the last place we look?
“Helping Hands: Upcycling with Dual Purposes” is an arts and crafts program at the Miami-Dade Public Library System’s (MDPLS) Country Walk Branch Library. This program works to meet the needs of two communities — older adults and homeless populations — at the same time. Patrons socialize at the library while they make sleeping mats from […]
My sisters and I were yearning for entertainment that was anything other than staring at our laundry spinning in circles over and over again. Occasionally we had books to read but we would have benefited from (and enjoyed!) a story time program put on by local librarians. The Chicago Public Library has done just that for families who spend plenty of their time at laundromats like my family did.
As library social workers, we are often asked how to address behaviors in the public library setting. Sometimes this is framed in the question, “How do we address homelessness (insert other social issues) in our libraries?” Despite the fact that people would like an easy answer to that question, there isn’t one, because wrapped up in the question itself are human beings — individuals, people with personal histories they’ve brought to the place they are now, inside your public library.
John Doe wanted an email address so that he could get a job. According to DMR Business statistics, as of October 26, 2018 there were 1.5 billion Gmail accounts, making Gmail one of the most utilized free email services available. In order to create the Gmail account, he needed to enable two-factor authentication. He borrowed his girlfriend’s cellphone to set this up.
Based on the Every Child Ready to Read practices of reading, writing, singing, talking, playing (and now counting), each download contains twelve months of learning activities, book lists, nursery rhymes, and more.
Our guest for this episode is Sara Zettervall. Sara is the founding consultant and trainer for Whole Person Librarianship, which applies social work concepts to library practice. She also works at Hennepin County Library as the community engagement librarian for East African refugees in Minneapolis.
ALA and Grow with Google launched a national tour of public libraries this week as part of a new partnership to expand resources and services promoting economic opportunity in cities and towns across the country.
I’m good with teens and I know why. I listen to them and I don’t talk down to them. I treat them as whole people with complex emotions. I like to joke around with them and I enjoy making them feel like someone is listening. But how do I do this with children? How do I share library space with them in a way that is authentic and in a way that recognizes them as a whole person – even for those who don’t have language yet.
Many see social media as a panacea – connecting libraries with the people we serve. However, social media done right takes time, effort, strategy and planning. Social media in libraries done right can reach users in new ways. Maintaining social media accounts for an organization takes a level of expertise often underestimated or taken for granted.
PLA’s Brendan Dowling hosts a conversation with Lainey Mays and Christopher Connolly of the HarperCollins Library LoveFest team, and an interview with Juliet Grames, whose first novel, “The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna,” will be released in the Spring.
When people discover I am a social worker at the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) Main Library, the first question I often hear is, “Really? Why provide social services at the library?!” I understand this response, but in truth, many patrons experiencing homelessness access the library for refuge and assistance for basic needs. And that is where I enter the picture.
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