Tag Archive for 'community'

What’s Next?! – Library Advocacy and BHAG 3.0

Published by Michelle on September 29, 2011 in Community Collaborations, General and advocacy. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

On behalf of Shelley Walchak:

Library advocacy can’t just start and stop. It needs to be continuous. (Because those who speak against the public sector don’t take holidays.) To that end, I wanted to announce two things:

  1. The BHAG website is still up and running, still the go-to place for ideas, tips, and support.
  2. BHAG 3.0 is about encouraging all of us to start coordinating our messages. Which messages? The same four, because YOU HAVE TO REPEAT MESSAGES MANY TIMES BEFORE THEY ARE COMMUNICATED. (Sorry to yell at you.)

The top post at the BHAG website explains all this in more detail. But here’s the brief focus: between October and December, we should all try to underscore a message that resonates well with our patrons. That message is:
“Libraries build community.” Continue reading ‘What’s Next?! – Library Advocacy and BHAG 3.0′

Tips on Blogging from Bloggy Boot Camp

Published by Michelle on September 20, 2011 in Continuing Education, General and conferences. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

For anyone interested in personal blogging OR blogging for your library:

Last weekend – despite my body being furious at me for waking it up early on a Saturday – I attended the Bloggy Boot Camp conference, hosted by the SITS Girls here in Denver. Thanks to the women’s studies department at my college I was able to attend for free, so early Saturday aside, it was a good opportunity for me to get out there, meet other women blogging locally and nationally, and get advice on how to make my personal blog a success.

While I was not able to take something usable for me personally from every session, and I felt a bit out of place among the many “mommy” bloggers, I did come away with several things. Specifically: lots o’ business cards (seriously, my giant, bottomless Mary Poppins purse feels heavier today), new blogs to read, a local writing support group, and a few gems to improve my blog and inspire me to write every week. The crème de la crème, for your viewing pleasure: Continue reading ‘Tips on Blogging from Bloggy Boot Camp’

Check Out Lafayette Public Library Hula Video

Published by Sharon on July 31, 2009 in General and Public Libraries. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Posted on behalf of Betsy Stroomer, Lafayette (CO) Public Library:

Each year, we try to plan something a little bit outrageous to thank our community for its participation in our summer reading program.

In keeping with this summer’s creativity theme, our staff pledged to perform a hula at our grand finale program if our readers met or exceed our reading goal of 15,000 hours of reading.  About 10 of us studied hula with a teacher from Boulder’s Halau Hula O Na Mauna Pohaku http://www.maunapohaku.org/ (Hula School of the Rockies) and practiced really hard!

And as it turned out,  we had a lot to celebrate!  3,131 members of our community of about 25,000 read with us (including 300+ adults and 500+ teens) and as of early this week, our readers had reported over 26,000 hours of reading.

About 200 people came to see us make good on our pledge Tuesday night.
We had a blast! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iozgeSw9Jxo

Libraries at the Heart of Our Communities

Published by Sharon on July 27, 2009 in Public Libraries and advocacy. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Check out this feature article “Libraries at the Heart of Our Communities” in the Summer 2009 issue of the Planning Commissioners Journal.  The writer has done a lot of research, gives examples of various sizes of libraries throughout the country, and makes many great points about the increasingly important role public libraries are playing in their communities.

The article is available as a pdf file at no charge. They are granting blanket permission for librarians (and others) to either photocopy this article or redistribute the pdf. To find out how to receive a complimentary pdf of the article, Libraries at the Heart of the Community:
http://pcj.typepad.com/planning_commissioners_jo/2009/07/libraries.html

Twittering in the Colorado Library Community

Published by Michelle on March 11, 2009 in Academic Libraries, Children's Services, Community Collaborations, Continuing Education, General, IT, Innovation, Instruction, Library Visits, Public Libraries, Reference Services, School Libraries, Special Libraries and programs. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Last week I sent out a message on Libnet asking who was using Twitter. The responses I received have been compiled into a spreadsheet for anyone who is interested. There are Twitter users from Colorado cities, public libraries, schools, and museums, as well as other State Libraries, national organizations, local, state and federal government, and more. Thanks for the wonderful response! Colorado has a growing Twitter community and I can only see it getting bigger and becoming more useful to us all over time.

Results in Excel
Results in PDF
 
If you would like to be added to or removed from this list of Twitter users, please email Michelle Gebhart.

Grant Opportunity for Libraries – Community Conversations

Published by Sharon on October 24, 2008 in Academic Libraries, Community Collaborations, Public Libraries and School Libraries. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS
From Talk to Action!

The Special Populations & Issues Committee of the Colorado State Library seeks 10-15 libraries to provide outreach to new, diverse groups by becoming part of “Community Conversations.”

Libraries are thriving active places where people come together for education, entertainment and information.  Does your library mirror your communities’ composition and interests?

What better way to practice inclusivity than by applying your skills to a  ‘Community Conversations‘ project?

Equip your library to use diversity materials in fostering broad-based conversations.

  • Position your library as a leader to celebrate community diversity.
  • Design a ‘Community Conversations’ project held between January and June 2009.
  • Engage an underserved or diverse community; create diversity awareness, or serve a particular customer group such as differently-abled, immigrants, low income, older adults, non-native English speakers, varying ethnicities, religions, or sexual orientations.
  • Create local events such as a diversity fair, a facilitated discussion, and book discussions  or speaker series.
  • Feature local community leaders and partners as endorsers, speakers or participants.
  • Foster dialogue and lifelong learning about cultural differences.
  • Enable library and staff to celebrate and encourage diversity in their communities.

Any public, school, academic or special library in the state may apply.  Benefits include:

  • Paired with a mentor with background in outreach and diversity/inclusivity.
  • $500 to build diversity resources in your collection.
  • Contact with statewide groups that specialize in diversity/inclusivity.
  • Expert advice during the planning process.
  • Serve as a mentor in 2009.

For Application Info: http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdelib/diversity/Committee-Info.htm
Applications due: 12/1/08 to Carlson_M@cde.state.co.us