Revision as of 19:36, 18 March 2007

Success Stories

Great Ideas for Adult Programming

Job Interviewing & Resume Workshops Contact your local community college job center. Many community colleges have outreach coordinators that will present at your library for free.

Bold Great Idea for Adult Programs: TechRx: Our experts, your sick computer -a free computer help workshop

This is a great program for public libraries. At the Stillwater Public Library, we teach beginning level computer classes each week, where we instruct folks on software programs and internet, but we do not have tech staff on hand to answer questions about PC hardware. Holding a one-time two-hour program dedicated to one-on-one computer assistance filled this need that we cannot provide for on a regular basis.

I held the workshop on Saturday, March 10, 2007. In order to have computer experts, I tried to solicit help from local business owners who fix computers, the local IT departments from the university, the technical school and a local computer corporation, but the interest was minimal. Our library is part of the City of Stillwater, so the head of our IT department and one of his crew members agreed to come give their expert help.

The local newspaper, the Stillwater Newspresswrote an article about the TechRx program the Sunday before it was scheduled to occur, and I asked that if anyone else was interested in helping, they call the library. The next morning, a gentleman who owns a computer business in Stillwater, called to volunteer. Also present were an undergraduate student who works in the library in the circulation department who has interest in computers, and the husband of one of our librarians. The team of experts consisted of 5 people available to help.

The crew from our IT department brought diagnostic equipment of all sorts, and participants were encouraged to bring their own PCs for testing. A few people had problems that weren't hardware related, such as "how do I find a file" or "how do I delete this program"? The library provided monitors, power strips, headphones, floppy discs and CD-Rs, the meeting room, and refreshments (cookies, coffee and water). Each participant was required to sign a release form which dictated they would not hold our library or city employees responsible for anything that might happen to their computers, the experts gave follow up directions, each participant filled out a program evaluation, and received a copy of a glossary of computer terminology from Michael Miller's book Easy Computer Basics, with author permission.

The program was set to run from 11am-1pm, a come and go program, but we ended up staying until 2 because of great participation from the community. The experts were very cooperative, friendly, and professional, and the participants were very grateful that we could offer such a service free of charge.

Bold Great Idea for Adult Programs: Altered Book Workshop</h> This is especially ideal for public libraries. At my library, we receive many book donations from the public, and our Friends of the Library accept most donations to sell. However, there are quite a few books that get tossed, but can be utilized by creative folks. What is an altered book? It can be as simple as painting or drawing on single book pages, or as complex as constructing furniture out of books. Here are some examples of what an altered book can be:

• travel journal
• photo album
• memory book
• scrapbook
• gift

I held a workshop on Saturday, September 30, 2006 called "Altered Bookshop: Turn Old Books Into Art". There was a lot of community interest, and we advertised all over town; so we had a great turnout, about 10 people. (Our town, Stillwater, Oklahoma, has a population of around 40,000, but our public library serves the entire county of Payne, where over 68,000people reside.) The workshop was constructed as such:

• tables set up into work stations for each activity (book choosing, painting, gluing, cutting, material gathering)
• snacks and drinks provided by the library (snacks made by volunteers, if possible)
• Welcome and introduction to significance of altered books, show examples: using MS PowerPoint
• Have at least one volunteer or library employee at each station (we had a 1.5 hour training session to introduce techniques prior to workshop date)
• coordinator serves as troubleshooter, answers questions, oversees and supervises
• safety precautions were emphasized heavily because sharp blades were used, and hot glue. A first-aid kit was nearby.

The emphasis of this workshop was on learning the techniques, not creating a final project. That way, participants did not feel pressured to turn out products of certain artistic quality. Prior to the workshop, my fellow librarians and I gathered lots of scrap materials from library employees, personal resources, and the "library vault of things," and organized them for display for the workshop participants to take home. We provided the bags and encouraged people to take as much as they wanted, so they could work on their altered book at a later date. Resources used for content: Italic The Altered Book Scrapbook by Susan Ure, Italic Altered Art : Techniques for Creating Altered Books, Boxes, Cards & More by Terry Taylor, and Italic Altered Books Workshop : 18 Creative Techniques for Self-expression by Bev Brazelton. The images I used for examples were taken from www.alteredbookartists.com, the website for the International Society of Altered Book Artists. As soon as the workshop was over, people were asking the date for the next workshop!

Blogs/Websites to Watch

EZ Library Program Database http://midhudson.org/resources/ezprogram.htm A searchable database of programs created by librarians for children and teens.

There is a flickr group for collecting photos from library events accross NJ: http://www.flickr.com/groups/njlibraryevents/

The description for the NJ Library Events group is as follows: This is a place where you can post pictures from NJ library events. NJ libraries are community centers or the "third place" where people come to gather. Whether our events have a small group of a couple of people or a huge group of thousands they have one thing in common ... community.

Specific Blog Posts/Articles to Check Out