Blog

National University of Health Sciences Juneteenth Display.

My Library Is…Celebrating Juneteenth

17 June 2022

Anonymous

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2022 marks the first year that Juneteenth will be recognized as a federal holiday.

As an academic health science library, I wondered how we could provide an appropriate context for our diverse university community.

The inspiration came from an unexpected as well as controversial source: J. Marion Sims, “father of gynecology,” whose innovations resulted from experimentation on enslaved women.

I was aware of Dr. Sims through classroom discussions as well as through recorded talks available through the National Library of Medicine (What History Reveals: Slavery and the...

My Library Is... Conversation with Kimberly Shotick

15 June 2022

Dan Bostrom

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My Library Is... Conversation with Kimberly Shotick

My Library Is......

Band members with instrument standing in front of a table

My Library Is… A Community Hub to help each other while advocating for great causes

13 June 2022

Stacy Palmisano

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A story of how our library went from a list of resources and literature on our website, to host a 2-week humanitarian drive, a cultural program with 140 attendees, a display, and more. All for Ukraine.

Libraries are about community and when it comes to helping others, they stand out even more. Libraries across the world play an important role in sharing information and providing services and resources for people. As most of us know already this has been a devastating year for Ukraine. Libraries coming together with resources and ideas to support this cause have been no...

My Library Is …. Finding Hidden Gems for your Collection

2 June 2022

Stacy Palmisano

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Collection development is a craft, a skill that requires expertise, hard work, and insight about your collections and community. We seek out data about our community through information collected through the census, local government, schools, and community organizations. We build connections with our patrons to find out what they are curious about and try to find materials that match their interests. We scour social media for recommendations, pour through review journals, talk to colleagues and friends, join publisher previews, check out on-sale lists, preview books on Edelweiss and...

Woman holding a sign that reads "We All Belong"

Traveling Exhibit for Local Libraries

23 May 2022

Stacy Palmisano

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Voices of Belonging is an interactive exhibit, created as a collaboration between several entities at Northern Illinois University: Northern Public Radio, the Divisions of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development and Academic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, as well as various campus and community partners. The exhibit is part of a continuing community and campus program focusing on belonging. The exhibit aims to deepen the communiversity understanding of belonging and othering by exploring personal lived experiences of campus and community members, and the insights of national...

General Advocacy Brochure created by Vespasian Warner Public Library District

Libraries As Canva Power Users: Good Marketing Done In-House

13 May 2022

Dan Bostrom

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The My Library Is… campaign is all about helping libraries do marketing and advocacy in new ways. And libraries aren't shy about discovering these new ways! Libraries are curious, creative places. Even though they might not have huge budgets to hire expensive graphic designers, videographers, etc., they constantly find a way to promote themselves and the programs and services they offer.

Many of them are using Canva. If you don’t know about it, Canva is a great free/low-cost tool that allows libraries to do their own graphic design and marketing....

Interview with Hao Phan, Curator of the Southeast Asia Collection at Northern Illinois University Library

9 May 2022

Stacy Palmisano

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Northern Illinois University is a Carnegie 2 research institution tucked away in DeKalb. It has the distinction of being home to Illinois' only Center for Southeast Asia Studies. The Founders Memorial Library holds a distinctive collection of materials to support the work of the Center. In addition to his responsibilities as the collection's curator, Hao Phan, has made significant contributions to preserving and providing access to primary research materials in Southeast Asia. I talked with Hao about his work with the Southeast Asia Collection at NIU.

Thank you for sharing...

My Library Is...Finals Week Activities in the Library: Helping Our Students De-Stress

2 May 2022

Nichole Novak

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Study Week and Finals Week can be a hectic time for everyone on college and university campuses. At Illinois Institute of Technology’s Paul V. Galvin Library we remain open 24 hours a day for 12 days straight during this period. It’s become a rite of passage for some of our students, individually or in groups, to study all night in the library at least once during their time with the university. In addition to providing our regular library services the last two weeks of the semester, we also offer de-stress activities for students using the space. During the pandemic we eliminated the...

12th Annual Edible Book Festival at Booth Library, Eastern Illinois University

25 April 2022

Stacy Palmisano

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Booth Library on the campus of Eastern Illinois University sponsored its 12th annual Edible Book Festival on April 4. It’s been a tradition to kick off National Library Week with this activity.

The edible creations were put on display throughout the day in the library’s foyer, and the public was invited to vote for their favorites. Viewer’s Choice awards were given to the top three vote-getters. Each winning team also received a gift card.

We were happy to present this year’s festival in person after hosting it virtually for the past few years. It’s very difficult to see all...

My Library Is... Conversation About Why School Libraries Matter

21 April 2022

Dan Bostrom

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RAILS Member Engagement Manager Dan Bostrom talks with Andrea Perrin, Janine Asmus, Gail Meyer, & Robyn Whitlock about their letter published in the Chicago Tribune. These four Association of Illinois School Library Educators (AISLE) members discuss why school libraries are so important and what librarians can do to advocate for the profession.

ILA has published the full letter to their website, which you can view here: https://www.ila.org/news/2455/why-school-librarians-matter-to-...

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