Crowd at Fall Fest

Pandemic Programming - Baby Goats, Churros, and Pumpkins

3 January 2022
Gail Graziani
Comments: 0

Pandemic Programming – Baby Goats, Churros, and Pumpkins

Like many public libraries, the Lisle Library District has been challenged to provide new, primarily outdoor events for our community in response to the pandemic. Annual inside pre-pandemic events had included Harry Potter Day and Star Wars Reads Day – both of which entailed a full house of hundreds of patrons enjoying treats, crafts, and games. Now, with large inside events on indefinite hiatus, the time had come to try a new outside event or two in addition to the Summer Read Kick Off...

My Library Is.. Specialized Library Spotlight AHA

Specialized Library Spotlight: American Hospital Association

16 December 2021
Stacy Palmisano
Comments: 0
Debbie Baaske talks with Brenda Stenger, the director of the American Hospital Association Resource Center. Brenda discusses how the resource center serves the organization and outside users, and how demand has grown during the pandemic.  She also shares some great ways that she’s marketed the resource center.

Specialized Library Spotlight: ESi Library

29 November 2021
Dan Bostrom
Comments: 0
RAILS Member Engagement Manager Dan Bostrom talks with Cheryl A. Hansen, Research Librarian at the ESi Library about what ESi does and who they serve.

Connect with a Community Conversation

22 November 2021
Samantha Rusk
Comments: 0

Are you looking for a new way to gather input and spark ideas in your community? Try a community conversation.

The Vespasian Warner Public Library District in Clinton held a community conversation in August thanks to grant funding from Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC): Focus on Small and Rural Libraries, an initiative of the American Library Association (ALA) in collaboration with the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL).

The LTC grant gave the library the opportunity to participate in a facilitation eCourse and the skills gained were put into action...

Image credit: Sam McGhee via Unsplash.

RAILS to Spotlight Specialized Libraries

15 November 2021
Dan Bostrom
Comments: 0

Did you know that there are over 100 specialized libraries in RAILS? Each specialized library serves a unique audience with specialized resources. As part of the My Library Is... campaign, RAILS is looking to spotlight specialized libraries and how they make a difference in their organization. Through a series of video interviews called the Specialized Library Spotlight, RAILS will discuss how each library serves their audience and how they tell their story.

RAILS seeks participating specialized libraries to interview. For more information about the Specialized Library Spotlight...

My Library Is campaign.

Help Us Help You Get More Support for Your Library

3 November 2021
Dan Bostrom
Comments: 0

Do you need help demonstrating the value of your library to different stakeholders? Want to know what to say to justify the need for continued/increased library funding or staffing? Would you like to attract new library users? Want advice on how to promote the library’s role in identifying fake news or why libraries are needed more than ever in the internet age?
 
The My Library Is… campaign is designed to help libraries of all types (academic, public, school, and specialized) with these challenges and more. The campaign started in 2019, and we want to ensure that it continues...

A photo of a free-standing card catalog and small table. The card catalog is filled with seed packets for library card holders to use in their home gardens.

Borrow, Grow, Return: Blossom with a Seed Library

18 October 2021
Samantha Rusk
Comments: 0

The fall season may seem like an odd time to think about gardening, but it is the perfect time of year to start a Seed Library.  

A Seed Library is a collection of herb, flower, fruit, and vegetable seeds that are available for “check-out”. Library card holders are invited to “borrow” free seeds at the library, plant them, and then harvest the new seeds to return to the library at the end of the growing season. Housed in an old card catalog, the Seed Library at the Vespasian Warner Public Library District (VWPLD) in Clinton, Illinois has been used to borrow over 2,000 packets of...

Library Lovers Legislative Comments Request.

It Never Hurts to Ask!

13 October 2021
Donna Forbis
Comments: 0

Listening to the radio recently, I was reminded that this week is the semi-annual fundraising drive for my local public radio station.  A couple of times each hour, an announcer would mention the drive and invite listeners to support the station.  Instructions on how to make a donation were given, and then the station would move back to its regular programming.  It was not the “in your face” approach that public TV and radio stations used to use, pre-empting large blocks of their programming to try and coerce their audience into making a donation.  I was struck by the subtly of it all. ...

Advance Planning and Flexibility Makes Outreach a Success

11 October 2021
Kirstin Finneran
Comments: 0

Back in June, it was with cautious optimism that I emailed our staff to say “we’re getting the band back together!” It was time to dust off the prize wheel, order tchotchkes, air out the tent, and get back out into the community for some personal interaction with residents. We received a number of invitations to fests and gatherings, and I said yes to as many as I thought we could handle. We had great fun, meaningful conversations, and new experiences. Here are some bullet points to consider as your outreach schedule comes back to life:

    ...
Small and Rural Libraries Forum

Giving a Voice to Small and Rural Libraries

27 September 2021
Victoria Blackmer
Comments: 1

Small and rural libraries play a critical role in connecting community members to vital resources and programs.  Each year nearly 30 million Americans are served by the nation’s approximately 4,000 rural library systems.  This number illustrates the value that local communities place on library services.  Small and rural libraries are the heart of the community they serve.  Like their counterparts they are a place of information, a community hub connecting people to people offering safe havens for their users while providing the range of information resources needed to live, learn...

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