RefTracker Express is a pared down version of Altarama’s RefTracker. It is designed for small to medium-sized libraries that want a way to manage and track their information request services whether it is via in person, phone, email, Internet, chat, or text. After completing a short planning guide, Altarama will provide you with a ready-to-use system that requires minimal staff setup time and training and no IT involvement.

It is a cloud-based (no software to download) product. It is hosted and administered by Altarama so library staff members do not have to worry about upgrades or periodic system tuning. It comes with three preconfigured forms: (1) a customized request form for a variety of request types that can be adjusted to your needs at no additional cost; (2) a comments and suggestions form: and (3) a standard simple request form that can be inserted into library webpages.

A built-in report writer helps analyze the statistics. More than a hundred different reports can be created based on the requests submitted to the system, and the reports can be broadcast to screen or exported.

One license allows for an unlimited number of staff login accounts with 1-5 concurrent users for one institution. Staff can access RefTracker Express at their desk, at a service point, on a mobile phone, or with a tablet. The entry level cost for set up and one license is $2,500. If you find you need additional features Altarama can upgrade the system to meet your needs.

More Self-Publishing Options for Libraries

In our last column, we talked about some of the new self-publishing tools for libraries; including SELF-e from Bibliolabs and Library Journal, and the new partnership between FastPencil and Recorded Books.

There is another option that we chose to go with for the enki Library, our own hosted e-book platform built in partnership with Contra Costa (Calif.) County Library. California-based self-publishing platform leader, Smashwords, will set up free, branded publishing portal sites for any library that wants one. Patrons will be prompted to create a free Smashwords account and upload their book with cover art.

Items that come through the branded link may be tagged as originating from your library. The titles may then become available through the distributors with whom Smashwords has partnerships such as OverDrive, 3M, and Baker & Taylor, so if you use any of those, you are able to make the titles available via those platforms. You simply need to send Smashwords some text and cover art/logo for the portal page.

See how Los Gatos (Calif.) Library publicizes its partnership with Smashwords and see the library’s branded portal page.

Contact Jim Azevedo of Smashwords at jim@smashwords.com to get the setup information.

Foreign Films and Documentaries

If you are looking for foreign language films and documentaries, or providing access to classic films, there are two new streaming video services, Digitalia and Criterion Films, from Alexander Street Press.

Digitalia Film Library

Digitalia, a provider of Hispanic e-books, journals, and educational multimedia programs, has introduced a film library of Spanish and other European language films.

The library currently includes more than 500 films and documentaries from 1919 to 2013 with more titles to be added as they become available. There are a number of award-winning feature films such as Zona Sur (2009) from Bolivia and Todos Tus Muertos (2011) from Columbia and films that are difficult to obtain in the United States.

The film library is divided into seven collections: (1) Argentine Cinema, (2) European Cinema, (3) History, (4) Latin American, (5) Nature and Wildlife, (6) North American Classic Cinema, and (7) Travel Documentary. The collections are subscription-based; a library may subscribe to the full collection or to individual or multiple collections.

There is unlimited access to content and unlimited concurrent users. The films can be accessed remotely and can be viewed on mobile devices. The subscription also includes Public Performance Rights (PPR).

Criterion Films

Alexander Street Press is offering the Criterion Collection, an online streaming collection of 300 of Criterion’s most important and influential films.

The Criterion Collection covers the history of cinema throughout the twentieth century, from early silent films such as Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush (1925) to releases from contemporary filmmakers such as Gus Van Sant and Guillermo del Toro. It also includes films from directors such as Federico Fellini, Alfred Hitchcock, Akira Kurosawa, and Orson Welles. In addition to feature films, the collection includes documentaries and popular subgenres such as French New Wave, Italian Neorealism, and New German Cinema. Some films include audio commentaries by filmmakers and scholars, restored director’s cuts, deleted scenes, documentaries, shooting scripts, early shorts, and storyboards.

The collection is available in full or in the following micro-collections: American Documentaries, American Independents, American Mid-Century, Art Cinema of the 1980s and 1990s, The British Collection, Cult Classics, The Eastern European and Russian Collection, The Films of Ingmar Bergman, French New Wave Collection, the German Collection, the Golden Age of French Cinema: Volumes 1 and 2, Italian Cinema, Internal Silent Cinema, The Japanese Collection: Volumes 1 and 2, Modern French Cinema, Silent Films from Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, World Documentaries.

This is a subscription-based service with 24/7 access to unlimited users whether in the library or not, so your patrons always have access to the content. A library’s authentication options are via IP, referrer URL, username/password, library card, or Shibboleth, and they are offering a thirty-day trial if you’d like to test it out.

Comics Plus: Library Edition

Mobile app creator Boopsie is entering into new territory with a digital comics and graphic books products in partnership with Comics Plus: Library Edition. Comics Plus offers more than 10,000 digital comics to libraries, accessible via the Boopsie mobile app or the traditional library website.

Comics Plus: Library Edition is an online streaming service that provides libraries with access to thousands of digital graphic novels, comic books, and manga at a per-checkout price with simultaneous circulation to virtually any mobile device, tablet, or PC. They currently have a number of active libraries, including Kitchener (Ontario) Public Library, York County (Pa.) Libraries, and Houston (Tex.) Public Library.

“So far this year thousands of graphic novels, manga, and comic books have been checked out via Comics Plus: Library Edition,” said Josh Elder, account director at Comics Plus: Library Edition and founder of Reading With Pictures. “Boopsie is the perfect partner to help expand this even
further, and we couldn’t be more excited to be partnering with them.”¹

Library-branded mobile apps from Boopsie work on all major mobile operating systems and are used by more than 2,500 libraries worldwide. Boopsie will be selling subscriptions to Comics Plus: Library Edition to all libraries, regardless of whether they have a Boopsie app since the subscription can be delivered through desktop browsers as well.

Libraries purchase 2,500 credits that are metered out to library users uniformly over a twelve-month period. One credit allows patrons to check out a comic, and two credits enable access to a graphic novel. These digital items are available on an easy-to-access digital bookshelf and automatically returned after seven days. Most libraries buy multiple blocks of credits and add additional blocks as demand for digital comics and graphic novels grows.

“Libraries are excited about being able to meet the needs of the Kids, Teens, and Young Adult markets in innovative, easy-to-use ways with content that generates excitement about the library,” said Bryan Murray, director of accounts at Boopsie. “Our team will be helping libraries market this new service directly to library patrons in order to further help libraries reach new users and get the word out to their communities about digital comics.”²

References

1. “Comics Plus: Library Edition,” accessed Dec. 19, 2014.

2. “Boopsie Partners with Comics Plus:Library Edition to Provide Enhanced Access to Digital Comics and Graphic Novels to Libraries,” accessed Dec. 19, 2014.

The post New Product News – November/December 2014 first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Mango Languages

Have you ever watched a foreign film, and thought that would be a cool way to learn a language? Well, Mango Languages did just that. They’ve been promoting it for a while, but it’s finally available.

They’ve taken the structure and features of their learning courses and applied it to films. Best of all, it’s very adaptable to your needs. If you just want to watch a foreign film, if you are somewhat familiar with a language and just need a little help, or if you don’t understand the language at all and want to learn the language from the film, Mango Première lets you customize your movie experience.

You have the ability to watch a movie in two modes, movie and engage. In movie mode you can watch the movie in its entirety like you would any film, and if you like, you can select subtitles in English, the film’s language, or both.

Engage mode is very much like their courses. The movie is broken down into scenes and the dialog is taught part by part. There are five steps to this learning process: (1) scene introduction, (2) view scene, (3) scene follow-up, (4) scene replay and (5) scene completion.

Scene introduction provides an overview of what is going on in the scene. Key sections of the scene are highlighted and Mango uses its color mapping feature that not only helps with the translation but also teaches grammar and sentence structure. Next is a list of words you will encounter in the scene. The list of words and the color mapping are completely interactive—you get the translation, a phonetic pop-up, and audio.

Next you view the scene in “scene follow-up” where they use dialog from the film and then break it down into sections. You do not have to go section by section if you are more advanced, but can choose only the sections you did not understand. Like their courses, each section is broken down word by word and you are quizzed to see if you remember a word and can put words together. You then watch the scene again and finally you have the option to re-watch the scene or move on to the next scene.

This looks like an exciting and fun way to learn a language. There are currently sixteen films and four more to be released this year. They are available in English for Spanish speakers, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, and Spanish.

In addition to the new Mango product, there are several other vendors offering products for patrons who put “learn a language” at the top of their list of 2014 New Year’s resolutions. If you’re looking for a language learning product, be sure to evaluate Gale’s Powerspeak, Pronunciator (created by a librarian), Transparent Languages, and Rocket Languages from Library Ideas. The ever formidable Rosetta Stone appears to be making a comeback in the library world with their recent purchase of Live Mocha, but based on our experience in our consortium, they are still working out the details of their offerings to libraries.

Hoopla

In addition to foreign films, there are a host of new entertainment products being marketed to libraries now. One of the new bright lights is hoopla, a service being offered from Midwest Tape. Best used through the app, once a user authenticates and creates an account, he or she may check out music, e-audiobooks, television shows, and films. The model is unlimited simultaneous usage. The library pays for each checkout, and there are different ways to limit the number of checkouts and put budget caps in place. They have a wide variety of new releases, and they are still working to acquire more content. I currently have four e-audiobooks checked out to listen to on some upcoming flights and road trips—ones with holds on other services, but that I could check out immediately on hoopla.

There is no platform fee for hoopla, but they do ask for a “good faith deposit,” though all of the money put on deposit goes towards content.

Peek-A-Book

Entertainment products for kids can be tricky, especially when you want to encourage them to read and love books. Peek-A-Book is a cool product for children that essentially creates book “trailers” that entertain, inspiring kids to read and discover new books, while teaching them where to find the titles. They have several different models, including a kiosk or a tablet version, but they all revolve around the same principle. Books are reviewed in a fun and engaging way, so that the children watching the trailers will be drawn into the story and want to read the book right away. New book talks are added monthly, and subscribers have access to the full list of book talks.

Enki Library

Because people start out the New Year with thoughts of innovation and plans for new developments, we wanted to share information about the development of our own library-created e-book platform, Enki, which we created in partnership with Contra Costa County (Calif.) Library (CCCL). Named after a Sumerian deity of mischief and intelligence, we created Enki so we could have ownership of both our platform, as well as the e-books that we placed on it. The service went live in May 2013 with CCCL and San Francisco Public Library, and to date there are nearly thirty Califa members up and running on the platform.

We currently have a shared collection of nearly 20,000 items in which the libraries are participating. The publishers represented have all agreed to ownership of files rather than a lease, and include some great names such as F+W Media, Workman, Independent Publishers Group, McGraw Hill, Smashwords, and University of California Press, among others. As word gets out, each week we are approached by more publishers wishing to make their titles available on our platform, and we are incredibly proud of the collection that we have put together.

The platform works similarly to the other products out there. A patron may view the titles and read a synopsis, but in order to check out a title they need to log in and be authenticated with their library card. Once there, they may view their account, read titles online (useful for titles such as recipe books, where they may not wish to download the whole book, but just bring their tablet into the kitchen while cooking), return titles they are finished with, and place holds.

We are providing participating libraries with a series of reports which, in addition to circulation information, include the most popular titles and most popular searches (romance, fiction, and cats).

Many times librarians ask what the point of “another platform” is; it can get lost in talk of publishers and features and holds ratios. But the point of Enki is that right now patrons with new holiday gifted e-readers are checking out consortium-owned titles on a consortium-owned platform, and we think that’s pretty cool.

Califa/CCCL aren’t the only folks building an e-book platform to host owned titles, though. We took inspiration from Douglas County (Colo.) Libraries, which pioneered e-book ownership in 2012. There are several other consortia building their own platforms and other statewide groups are piloting a hybrid approach, using vendors to host owned content. So the chances are that your library will soon have a chance to experiment with one of these projects, and I’d encourage you to start to get involved, and learn about the issues surrounding e-book and platform ownership. What these groups are doing is providing something beyond “just another” e-book platform!

We’re trawling the exhibits floor at ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia to find the coolest new products to add to your wishlist, and will report next time on our new discoveries. Until then, if you have a product you’ve discovered, let us know!

The post A New Take on New Products – New Product News Jan/Feb 2014 first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

At the very heart of the ALA code of ethics is the promise, “We provide the highest level of service to all library users.”¹ We at DCL realized that this special population was not receiving storytime services. Many parents with children who are differently abled do not attend library storytime because they are concerned that their children will be disruptive, and yet these children need and benefit from our services. We were determined to provide a safe, comfortable environment that would welcome these children and young adults, and their families, so they too could benefit from the literacy-rich environment that the library provides.

Since beginning sensory-enhanced storytime in September 2012, we have received many expressions of thanks from parents, caregivers, and medical therapists. Their statements of support can be summarized as thanking us for providing a program where a son can be who he is, where siblings can interact just as they do at home, and where weekly growth can be observed. Children, teens and young adults with a variety of special needs attend our program, revealing a broader need than originally anticipated. Our program has connected us with a young adult daycare, whose clients attend weekly, and where we visit monthly to present our storytime. When these young adults visit the library for storytime, they may also use our computers or check out materials.

Many of our attendees are new to the library, and they apply for library cards after storytime. We see them using the library before and after our sessions, and we encourage them to attend upcoming  events and participate in our seasonal reading programs. Further, by welcoming siblings, extended family, and medical professionals to each session, we are providing a therapeutic and informative program with value beyond the immediate experience. We are dedicated to making our libraries welcoming to all patrons.

The Stories of Sensory-Enhanced Storytime

From the start, we have been pleased by our attendees’ age range and developmental levels. This is an expression of the importance of this program for a large segment of people in our community. We have infants, toddlers, preschoolers, children, teens, and young adults attend, each with their unique abilities to interact and enjoy the event. When we were developing the program, we expected that our audience would be largely children of toddler and preschool age on the autism spectrum, but we have learned that this storytime fills a need for a much more diverse demographic.

We currently have an average of eight youth attending each session. While we anticipate increased attendance over time through word-of-mouth and outreach, we know that our program is making a difference in the lives of our regular participants. They attend once or even twice weekly, giving us the opportunity to see their attention, language, and social skills develop. Initially some are hesitant to come into our storytime room, or may cry during their first visit. After a few sessions they are comforted by their growing familiarity with the songs and activities that we repeat at each session, and gradually begin to engage and participate.

Some make progress during their first storytime. A mother noted that her daughter did not cover her ears at all during her first sensory storytime at our library, which she regarded as a significant milestone. We also see that repeat participants become more engaged over time. They gain self-confidence and improve their language and social skills. They may gradually develop their ability to make eye contact. Their attention spans and participation increase as they are more able to anticipate each activity. We have learned that children who may not appear to be interested in the session will smile when we call them by name and make note of the scarf color they have selected, for example. Equally gratifying, some children choose to sit closer to us with each storytime they attend, and eagerly join in our activities. Mason, a two-year-old participant, is now comfortable coming up to our easel and placing his flannel shape on the board. A few short months ago his dad had to do this for him.

New friendships among the children, their parents/caregivers, and the program staff are another important benefit of sensory storytime. Raising a child with special needs can be an isolating experience for families. Our program offers a weekly time for them to visit the library and socialize. They begin to call each other by name, the typically developing children interact freely with those with special needs, and the relationships continue beyond storytime. At the conclusion of a recent session, one of our youngest participants looked up into the face of a young adult participant and said “Goodbye, James!”

Our storytime parents and caregivers are very appreciative of the safe and welcoming environment that our program provides for their children, and the developmental growth that it helps promote. Holly, whose son has a sensory processing disorder that makes it difficult to stay engaged, likes our sensory storytime as “it is hard to go to the library because he goes from thing to thing.” Our contained storytime room, with volunteers watching the closed doors, enables the parents and caregivers to relax and help their children benefit from our activities. The reassuring environment engenders a sense of security in their children. They talk, sing, sit, stand, walk, and move freely as they express themselves during the storytime activities.

Patrice, mother of two sons with Prader-Willi Syndrome, says of the program, “There have not been any negatives. It’s really a valuable resource for people like us that the kids don’t have to try and fit in. No one minds their little issues or idiosyncrasies. It’s very welcoming and we can just relax and be ourselves.”

Sensory-enhanced storytime is also a place for parents to connect with our staff, volunteers, and other parents and caregivers to seek and exchange information on library and community resources. As they enter our storytime room, we provide take-home information on our library programs, the Autism Society of Colorado, therapy centers, and other community organizations that have partnered with us or are recommended by our families.

Where to Begin

We began planning our sensory storytime program in fall 2011 with the formation of a district task force. The task force was composed of staff from several DCL departments. This group established working relationships with two organizations having extensive knowledge and expertise in providing programs for youth with special needs: (1) the Autism Society of Colorado (ASC) and (2) the Douglas County Preschool Program (DCPP). These collaborative relationships continue today, and our sensory storytime program is based to a great extent on their contributions, as described next.

During the ten months of storytime development, the ASC partnered with us in numerous ways. We attended their Autism Answers program, which is an introduction to their mission and staff, and to autism spectrum disorders, presented by their executive director. Following the program, we discussed the plans for our sensory program with them, and they provided ideas and information that are integral to how we market and present our storytime. The ASC has included our storytime schedule in their website since our program began.

Additionally, three members of the ASC staff visited our library. They attended preschool storytime, in order to discover which elements of this traditional program could be included in our sensory storytime, and to suggest appropriate modifications and enhancements. They also toured the library meeting room where sensory storytime is held, to help ensure an optimal and safe environment for our attendees.
We set up our room for sensory storytime based on ASC staff suggestions: the fluorescent light banks remain off, as some children may be sensitive to their buzzing and flickering; ceiling fans remain off due to their vibration and sound; the emergency and hallway exit doors are labeled with red STOP signs and monitored by volunteers; we place our meeting room tables in front of our stacked chairs to eliminate the chairs as a climbing hazard; and we secure all miscellaneous items such as push pins, pens, pencils, rubber bands, and so forth. Additionally, the ASC staff suggested that we use our rug with multi-colored squares to allow each participant to select a color to sit on. We also encourage our participants to bring their own seating, if they wish.

In June 2012, the ASC presented their Autism 101 program at our district staff day. As described by the ASC, “Autism 101 is an introduction to understanding autism spectrum disorders. Through this interactive and quick-paced presentation, you will learn the signs of autism, how to interact with individuals with ASD, and how to appreciate the gifts of autism.”² We gained valuable insights from this presentation into the sensory and learning challenges of children on the autism spectrum, and a higher level of confidence in our customer service skills for serving patrons with special needs.

Our task force also worked extensively with the DCPP during the development phase of our sensory storytime. We observed a preschool class session, where the teacher sat with her students and acted out “Humpty Dumpty.” The children were enamored and engaged. We came away inspired that we could stretch ourselves in our sensory storytime without being over the top for the children. Additionally, a DCPP occupational therapist attended our task force meetings. She provided guidance on the children’s seating, fidgets, and many other aspects of the storytime.

Another crucial step in our sensory storytime’s development was reading Tricia Bohanon Twarogowski’s blog post, “Programming for Children with Special Needs,” which details her preparation and launch of a sensory storytime for the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (N.C.).³ Along with the vital participation of the ASC and DCPP, Twarogowski’s blog post is another part of the foundation upon which we developed our program. Among the many valuable tips she shares, we have incorporated into our storytime her recommendations to invite siblings and medical therapists to attend, to add to the family’s enjoyment and therapeutic understanding of their child; to develop the storytime for all ages and at a preschool developmental level, in order to welcome children, teens, and young adults; and to offer parents and caregivers surveys of their experience with us in order to adapt and improve the storytime.

We also benefited from information provided by the Inclusion Collaborative of the Santa Clara County (Calif.) Office of Education. According to its website, the Inclusion Collaborative’s focus is “the successful inclusion of children with special needs in child care, preschool programs, and the community through education, advocacy, and awareness.”⁴ They replied to our request for assistance with the design and implementation of a sensory storytime with useful guidelines for organizing the storytime space, activities, and social story.

A social story is a digital slideshow to introduce the library and storytime presenters to the children and families before they attend their first sensory storytime. We created our social story based on the Inclusion Collaborative’s example.⁵ Our social story includes photos of our storytellers, a staff nametag for easy identification of a staff member, the front exterior of our building, main entrance, book return, storytime hallway, storytime room interior, information desks, restroom, children’s department, and self-check machines. We also incorporated Inclusion Collaborative’s suggestions for seating, quiet fidget toys, and adapted storybooks to increase storytime interactions.

Staff and Volunteers

With the task force’s research complete, we (the authors), along with Carol Wagstaff and Leeann O’Malley-Schott, began to plan the details of the fall 2012 pilot. We offered the pilot program weekly, with morning and afternoon sessions on the same day. Realizing the daily demands on families of children with special needs, we could not predict an ideal day of the week for them. Consequently, we varied the storytime day monthly during the pilot, in order to help us determine the best day and times by surveying the parents and caregivers.

Next, we considered the staffing needs of the program. We learned from our work with ASC and DCPP that it would be ideal to have three people at each storytime: the librarian to lead the presentation and two additional staff or volunteers to assist with the parallel storybook/flannel board presentations, hand out manipulatives, and monitor the doors for safety. In order to provide ongoing continuity in our storytime, which is an important factor for those on the autism spectrum, each storytime has its assigned youth librarian presenter. Due to scheduling and budgetary restrictions, we recruited volunteers to fill the additional positions.

DCL District Volunteer Services Supervisor Ali Ayres and Branch Volunteer Coordinator Kim McClintock developed and led the volunteer recruitment. We asked volunteers for a minimum six-month commitment, and to be available for a specific weekly session. We wanted them to have experience with, or a professional interest in, children with special needs so that the program would be enhanced by their understanding and skills. Ayres and McClintock contacted our library’s existing volunteers, and advertised the positions in our district’s volunteer newsletter as well as in external publications. As our district does with all volunteer applicants, the candidates underwent a background check before being accepted. Ayres’ and McClintock’s dedication to finding the best candidates resulted in the formation of a core group of twelve wonderful teens and adults, some of whom have been with the program since the pilot. Our volunteers have formed friendships with the participants, and enrich our presentations with their experience and love.

Next we created a volunteer orientation to the program. With the permission of the ASC, Wagstaff developed a synopsis of their Autism 101 program. We began the orientation with this, followed by a discussion of the volunteers’ storytime tasks. Finally, we presented a portion of the storytime to demonstrate those tasks for them.

Themes, Plans, and Materials

The next step was to develop the storytime themes, plans, and materials. We selected themes that are supported by numerous and well-loved storybooks, songs, and flannel stories (see figure 1). We designed a sensory storytime plan template (see figure 2) to ensure that we would offer the same opening and closing songs, bubbles, parachute, and other activities at each session.

Figure 1. Sensory-Enhanced Storytime Themes Pilot Program

Colors
Things That Go
Farm Animals
Mice are Nice
Family
Feelings
Shake Your Sillies Out
Dinosaurs
Bathtime
Bedtime
Bears
Yummy in My Tummy
Bundle Up/Clothes
Snow Friends/Penguins
Under the Sea
Move

Figure 2. Sensory-Enhanced Storytime Template

Hello Song
Welcome and Visual Schedule
Book or Adapted Book and Flannel/ Manipulative
Fingerplay/Nursery Rhyme
Song
Book or Adapted Book and Flannel/ Manipulative
Fingerplay/Nursery Rhyme
Scarf Song
Bubbles and Song
Parachute and Song
Goodbye Song

Using information from the ASC, DCPP, and Twarogowski’s blog, we then enhanced the sensory experience of our storytimes in multiple ways. To offer a richer visual experience to our audience, we read a storybook while our volunteer simultaneously engages the audience with the flannel board version of the book. The pieces of the flannel board story are placed on a portable flannel board for our participants to select and place on the easel flannel board as the story is read aloud.

We made adapted storybooks and manipulatives to further engage the children. The adapted storybooks are color copies of storybooks that are laminated and put into a three-ring binder. A second set of copies is used to cut out and laminate key illustrations from the pages. Those illustrations are then attached with Velcro on top of their identical images on the pages in the binder. Prior to a storytime, we remove the Velcro-attached images from the book and place them on the flannel board. While we read the storybook, children take turns placing the images on the pages of the adapted book. We also attach laminated characters from select storybooks to large craft sticks and distribute them, allowing the audience to act out the story as it is read.

A variety of movements and sounds are incorporated into our storytime as well. We sing songs that include waving, clapping, stomping, and swaying. Musical instruments such as tambourines, sound blocks, tapping sticks, shaker eggs, and water bottles filled with rice add to the movement and sound opportunities. We move colorful scarves through the air at every storytime to the song “Shake Your Scarves” by Johnette Downing from her album The Second Line Scarf Activity Songs. Each session also includes moving a parachute up and down to the tune of songs such as “Tick-Tock.” Some children also need to walk or run around at some point during a session, which we can accommodate in our room.

A selection of puppets is also an integral tool to engage our attendees. Finger puppets serve as both characters from our stories and fidgets for their hands, and the larger puppets join us on the floor where they serve as props, pillows, and cuddly friends for the children. They provide an additional sensory source as well, as the children can stroke, swing, or squeeze them. In all of these ways, puppets help our audiences participate in the storytime.

We engage the children’s tactile sense with sensory balls, felt teddy bears, small beanbags, squishy paint bags, large feathers, chunky paint brushes, and other stimulating objects. For those children who enjoy scents, we pass cotton balls in plastic jars saturated with pleasant smells relating to specific stories. Bubbles from our bubble machine are included in every sensory storytime, which attract and delight many of our participants. We have found that by incorporating different sensory experiences into each storytime, we are able to engage and re-engage our diverse audiences.

Another important component of sensory storytime is the visual schedule, a tool commonly used in inclusive classrooms. Wagstaff created our smiling caterpillar whose individual circles depict a different storytime activity- read a book, sing a song, bubbles, and so forth. As we complete an activity, our volunteer or an eager audience member removes that circle from the caterpillar and moves his face down to meet the next circle. The visual schedule is a reassuring element for our audiences because they are familiar with its purpose and it tells them exactly what to expect at each session.

Resources

In order to gain a foundational understanding of the autism spectrum, and to aid in the development of our storytime plans, we consulted and recommend the following books (see figure 3). These titles are part of the wealth of information available to you to supplement what you will learn from your local Autism Society and school districts.

Figure 3. Recommended Reading Materials

The Autism Book: What Every Parent Needs to Know About Early Detection, Treatment, Recovery, and Prevention. Robert Sears, M.D. (2010)
Autism Every Day: Over 150 Strategies Lived and Learned by a Professional Autism Consultant with 3 Sons On the Spectrum. Alyson Beytien (2011)
The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum. Temple Grandin (2013)
How to Talk to an Autistic Kid. Daniel Stefanski (2011)
Music for Special Kids: Musical Activities, Songs, Instruments and Resources. Pamela Ott (2011)
Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew. Ellen Notbohm (2012)

Still Learning

September 2013 marked our first full year of offering sensory-enhanced storytime at the Highlands Ranch Library. Throughout this year we have offered our storytime each Thursday (at 10:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m.) and on the third Saturday of each month (at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.). This schedule was, in large part, determined by the survey and in-person recommendations that we received from our participants during the pilot program. We learned that our public school district’s preschool program offers families the choice of half-day morning or afternoon classes, so it was logical for us to offer both a morning and afternoon weekday session. The times of day were likewise chosen based on our pilot audience’s suggestions.

Thursday was chosen because it was the day that most attendees preferred. Additionally, because we do not have a dedicated storytime room, it is most efficient for us to set up our storytime once on Thursday morning, and offer two storytimes before putting our supplies away. Both sessions have a core group of weekly attendees and regularly attract new families who can attend because of a change in their school schedule or medical appointments.

We request that the child attending storytime be signed up for each session, and patrons can register up to one month in advance. A maximum of fifteen children can register for each session. If non-registered participants arrive, we welcome them into the storytime with the request that they register in the future. No one who wants to attend is turned away. There is no registration required for those accompanying the registered children. An adult must attend with the child, but a one-to-one ratio is not necessary. We have a storytime email group that is regularly updated with new registrants. This group receives the storytime plan from us at the beginning of each week. This was requested by a mother who wants to make the storytime session more enjoyable for her child by reading the storybooks and singing the songs prior to attending. We know that this can be helpful to all of our participants, so we include this in our weekly tasks.

We also email a pre-survey to families who register for the first time, and send a post-survey after they attend. The pre-surveys tell us how our registrants found the program and the specific needs of their children that they choose to share. The post-surveys allow them to tell us what they did and did not like about the storytime, and to make suggestions for how to improve it. With this information, we adapt our sessions to better meet their needs.

Our 2013 storytime themes follow the weekly themes of our traditional storytimes. We present the theme that our traditional storytimes offered during the previous week. By following this schedule, we do not use resources needed by our traditional storytimes, while allowing us to choose from the books, flannel board stories, and songs that have already been gathered.

We changed our storytime floor seating from our large rug to foam squares (approximately 18″ x 18″ in size) that adhere to our library carpeting with Velcro dots. This was prompted by our concern that the curled edges of the rug would be a tripping hazard. The foam squares are colorful puzzle shapes decorated with animal and plant designs and numbers. Upon arriving, the designs and numbers prompt some of the children to discuss which square they will sit on, creating immediate engagement. Of course, some children prefer their parent or caregiver’s lap or snuggling with one of our large puppets during storytime, while others bring their seating from home or remain in their wheelchairs.
A volunteer passes out hand fidgets at the beginning of each session for sensory stimulation and to assist with engagement during the storytime. Some fidgets are related to the theme of the storytime or to a specific book being read, while others are provided for their calming properties, like the cooling sensation from the paint bags when placed on a cheek or forehead.

When we sing everyone’s first name after our welcoming announcement, we pass a sensory ball from child to child. The sensory ball has raised nubs covering its surface for an increased tactile experience. Periodically an adult in the audience will use the sensory ball during our storytime to soothe their child by rolling it gently along the child’s back or limbs.

We have found that our participants greatly enjoy storytime when we read our oversized storybooks or sing select storybooks. The oversized books enhance our audience’s visual experience and allow for easier viewing. One volunteer holds one side of a large book and helps the storyteller turn the pages. Singable books (such as Five Little Ducks, Over in the Meadow, or Today Is Monday) encourage movement with their rhythms and hand gestures and increase participation for many children.

Bubbles and a parachute song conclude each storytime with smiles and laughter. Most of the children are delighted with the bubbles and they often stand under them or try to catch them as we sing a song from “The Mailbox Magazine” (see figure 4). There is much excitement as we break out the parachute and beach ball. We sing a song while everyone moves the large parachute up and down or sits under the parachute for a sensory-rich experience. The children move the parachute to try and keep the beach ball on it, and take turns retrieving it whenever it is bounced off. To encourage everyone to let go of the parachute at the end of the song, we say that we need our hands to wave as we sing our goodbye song.

Figure 4. “Bubble Song Lyrics”

Bubbles floating all around
Bubbles fat and bubbles round,
Bubbles on your nose and toes,
Blow a bubble, up it goes.
Bubbles floating all around,
Bubbles floating to the ground

Over the past year we have heard from our participants about some of the many ways in which our storytime is useful and beneficial for them. Parents attend with children who will begin preschool in the next school year. They use our program to encourage their children to participate
in group activities, follow directions, and develop social and cognitive skills. Families attend for their typically developing children to enjoy an activity with siblings who have special needs. Caregivers attend with their clients to provide them with a weekly change of environment and informal instruction at a preschool level. Medical therapists join their patients at storytime to observe them in a non-clinical setting and to understand the therapeutic benefits of the program. Parents and caregivers also appreciate the library and community information we provide, as well as the relaxing environment.

Outreach

Community outreach has been an important part of our storytime’s growth over the past year. We have created partnerships with a variety of community organizations that serve the needs of special populations. Our collaborations were initiated by DCL, by the organizations themselves, or through parent recommendations. As we did during the development of our storytime, we continue to partner with the ASC and the DCPP through mutual program promotion and referral. We also collaborate with the HighPointe Center, a daycare facility for young adults with developmental disabilities. They attend our weekly storytime at the library, and we present a storytime at their location once
a month. Our storytime bookmarks are available at their center’s reception desk, and we offer their information on our resource table.

We are also fortunate to have the STAR (Sensory Therapies and Research) Center as a local resource and collaborator. We offer their informational brochure on our storytime resource table, and they display our storytime poster in their reception area. The Highlands Ranch Community Association’s therapeutic recreation program provides classes and activities for youth with special needs, and we are pleased to have a partnership with them. Their class offerings and community events are advertised at our storytimes, and they provide information on our program in their facilities.

Throughout 2014, we are planning to offer additional programs and services for the special populations in our communities. The families who attend sensory storytime have established connections with each other through our program, and we would like to help them develop a parent
support group to be held at our library and therapeutic recreation centers. We will also forward to our participants relevant community
information, with their permission.

We encourage you to consider offering a sensory storytime program at your library. We have told you about how it benefits our patrons and community. What you also should know is that our two-year journey to develop and present sensory storytime has been one of the most joyful and satisfying experiences of our careers. We welcome you to join the community of libraries that present sensory storytime.

References

1. American Library Association, “Code of Ethics of the American Library Association,” accessed Feb. 5, 2014.
2. Autism Society of Colorado, “Autism 101,” Aug. 16, 2013, accessed Feb. 5, 2014.
3. Tricia Bohanon Twarogowski, “Programming for Children with Special Needs, Part One,” ALSC Blog, June 23, 2009, accessed Feb. 5, 2014.
4. Santa Clara County Office of Education, “Inclusion Collaborative,” accessed Feb. 5, 2014.
5. It is posted on the sensory-enhanced storytime page of our website.

The post Sensory-Enhanced Storytime at Douglas County Libraries: An Inclusive Program first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

As librarians, we actively strive to accommodate everyone as much as is reasonable. As children’s librarians, my colleague Kristy Spreng and I are well aware of the need to expose children as early as possible to literacy-rich environments. There seems to be an unending creation of task forces, initiatives, and committees formed to find ways to assist families in educating their children. We wanted to take action, so we resolved to make a radical change in how we provide service to babies and their caregivers by rethinking the layout of a small section of our children’s area. We wanted to be able to point to a specific place for parents to visit, for professionals working with families to refer, and for babies to play and learn. We also wanted to take better advantage of babies’ rapidly developing social, intellectual, physical, and emotional skills, placing special emphasis on pre- and early literacy. After visiting several notable libraries whose children’s departments are award-winning and certainly on track with providing excellent service, we still didn’t find any such area.

Babies’ brains are developing more rapidly in the first two years of life than at any other time.² Most child learning initiatives, however, do not formally provide guided learning for children until about the age of three. What are we waiting for? We consulted with Dr. Kim Kiehl, designer of the “Little Kids Space” at the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio; other child development specialists and researchers; local school personnel; and families with babies and toddlers. We then set up a prototype play area and observed its overall use and function. At our request, the Loudonville Public Library’s (LPL) Friends group purchased an enclosed play mat large enough to hold an adult. We observed how the parents did (and did not) interact within this structure. We also noted that, although functional, it was unattractive and felt like an afterthought. The colors were too vibrant, and the interior was simply meant to enclose, not inform or enrich. As we recognized these limitations, we greatly expanded on our idea of a simple place for babies. It should be respectful of infants, neutral in color, soft and inviting, include pre- and early literacy elements, and provide a level of comfort for adults. We wanted the area to look intentional, permanent, and aesthetically pleasing.

Backed by LPL’s board of trustees, administration, and staff,we called out to the community to help us fund our project. With strong financial support from several organizations, foundations, and the community at large, we hired a variety of consultants and construction specialists to help us turn our vision into reality.

For the Babies and Toddlers

Realistically, the needs of babies, toddlers, and caregivers within the library setting are quite simple. We envisioned a clean and comfortable area for both the baby and the caregiver. The area should allow the baby to move about and be free from constraints. We would need to be careful to avoid overstimulation, yet offer a space that is interesting and gently educational. And, optimally, there should be a computer for adult use and relevant parenting materials available. If these basic needs are overlooked, or haphazardly met as an afterthought, optimal library service is difficult to accomplish. As long as we were rethinking all of this, and in keeping with such initiatives as Every Child Ready to Read @ your library, the PLA/ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) parent education initiative, we focused on fostering the development of pre- and early literacy skills. Every element in the area was carefully chosen to address these needs and goals.

We removed a few pieces of furniture and turned a corner of the children’s department into an enclosed permanent play area. A padded, curved bench seat was installed to form an enclosed yet airy corner in which the baby could play. The bench allows an adult to be seated while interacting with the child, especially when the caregiver is unable to sit on the floor. A soft, padded mat covers floor and windowsill. Installed discreetly within the mat, only accessible from beneath, are three large “discovery” pockets filled with seeds, marbles, and corn. The babies encounter these tactile pockets while crawling around. This interior space is large enough to include adults as well as several babies at one time, thus supporting multiple social interactions. The padded surfaces are covered in durable hospital grade vinyl and very easy to maintain. The overall use of neutral colors is soothing and calming.

And, of course, we want books! We regularly observe infants turning pages and otherwise manipulating books as objects of exploration as early as six months of age. By around eleven months, we witness babies paying attention to the printed page. They actively follow an adult’s pointing finger and are lifting flaps, touching pages with intention, absorbing vocabulary words, and anticipating the next page. So, through grant funding, we purchased and housed a large selection of non-circulating interactive board books that are readily available to little hands as well as big ones.

The bench also contains carefully detailed custom designed alphabet blocks mounted on compelling vertical spinners. Inviting touch, the consonant blocks are deeply engraved on two sides with upper and lower case letters, and the remaining two sides contain a picture and corresponding word. The vowel blocks are shaped like the letter itself. The artwork was chosen to reflect our geographical area. For example, we used the letter “Q” as in quail, “M” as in mosquito, and “Z” as in zucchini. Since we know that children learn words as much by shape as by letter, we boldly used lengthy words.³ The blocks promote letter awareness, visual perception, fine motor skills, eye–hand coordination, and cause and effect.

We included a large mirror in the play area. Not only does the mirror introduce more light, it reflects faces, intrinsically interesting to babies. It fosters the development of self-identity.⁴ The inclusion of a pull-up rail supports balance and gross motor activity, and is especially helpful for children with certain forms of developmental delay. The placement of the mirror also reflects the color and excitement of the board books without overwhelming the area.

Along the wall adjacent to the mirror, we installed three mildly interactive units. The first unit contains a simple, interchangeable, Velcro-friendly panel currently covered with a piece of white-tailed deer hide. The panel invites touch, curiosity, and conversation. It also allows us the opportunity to add a bit of diversity to the area by switching up the tactile element. The second unit is a custom-built set of colored rollers. The rollers are deeply engraved with the corresponding color word. The smooth rollers respond to touch and also help the child self-soothe.
Built by local artist Colleen Sandusky, the third interactive panel is a simple device designed to engage the toddler in many ways. By pressing any of the four small panels on the board, a corresponding colored shape lights up. The four panels are defined by the color coordinated outline of left and right hands and feet, and labeled “left” and “right.” So, in the process of play, this device is teaching eye–hand coordination, cause and effect, body awareness, color, shape, handedness, peripheral exercise, and print awareness. It also subtly invites the adult to help teach these concepts.

For the Caregivers

A frequent issue arises for parents who need to accomplish computer-related tasks at one end of the building where the “unattended” or problematic toddler doesn’t belong. We found a solution by installing a workstation. The seating is positioned so that the caregiver can face into the play area. This allows the adult to monitor play activity while conducting necessary computer tasks.

The general area also includes a “mommy nursing corner” with glider rockers that are designed for the comfort of nursing mothers and safety of little children. The chairs are located in such a way that a parent can observe toddler play while nursing a new arrival. We strategically relocated the parenting magazines and books to this area of the library, making them easier to browse and access, and installed magazine racks with toddler materials within toddler reach. We found that relocating our collection of nursery rhyme books within this area caused an immediate increase in circulation. For further parent-led play, toys, puzzles, and games are also available upon request.

We Built It and They Are Coming

A common frustration among librarians is how to reach those who do not currently use the library and are mostly unaware of all that we offer. These are often the people in our community who need our services the most. So, perhaps most importantly, the construction of this area sends a solid message to the generally underserved public that babies and their caregivers are respected and are deserving of public library services unique to their needs. This message of acceptance and welcome, as we are already seeing, is enticing former non-users to discover the library. And they are spreading the word!

The effort to reach non-users is furthered by the work of the LPL children’s staff in collaboration with county agencies. We actively serve on the Family and Children First Council of Ashland County. Our presence on this council aligns the library with children’s service entities such as Help Me Grow, Job and Family Services, the Ashland County Health Department, and other county service agencies. These agencies are encouraging their clients to visit the library and discover the play space.

Historically, children have not always been welcome in libraries. Thankfully, this type of thinking has radically shifted over the last several decades. As technology has advanced it has provided us with a deeper understanding of how babies and toddlers learn. We now know that in infancy the child is rapidly acquiring language skills, including the syntax of the written word. So, the earlier a child is exposed to healthy, literacy-enriching environments, the better.⁵ Although the idea that “children should be seen and not heard” in the library is an outdated stereotype, the reputation of “hush” in the library persists, perhaps more intensively for the traditional non-user. Parents with babies and toddlers are keenly sensitive to how unpredictable children can be in their behaviors, and to how others may react to unexpected outbursts. Creating a dedicated space for their children speaks to our acknowledgement of this normal, not-necessarily-quiet scenario and even invites it. For the staff, creating such a space helps to contain the noise, paraphernalia, and general fluster of activity, thus offering real solutions to known issues. For us, the end result has been better rapport among staff, families, and the general public.

Children, babies in particular, are just developing the skills they will need in order to be readers. We should not expect them to visit the library in the same way as active readers. Instead, we should be inviting them as “do-ers” in the library. They should be presented with opportunities to engage socially, emotionally, physically, and intellectually. We also know that play is the avenue in which this happens. We envision a truly baby friendly place for every library.

For the Librarians

A common lament among professional children’s librarians is that our position is not seriously valued. Perhaps it is because children’s librarians are not expected to be educated in child development or because we have not been sufficiently advocating for ourselves. We have already seen changes in library service to babies in recent years such as providing lap-sit story times, board books, and play areas, but much more can be done. The construction of a research-based, intentional play space such as we have detailed herein can potentially move children’s libraries and librarianship significantly forward.

As librarians utilizing this space, we are moving out from behind the desk and interacting more with parents. We are actively playing, modeling board book exchanges, and relating with babies. Programming is changing to allow for spontaneous group activity and expanding to include such topics as making baby food, cloth diapering, and how to foster math skills in the kitchen. We are also offering more educational programming in collaboration with area agencies such as the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Ohio State University Extension Office, and the Ashland County Health Department.

You Are Invited

As previously cited, researchers have long reported that most learning is accomplished within the first two years of life. Creating an aesthetically, permanent, and developmentally appropriate place for the most vulnerable and avid of learners in a public library setting is long overdue. We strongly believe that the creation and implementation of the Early Literacy Play Space brings awareness of the library as a valuable entity and welcoming place for patrons at the very beginnings of life. It puts librarians squarely in tandem with other children’s services professionals. And it meets the needs of babies and their families. Since its construction, we have been very gratified to see that the many problems we identified and the rather lofty goals we hoped to meet are beginning to be realized. We encourage you to consider crafting a similar space in your library.

References

1. Grover J. Whitehurst and Christopher J. Lonigan, “Child Development and Emergent Literacy,” Child Development 69, no. 3 (1998): 848-72.
2. Charles A. Nelson, Michelle de Haan, and Kathleen M. Thomas, Neuroscience of Cognitive Development: The Role of Experience and the Developing Brain (Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley and Sons, 2006).
3. Bernard Lete and Joel Pynet, “Word-Shape and Word-Lexical-Frequency Effects in Lexical-Decision and Naming Tasks,” Visual Cognition 10, no. 8 (2003): 913-49.
4. Maria Legerstee, Diane Anderson, and Alliza Shaffer, “Five- and Eight-Month-Old Infants Recognize Their Faces and Voices as Familiar and Social Stimuli,” Child Development 69, no. 1 (1998): 37-50.
5. Kimberly Kopko, “Research Sheds Light on How Babies Learn and Develop Language,” Cornell University, College of Human Ecology, Department of Human Development Outreach & Extension, accessed Nov. 8, 2013, .

The post Babies in the Library: Creating a Truly Baby-Friendly Early Literacy Play Space first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

What we proposed to Mr. Melrose was a daring and different plan, where no other public library has gone before with such a concerted multi-pronged effort. While a few other libraries have created digital video labs or makerspaces, no other public library has created a space with the  many creative functions assembled in the Melrose Center. This project exemplifies Orange County (Fla.) Library System’s (OCLS) willingness to embrace unique new roles for a public library and its ability to live with risk-taking and be on the edge of completely new library services.  By fostering and creating community content and not just serving up content from other vendors, OCLS has done something very dramatic  and game changing, which other public libraries might perhaps follow. What was presented to the donor was a technology innovation and creativity space of 26,000 square feet that opened to the public in early February 2014, comprising the following areas:

• Dorothy’s story and introduction to the Melrose Center. In the story area space, users are introduced to the functions and services available in the center, but more importantly, they are introduced to who Mrs. Melrose was, what she stood for, and how her influence has shaped the services offered. A large-scale avatar of Mrs. Melrose greets visitors to the center and tells how she is thrilled by this new OCLS space. She speaks about her life, and her commitment to education and technology. Visitors can hear the narrative from Mrs. Melrose and listen as she introduces them to library personnel, who talk about the services available in the facility and explain how easy it is to use the reservation system and the special terms of use for the facility and equipment. Visitors can also see one of her artifacts, a clock that Mr. Melrose provided, which is enclosed in a small shadowbox in the story area.
• Video Production Studio. The place is equipped for HDTV multi-camera production, live streaming of shows, narrative and documentaries, and YouTube-style content. It features a three camera set up, with two controlled remotely and one on tripod; an  industry standard studio lighting and grip package; and a green screen that can be live chromo keyed or digitally composited in the  many editing stations equipped with Adobe CS6. It’s a learning center for camera operation, lighting, audio recording, and editing, designed to allow patrons to learn by doing and to start and finish a professional-grade production. Two editing bays are also available.
• Audio Production Studio with a control room, vocal booth, and big space tracking room, with a ProTools HD system that has 16X16 IO and a C/24 control surface for Pro Tools HD recording, editing and mixing. Various dynamic and condenser microphones. It also has a separate editing/cueing room, separate viewing room, with space for a twenty five person choir and the editing software necessary to produce professional sound records with professional sound abatement utilized throughout the studio. There are also two individual soundproof vocal recording booths suitable for voice over and narration function.
• Simulation Lab features a driving simulator that can teach one how to drive a vehicle, with driving exercises in 200+ driving scenarios and exercises. This includes crash avoidance, night driving, and driving under the influence scenarios, with expressway, mountains, test track and driving track, crash avoidance, and adverse weather conditions. Simulator displays vehicle dynamics modeling, including compact car, midsize sedan, small SUV, large SUV, minivan, and large delivery truck. There is another simulator that can teach one how to fly a fixed wing aircraft, using full cockpit displays, panoramic views, and surround sound to give a realistic audio experience. It has approach training for most every airfield on the planet, with the airfields geographically and topographically correct. Users can follow a flight plan and are able to train for visual flight rules, instrument flight rules, and GPS flight plans, as well as fly instrument landing system approaches. A third simulator features a construction excavator that scoops up materials and moves it to another site in a simulated environment. A fourth simulator demonstrates how to use a forklift.
• The Learning Classroom next to the Simulation Lab is equipped to teach the aspects of simulation creation with particular emphasis on learning and using underlying math concepts of geometry, algebra, kinetics, and physics to create simulation scenarios.
• Fab Lab where participants can learn how to program on a raspberry pi, configure arduinos, make jewelry, create their own 3D printed objects, learn electronic circuitry, make snapbots, and learn the software needed to create the digital files to create these objects. Classes are currently offered in Introduction to Radio Electronics using Snap Circuits; Introduction to Electronic Prototyping Using Arduinos; Adobe Photoshop; Introduction to Computer Programming; Introduction to Mobile Web App Development; 123 Design; InDesign, teaching layouts and formats in digital publishing; Adobe Illustrator; Adobe Premier; and Adobe Audition.
• Photography Studio where users can photograph their favorite models, or objects to sell on eBay, or create the photographs to accompany their graphic designs or video commercials shot in the Video Production Studio, along with the graphical design digital software. It is outfitted with a light box, Canon T51 Digital SLR Camera with tripod, monolight strobe softbox, flash boom lighting, muslin background, and portable green/blue screen.
• Tech Central where residents can attend live presentations about digital designs, creative projects, and entrepreneurship efforts launched and perfected in the Melrose Center for Technology, Innovation & Creativity.
• Conference Room (equipped with teleconferencing capability featuring two 80-inch display screens, sound system, and Internet connection) that is also available for renting out to local groups.
• Interactive Media Wall featuring digital screens where users of the center can display project designs on a thirteen-foot surface, as well as share and collaborate on their projects created in the center.

The Gift

After Mr. Melrose reviewed suggestions for a possible space named for his mother and the concept of how the space would be used, he chose the west side of the second floor of the Main Library. The close proximity of the hands-on technology classrooms and the public computer space clinched the selection for him, due to the steady stream of visitors to that area. Once Mr. Melrose accepted the space, he signed a letter of intent to donate the money to the library in March 2012. Preparations were made to present the ideas to the board. In April 2012, a formal check ceremony was held after hours, with many of Mr. Melrose’s former high school mates in attendance. A legal agreement was drawn up and signed by both the library board and Mr. Melrose in May 2012, spelling out the commitment the library was making to him and for how long a time the space would remain named for Mrs. Melrose. In turn, Mr. Melrose agreed to the two-part gift spanning two fiscal years. The first $500,000 check was received in June 2012 from the Kendrick B. Melrose Family Foundation and the second in October 2012. A First Nail Ceremony was held on June 12, 2013. Periodic updates and presentations on the progress of the center were made to the board.

Planning and Implementation

Focus groups from the public were invited from the various creative segments of the community to give the library input. The facilitated sessions with invitees brought forth ideas, potential concerns, perceived conflicts, and suggestions. A blog was set up for the public to provide ideas and to share progress on the center.

Addressing employees at each quarterly branch meeting and at Main Library staff meetings, the director explained how the gift came to be given and elicited suggestions about the services to be offered, as well as how to improve on the focus-group concepts. Many staff members indicated, even at this early stage, that they were quite interested in being a part of this and learning the new technology and definitely wanted to help provide these new services.

A request for proposal (RFP) was advertised to find local creative firms to help the library flesh out the ideas and bring forth a concept that could be used to advertise for architectural and construction bids. The local team of FX Group/Design Island was awarded the bid as digital media consultants in May 2012 and worked with library administration to create the concept paper that would form the basis of the delineation of services. This white paper became part of the RFP to seek architectural services to redesign the current space of 26,000 square feet and create an edgy feel in the space.

The design team of HKS Architects and TLC Engineering submitted the winning bid and were awarded the architectural services contract in December 2012. The Library Board awarded the construction manager contract to Skanska in February 2013. The design and specification work began in January 2013. The board approved the guaranteed maximum price of $1,311,820 with Skanska in June 2013. Construction of the space by Skanska started in summer 2013 and was completed in January 2014.

The initial cost of the project was estimated in 2012 to be $2,000,000, to be split between two library fiscal years. With a delay in the permitting, the majority of the construction costs fell into the FY2013 budget. Total budget approved by the board for the project was $2,500,000, with the interactive screen addition added later to the project at an additional cost of $215,000. It was decided to purchase the products on the Florida State contract, when possible, to enable our money to go further.

Staffing

Project management and implementation of the Melrose Center was given to Debbie Moss, OCLS assistant director and head of the Technical Support Division. The center was aligned administratively with the Technical Education Center (TEC) due to the similarity of staff roles and the technical classes already being offered to the public by the TEC staff. TEC Manager Ormilla Vengersammy was named manager of the Melrose Center. Ann Collins became the assistant manager under Vengersammy. The team immediately looked into the various software options commercially available for the different labs, using the guidance of TLC Engineering’s recommendations. The team chose to go with open-source software, where available, with the Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection as the standard package that staff would teach. Copies were ordered and staff began learning the software in preparation for teaching in a few months.

Vengersammy and Collins immediately started reaching out to the community, briefing the project to Full Sail University, Valencia Community College, University of Central Florida, DeVry, ITT Technical Institute, the Downtown Development Board, the Downtown Orlando Partnership, and Orange County Public Schools (OCPS); meetings were also held with OCPS administrative staff, school board, and local organizations such as Girl Scouts, YMCA, and homeschoolers’ groups. The managers and staff have continued to reach out to community groups throughout the construction process to recruit volunteers for the space and to spread the word about the coming Melrose Center.

New Software and Equipment Classes

Training classes were already a big part of OCLS’s public services, accounting for more than 13,600 classes in the 2013 fiscal year. The system currently averages 1,200 classes a month, the vast majority of them hands-on, and many given in Spanish and some in Haitian Creole, as well as English. There are such “untypical for a library” offerings as Advanced Image Editing using GIMP, Understanding Computer Networking Concepts, Cloud Computing, HTML5, Microsoft Visio Fundamentals, and Preparing to Become A Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS), among others.

In planning for the rollout of the Melrose Center, more classes for the public were developed that would feed into the services the Melrose Center was already offering. The additional classes featured Basic Electricity Using Snap Circuits and Basic Engineering Using K’nex to stimulate STEM learning in children. These products were introduced to all branch staff at hands-on meetings and toolkits were subsequently purchased for branches to facilitate hands-on programs for children and their families. These STEM-oriented classes have been given on a periodic basis by branch personnel at all of our facilities across the 1,000 square miles of our library district.

By November 2013, OCLS was already offering hands on courses in Autodesk 1-2-3-D to create designs for the 3D printer; Adobe Dreamweaver for creating professional looking websites for graphical user interface; Adobe InDesign to create layouts for prints and digital publishing; Adobe Illustrator to create vector images for publishing; Adobe Premiere to edit, split and trim video clips; and Adobe Audition to edit, arrange, and mix audio clips. Design and Print Your Own Custom Cookie Cutters Using the 3D Printer, Introduction to Radio Electronics Using Snap Circuits, Introduction to Electronics Prototyping Using the Arduino, and Adobe After Effects were offered to the public in December 2013.

Access Policies

Because the Melrose Center featured extremely expensive equipment, and because FEATURE | Technology Center Focuses on Innovation and Creativity of the complexity of the software needed to be learned in advance of using most of the equipment, the library decided to control access to this very special space to those who can establish competency or who already knew the software and how to use the equipment. Competency can be established through attendance at the specialized classes or instructional sessions in the use of the equipment or through successful passing of a quick assessment administered by staff. A special one-hour session on the unique rules governing the Melrose Center spaces and equipment would need to be attended and an electronic signature obtained that verified the user was agreeing to abide by all the rules of conduct for the center. The signed agreements and the competencies a customer established would be recorded in the integrated library system’s customer database, where all staff would have easy access to the competencies a customer had earned or  established.

Casual entrance to the center is not allowed, with the exception of open public events (such as periodic group visitor tours or speaker presentations in the presentation area). A staff desk is positioned just inside the entrance for this purpose. Violation of the rules of the center  are grounds for terminating privileges to the center for one year, or up to three, based on the severity of the offense. The center is available to use for anyone with a valid OCLS library card, under the competency requirements. For those not living in our district, a fee-based  structure was established for out-of-district residents. The same competency requirements for entrance to the Melrose Center still apply.  After-hours access to the center is a feature that the library staff thinks would be desired. We would like to offer this service, but it has not yet been fully costed out nor presented and approved by the Board of Trustees. Much thought has been given to these special access policies and they could be modified in time, as our circumstances and our experiences with customers and their interactions with the center evolve.

Before Opening

Construction was completed by January 2014 and the month-long “shake down period” began. During this month, staff from branch locations and other departments had opportunities to test out equipment, learn the appropriate software, and become familiar with the offerings and capabilities of the center. In this way, they will be able to help promote the center to their local customers. Pre-opening special tours for dignitaries, VIPs, and Friends of the Library Board members are planned.

Marketing of the Center

Finally, we needed to introduce the Center to the community. To that end, a logo was developed by a local graphic design studio, Lure. A marketing plan was created by OCLS Community Relations Administrator Tracy Zampaglione, with input from library trustee Herman Tagliani. The aim of the marketing plan is to introduce the Melrose Center brand, build awareness, create buzz, and attract new users to the library and the Center.

OCLS plans to use its own media, including our newsletter Books and Beyond, our website, announcements during OCLS classes and programs, outside banners, and posters at all locations to promote the Melrose Center. We also will be using Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, email blasts, blogs, promoted posts, and other social media to share details about the center with the community and build excitement. We are also planning to use print media, online ads, and back-of-the-bus ads. In addition to all of this, we are creating t-shirts and flashing badges with the Melrose logo for all library staff to wear.

Gala and Grand Opening

The center opened in early February 2014. A fundraiser sponsored by the Friends of the Library was held on February 7. This ticketed event featured hands-on opportunities for invited guests. The gala was sponsored by the University of Central Florida. The center opened to the  public on February 8 with state and local dignitaries in attendance. There were demonstrations of the equipment and software for the  attendees.

Melrose-ing the Branches

OCLS’s challenge for the future remains how to keep the Melrose Center fresh and up-to-date with the current versions of the software and technology. Systemwide, OCLS needs to address how to incorporate the successes and extend the availability of the services provided in the Melrose Center to the smaller spaces of the fourteen branches of OCLS.

Giving Thanks

OCLS is extremely indebted to Mr. Melrose and the Kendrick B. Melrose Family Foundation for making the Melrose Center possible. Without his gift, none of the services would have been possible. The expert advice, questions, and ideas generated by members of the Board of Trustees added much to the success of the project. The library’s administrative team, managers, and staff all made significant contributions to the success of the Melrose Center and without their scrutiny, suggestions, and comments, it would be much less than it is today. The initial help from FX Group and Design Island got us started on the road to defining the concept of the center. The expert advice and guidance of HKS Architects, TLC Engineering, Skanska USA, and Empire Office kept us from losing focus and staying the course to completion. And the fantastic media wall and avatar made possible by the combined talents of EdgeFactory, LMG, and TLC brought Mrs. Melrose to life for all of us. Together, all of these groups have made possible a wonderful place for the greater Orlando community to learn new skills and technology, pursue new creative opportunities, and experience collective and individual innovation.

The post Technology Center Focuses on Innovation and Creativity first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

As one of twenty-seven libraries in the Pima County (Ariz.) Public Library (PCPL) system, the Joel D. Valdez Main Library serves a wide array of patrons who represent every sector in this community of nearly 980,000 people. Located in the heart of downtown Tucson in the 85701 zip code, the 96,000-square-foot library opens its doors to government employees, tourists, students, families, business owners, retirees, and residents who live or work nearby. In 2012, there were more than 648,000 visitors at the Main Library alone.²

Like many urban and rural libraries, Joel D. Valdez Main Library also serves many patrons with significant social service needs. The staff here is accustomed to referring patrons to outside community agencies regarding housing, medical care, food resources, and other basic needs.  However, they also handle incidents involving behavioral health issues, traumatic crisis episodes, medical emergencies, loitering, substance abuse, and volatile physical or verbal confrontations that occur inside and outside the facility. When necessary, staff will call 911 for  assistance with these incidents.

While traditional library service provides for information and referral to people in crisis, librarians and library associates do not receive special training in making referrals to social service agencies and seeing someone in need through that process. When situations escalate, the protocol involves onsite security guards or calling law enforcement or emergency medical services to the scene. PCPL’s systemwide procedure also requires staff to document serious incidents—especially those involving 911 calls—in the library’s online incident report tracker.

What can a public library system do when faced with the challenge of having an unsafe and unwelcoming environment for the community and staff, and at the same time, helping patrons get connected to the critical services that they need? How could we minimize the number of calls to 911 for non-medical emergencies and free up law enforcement resources?

An Idea Sparks

For most people in this community, the library is the place to go for books, programs, events, information, and learning. For others, the library means refuge, free public computers, and help.

Various government and community organizations in Pima County identify the 85701 zip code as being plagued by homelessness, poverty, and mental illness. With an increase of incidents that coincided with the economic downturn, PCPL staff was concerned for the welfare of the individuals with behavioral health issues and the well-being of the general public that visited any of our libraries.

We were looking for ways to better serve our patrons with exceptional social service and mental health needs when staff  learned at a workshop in 2010 that San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) had partnered with the San Francisco Department of Public Health to hire a social worker. SFPL inspired us to “think outside the library.” Our goals to mitigate the situations at Main Library were straightforward:

• offer more options to help the public;
• reduce calls to 911 for behavioral health related issues;
• improve the community health overall; and
• create an environment that was more comfortable for all patrons and staff.

In 2011, PCPL Library Associate Nicole Huggett (also a graduate student in social work at the time) completed an in-depth white paper that included an analysis of the incident reports at Main Library, a literature review about homelessness in public libraries, and an interview with SFPL’s Leah Esguerra, the nation’s first full-time social worker employed in a public library.³ Huggett’s research also involved data from a voluntary survey completed by Main Library staff to identify gaps and barriers in library services and community needs.

Lastly, the white paper proposed a program plan to hire a full-time social worker at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library. The components of this position initially included one-on-one consultation with patrons, staff training, workshops and programs, outreach to community members, and outreach to community agencies.⁴

With an opportunity to make a significant change in how libraries addressed patrons with critical needs, we needed a solution that was more than just doable; we wanted a program that would be effective and sustainable.

Making It Work

“Pima County Public Library is addressing conditions that have long existed in nearly every urban and rural library in the country.”—Maureen Sullivan, 2012-13 American Library Association president⁵

After getting the approval from PCPL’s Executive Team to move forward with the proposal, we approached the Pima County Health Department. They were a natural partner to help determine how we could create a social worker position similar to the one that SFPL had implemented.

In talking with the Health Department, library staff learned that a public health nurse (PHN) would be a better fit for the library’s needs. PHNs are population-focused, and their work in the community highlights health promotion and disease prevention. Moreover, PHNs provide nursing assessment, education, and case management to patrons of all ages.⁶

Together, PCPL and the Pima County Health Department (PCHD) outlined the scope of what would become the Library Nurse Program. The PHN position was located within the library department, PCPL funded the full-time position, and the PHN would be stationed at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library. PCPL and PCHD would co-supervise the position, with PCHD providing clinical oversight of the program. Both departments would be involved in the hiring process.

In January 2012, PCPL hired the first PHN to work in a public library. The forty hours would be divided among six library locations (Joel D. Valdez Main Library, Eckstrom-Columbus Library, Martha Cooper Library, Sam Lena-South Tucson Library, Santa Rosa Library, and Woods Memorial Library). These were the libraries that staff identified as not being safe and welcoming for patrons and staff. It was clear that the difficulties were primarily due to other patrons with traumatic crisis episodes and behavior issues.

The PHN works closely with library staff and security staff to intervene during traumatic episodes and provide crisis intervention to patrons with social, behavioral, health, and emotional problems. The PHN also conducts assessments for social, medical, and related services; helps individuals access services and information provided by community agencies; and make referrals.⁷

Although the responsibilities for this newly created library position were expansive, they directly addressed what our libraries needed.

Helping the Human Condition

“Suspending judgment goes a long way.”⁸

Homelessness, personal hygiene, domestic violence, unemployment, detoxification, psychiatric crisis, arguments, substance abuse, nutrition, injury, medication education, and acute or chronic illness were just some of the many issues that patrons in our libraries faced in 2012.

Initially, the Library Nurse Program concept involved hiring one full-time PHN. Six months after the Library Nurse Program began, however, we determined that the work load was too much for one nurse to handle. Instead of sharing one PHN among six libraries, PCPL and PCHD developed a different staffing model that was more sustainable. We were able to come up with a work plan that would distribute the forty-hour position among five PHNs. Members of the team were assigned to work at the six libraries. One nurse, the team lead, worked twenty-four hours between the Main Library and a second library (Woods Memorial Branch Library).

The day-to-day experience for a PHN can vary, but there is a routine that the program has developed. As part of their work, PHNs chart their interactions and communications with patrons, library staff, and security personnel. They walk through the library wearing a stethoscope around their neck to let people know that they are there, and offer blood pressure checks as a comfortable way to engage patrons in conversation. A regular workday also includes checking on the status of established patients and educating library patrons about the PHN’s role, schedule, and contact information.⁹ Daniel Lopez, the PHN assigned to Joel D. Valdez Main Library and the Woods Memorial Library (and the program’s team lead), makes a point to ask patrons to come back to tell him how things worked out. He believes that having good relationships with agencies is the key to his ability to help people who need it the most.

For Lopez, the feedback from patrons is an important part of the evaluation process. “I want to know who in the community is taking care of people,” he said.¹⁰

Successes

@pimalibrary Congratulations on this story and the entire program! Working toward a similar program here—you inspired us!¹¹

In 2012, the PHNs had a total of 2,181 encounters with patrons over 180 visits at the six libraries. The impact of the Library Nurse Program at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library is especially palpable among the library staff. Overall, 911 police calls were reduced by six percent in 2012, and 911 medical calls decreased by 20 percent.¹² Today, we have a team of PHNs that have regular visit hours scheduled at seventeen of PCPL’s libraries and on our bookmobile as well.

The PHNs are coordinating trainings for library staff on relevant topics, mentoring interns and nursing students, and attending meetings with library staff. The University of Arizona, for example, has become a part of the program by sending nursing students to the library for their community health rotation. The students work with the PHNs to conduct community assessments, health education classes, and targeted community interventions, such as an awareness program that was aimed to prevent people from falling. Another group of nursing students developed a project to address hunger.

PCPL workers, on the other hand, are the eyes and ears for the PHNs and now feel supported to have onsite professionals to handle patron issues that may have resulted in 911 calls in the past.

PCPL, however, is not the only one excited about the program’s success. We receive positive feedback from patrons, the community, and other public libraries in the United States, Canada, and overseas. PCHD staff is also presenting the program at national conferences, and stories have been published in professional library and nursing publications as well as on library, nursing, and health-related websites and blogs. Local and national media have brought attention to PCPL by highlighting our unique program and collaboration as the first of its kind.

But when we hear from the people who are being directly helped because of the Library Nurse Program, we know that what we are doing is making a difference. In 2012, we received a letter from one such patron who took the time to let us know the impact the library and the PHN has had on his life:

I would like to especially thank the Library Nurse Emily. As she provided me with shaving razors to have a clean shave on the date of my interview. In addition she provided me with deodorant and lip balm so that I’d feel good/confident going to my interview. These things may sound simple, however without the self confidence that they brought me, I wouldn’t have gotten the position.¹³

PCPL was recognized by the Urban Libraries Council (ULC) as one of its ten 2013 Top Innovators at the ULC Annual Forum in Chicago. The Library Nurse Program was selected by a panel of expert judges from more than 140 applications for the fourth annual ULC Innovations Initiative and was recognized in the category of health, wellness, and safety.

Looking Forward

In late 2012, PCPL was invited to be a part of the Community Health Assessment Taskforce in Pima County and was given the lead to help address the need for health education and literacy in our community.

The taskforce identified five priorities that would make a significant positive impact on the health status of Pima County residents. These priorities include (1) obesity, (2) access to healthcare, (3) economy, (4) quality of care, and (5) health education and literacy.¹⁴ PCPL has created a Health Information Literacy Team of library staff members to take on this project, which will improve the lives of even more people. The success of the Library Nurse Program is evidence that a public library can and does play an important role in building the overall well-being of a community with a population as diverse as ours. The Pima County Board of Supervisors and county administration are both strong supporters of the library’s programs and services and have included PCPL in several literacy outreach efforts, as well as the county’s  economic development plan.

When we first initiated the program, our main goal was to increase the safety and welcoming environment of the library for our patrons and our staff. As we were able to find out more information about the people the PHNs were working with at our libraries, we added some  additional goals. Childhood hunger, for example, was identified by the PHNs as a key issue at the Santa Rosa and the Eckstrom-Columbus Libraries.¹⁵ As a result, PCPL staff worked with the PHN at the Santa Rosa Library and a University of Arizona nursing student to create an after-school healthy snack program in the fall of 2013. Twenty-two children participated on the first day of the new program.

The people we are helping through the Library Nurse Program represent every sector of our community in Pima County. They range from the young pregnant woman who is homeless, to the recently laid-off university employee without health insurance, to the underemployed senior citizen facing age discrimination, to the mentally ill veteran who sleeps on the streets. In some cases, they are gainfully employed, yet facing some challenges that, unbeknownst to them, are compromising their health.

The commonality is that all of these people are experiencing some sort of individual hardship. Many of them come to the library because it is a safe place, and a place where they know they can get good information. By having a PHN in our libraries, PCPL is providing both a compassionate presence and a path toward wellness through education, connecting people to community resources, and direct intervention.

Three years ago when we first learned about the social worker at SFPL, we did not have a clear vision of what we needed at our own library. We did know, however, that we had to do something. Because of the Library Nurse Program, PCHD staff is forging good relationships with community and government agencies that can provide the support and services to library patrons in need. Our collaboration with PCHD has increased our resources and our ability to help more people in our community. Yes, we are a public library; but we are—in many ways because of this program—so much more.

As a librarian for over thirty years, I have come to cherish the social role of libraries. We spend a lot of time protecting and building collections of books and other resources, and I hope that will always be the case. But today you and your colleagues in the Pima County Library System have built on the concept of library as a social crossroads, and you have stepped forward to serve the community in an innovative and daring manner.¹⁶

References and Notes

1. Pima County Public Library, Library Nurse Program Mission Statement, 2012.
2. Pima County Public Library, Activity Measures, 2013, accessed Feb. 10, 2014.
3. Nicole Huggett, “Changing Community, Changing Needs: Fusing Social Services and Information Referral for Revolutionary Library Services” (white paper, Pima County Public Library, 2011).
4. Ibid.
5. Eun Kyung Kim, “More than Just Books: Arizona Libraries Add Public Health Nurses,” TODAY.com, Mar. 28, 2013, accessed Jan. 21, 2014.
6. Pima County Health Department, Community Health Services Division, Library Nurse Project 2012 Annual Report.
7. Memorandum of Understanding, Pima County Public Library and Pima County Health Department, Oct. 24, 2011.
8. Daniel Lopez, personal interview with the author, Oct. 17, 2013.
9. Daniel Lopez, “The Public Health Library Nurse” (presentation at the Pima County Library Advisory Board Meeting, Nov. 5, 2012).
10. Lopez, personal interview with the author.
11. Albuquerque Bernalillo County Library, Twitter, Mar, 28, 2013.
12. Pima County Health Department, Community Health Services Division, Library Nurse Project 2012 Annual Report.
13. Personal letter to Joel D. Valdez Main Library, May 31, 2012.
14. Pima County Community Health Improvement Plan, 2013-2017.
15. Pima County Health Department, Library Nurse Project 2012 Annual Report.
16. Amy Rule, personal letter to the authors, Oct. 22, 2012.

The post From Crisis to Collaboration: Pima County Public Library partners with Health Department for Library Nurse Program first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

As much as I love networking with my colleagues, reading blogs and library journals, and discovering programs and ideas that are happening in libraries around the country, I can’t always stop that little stab of guilt telling me that I’m not innovative enough. It’s an easy trap to fall into. I compare my library to other libraries and myself to other librarians. I think about what great ideas they have and wish I would have thought of it first. I convince myself I could never pull off a program like that because my budget is much smaller, or my building isn’t located next to a school, or I don’t have a good enough connection with someone in the community to bring in an outside guest. I feel as though I’m not creative enough to come up with an inventive and unique program. I convince myself that none of my ideas are new and fresh. I look at other libraries and compare my department with theirs—if only I had that display space, shelving, or furniture, then my department would be great.

For me, this is the frustration of innovation. We often get so caught up in wanting to try something new that we lose sight of what we already have. Sometimes it feels like the library is full of recycled ideas. From Listservs to blogs to library conferences and associations, librarians love to collaborate and share ideas. But it can be hard to think that what I’m offering teens is just the typical stuff that libraries are supposed to be offering teens. We’re supposed to be giving them great customer service, readers’ advisory, and homework help. We’re supposed to have teen nights, teen councils, and programs based around pop culture and teen interests. We’re supposed to lead book clubs and give book talks and make displays of new teen titles. We’re supposed to have a party or program for the latest book or movie release all the teens are talking about. But what I have to remember is that while I know this is what the library is providing for teens, not everyone else does. Community members, fellow librarians, and even teens themselves aren’t aware of everything that is happening in the library just for teens and how much libraries can offer.

Instead of trying to create more new programs or come up with something that will be the next teen trend or innovation, I focus on making the programs I already have great. Maybe I don’t think my program for teens is the most innovative program there is. But then I think about what else is offered in the community, what teens are asking for, and how the program is meeting their needs. What might seem like a simple program to me might not be so simple to those who attend.

A Hunger Games party might not seem innovative to me, but for the teen boy who attended and met his best friend, it was something new and different. A fan club meeting for Doctor Who might seem like a program that libraries are supposed to provide. Yet, the teens who attend the program, and tell me that they don’t know anyone else who watches it, are so grateful for the chance to connect with other fans and geek out about the show. To them, our program is innovative. The teens who attend library council and give feedback and share their ideas and are able to make a difference in their library find the council to be a place to suggest something new—the very definition of innovation. The teens who attend library prom and are given the chance to connect with each other, dance like crazy, listen to music, and make noise in the library think that is innovative. While I might tell myself these programs aren’t unique and creative, the teens who attend them see them differently. To them, these programs are something new and different, providing a chance to feel as though they belong in the community, which is what—to me—providing an innovative program is all about.

Sure, I would love to provide a big program for teens with lots of cool new gadgets and technology. I would love to create a makerspace or connect teens with books in a new and exciting way, or be at the forefront of the next big teen trend in libraries. And while those ambitions are great to have, and maybe someday I will get there, in the meantime I focus on the programs I do offer at my library and remind myself that they are innovative in their own way. They are unique to my community and it’s a chance to show the library in a new light. I’m always encountering people who are surprised to learn of all the programs and services the library has to provide. And when I can surprise someone and teach them something new about the library, that’s when I feel innovative.

I have enjoyed writing about YA programs and librarianship for Passing Notes over the past year. My husband and I recently welcomed our first child and so I say farewell to writing this column. I hope you continue to share your ideas about YA librarianship with me at greenbeanteenqueen@gmail.com or www.greenbeanteenqueen.com.

References

1. Merriam-Webster Online, s.v. “innovation,” accessed Feb. 3, 2014.
2. Ibid.

The post Innovation Frustration first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Okay, maybe this isn’t as easy as it looks. There’s a tendency to mythologize the “lone innovator”—you know, someone like Steve Jobs or Ron Popeil. But that myth ignores the fact that Apple and its brethren have massive teams working together to capture lightning in a bottle. Some of these ideas may come from the top, sure, but there are just as many ideas emerging from the trenches. The lone innovator isn’t just a myth, it ignores the fact that anyone can make innovation happen.

Innovation is a value that needs to permeate the organization. New ideas can’t simply be the territory of the new kid in the library, or the one staff member who answers all the e-book questions by default. (It also bears mentioning that technology is only one of many arenas in which innovation can occur.) If you wish to pursue and implement new ideas, you need to create an environment where staff at all levels feel comfortable proposing improvements to any aspect of library service.

Websites often have developer environments, spaces where web designers test out new design features or software tools before they go live on the main site. This is a place where developers can ask “hey, what happens if I do this?” and not have to worry about breaking publicly accessible services. Failure is an option here—it helps build a better product.

Just as with web developers, libraries should have analog developer environments, areas where staff can experiment with new ideas and find ways to improve upon any of their services. Do these have to involve technology? Not necessarily. Whether you’re pursuing innovation in virtual space or meatspace, it’s increasingly important for libraries to get their entire staff involved in positive change.

Creating a Collective Brain

You can’t predict when innovation will strike. Some of us get our best ideas at four in the morning, when we’re walking the dog, or when we’re in the stacks shelf-reading biographies. I almost always have a pocket-sized notebook with me, just in case something crosses my mind. (This also means I have a large collection of pocketsized notebooks, each with about three pages filled out.) Not every idea that emerges in these unguarded moments is worth pursuing, naturally. But having a stack of unfulfilled ideas is much better than having one great idea vanish as soon as you hit the snooze button.

How does this scale? Documenting those initial ideas is a first step, but for innovation to really be an organizational value, these thoughts need to bounce off one another in order to truly coalesce into viable improvements. I often find that it’s the informal gathering spaces that tend to be the best breeding grounds for this kind of thinking. Hallways and break rooms are great opportunities to spark dialogue between disparate departments. If you’re removed from the front line, it’s also your chance to find out how your procedures translate into practice. I’ve found that my coworkers tend to be more willing to be candid if you approach them on level ground. If you can set up a dry erase board in that space, it can be a catalyst for interaction between the lunch crowd and the late shift.

But having a virtual environment for these conversations might be where things really take off. You don’t have to worry as much about running out of space, and you’re far less likely to erase something should you accidentally brush against the screen.

Regardless of budget or technical know-how, there is a tool for you. Even something as simple as a WordPress blog can serve you well, if all you need is a blank canvas for conversation. It’s easy to make the site private, so that only invited users can view the site content.¹ This is probably most useful for organizations with a smaller number of staff, as viewers will have to be invited individually. Open-source bulletin board software (such as phpBB) requires installation, but can help you facilitate multiple threaded conversations on a variety of topics.² And learning management software (such as Moodle) can be incredibly helpful if you wish to create dedicated communities of practice around specific topics.

Tools for Catalyzing Innovation

Whether you’re working in the break room or on the intranet, it’s likely these spaces won’t become useful until staff feel comfortable putting their own ideas out there. Fear of failure is a very real thing. If employees have never felt like they’ve had a voice, it will take time for them to feel confident in their own abilities.

Create Prompts

In 1975, music pioneer Brian Eno and artist Peter Schmidt published Oblique Strategies, a deck of cards designed for musicians to provoke creativity and override mental blocks. When drawn at random, each card offers a unique prompt (such as “work at a different speed”) for examining your creative process from a new perspective.³

We may not want our prompts to be as esoteric as Eno and Schmidt’s, but we can create our own library-centric provocations. Questions and prompts such as “what’s the most relaxing spot in the building?” or “design a new checkout desk from scratch” can go a long way toward getting staff thinking creatively. Offer new prompts at regular intervals, and make sure people have access to past responses. Invite staff to create prompts of their own, and introduce them into the rotation.

Over time, this process should help your coworkers to feel more confident about potential innovations.

Think Visually

Along with all my notebooks, I am always taking pictures. Some of these things might have direct ties to the library: an appealing display I saw at the supermarket or a unique sign on the street. If you have colleagues doing the same thing, you can pool your efforts.

Using a Dropbox, Evernote, or Flickr account, you can create a shared repository for all of these unique things your coworkers find out in the wild. Pay close attention to patterns—if different people take photos of the same thing, there’s a good chance that something in the image is worth adapting for your library.

Take It Public

I used to teach a very formal Introduction to iPad class. By the second session, I abandoned my lecture, because attendees simply had too many questions about specific features on their own devices. I switched the class to a show-and-tell model, where each person had a chance to share their favorite apps and ask questions about their own trouble spots.

Not only did my students enjoy the class more, but it helped them realize just how much they knew about their own devices. It gave them a real sense of confidence that emerged every time they came back to show me what new apps they had discovered.

I think we can apply this same principle to other library services. People have a lot of personal attachment to their home libraries, and with that a need for customization. By bringing more of our patrons into the conversation, we can improve those feelings of involvement across the board, hopefully upping our usage in the process.

Learning to Breathe

These strategies may seem simple at first. But simplicity is key when it comes to getting staff members to start working collaboratively with new and untested ideas. The “fake it ’til you make it” principle is definitely at work here. Each staff member has their own comfort level with this stuff, and you want to make sure those who are less comfortable with change aren’t drowned out by the more enthusiastic members of your staff.

In time, having a more flexible, collaborative approach to change will click into place. Once that happens, innovation becomes like oxygen: new ideas are simply part of the environment. As libraries continue to adapt to this rapid cycle of change, it’s going to be the responsibility
of staff at all levels to make innovation happen. Digital resources will be an important part of this, but it’s a shared attitude toward improvement that will really move things forward.

Notes

1. See the instructions at http://en.support.wordpress.com/settings/privacy-settings. If you are hosting your own WordPress installation, you will need a plug-in such as Private Only (http://wordpress.org/plugins/private-only).
2. Many commercial hosting sites offer one-click installations of this software. If you have space on something like BlueHost or DreamHost, this could make it much easier to create one of these environments.
3. You can draw from a virtual Oblique Strategies deck by visiting www.oblicard.com.

The post It’s All Around You: Creating a Culture of Innovation first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Although one of the definitions of “innovation” is “the introduction of something new,”¹ we have come to understand that just because something is new it is not necessarily innovative, and something innovative in one community may not be innovative in another. There is a temptation to label the latest technological product as innovative whether it is RFID, an espresso book machine or a MakerBot. However, for something new to be innovative, it must also be useful and add value, that is new and better, not just new. Innovation is related to creating customer value. If the latest bit of technology is not useful to people in your community or does not add value to their lives, then it cannot be considered innovative in its application.

A 1950s housewife commonly used a household machine called a mangle that had long, hot rollers for pressing items such as sheets and table cloths, which were generally made of cotton or linen and emerged full of wrinkles after being washed and hung out to dry. While an improved design for a mangle might have been something new at the time, the introduction of permanent press fabrics was truly innovative. Innovations solve problems, sometimes even before people realize they are problems. If talking about mangles sounds old-fashioned, one might think today of Apple or Google as companies which are continually innovating.

Clearly, problem-solving and innovation require an understanding of the customers’ needs and how they are changing. At the LJ Directors’ Summit last November, Michelle Ha of IDEO spoke about the firm that employs people with diverse skills to design products and services at the forefront of innovation.² She said, “We always start with people.” Another basic premise for her is that “it takes field work to gain true insight.” She talked about problems as “design opportunities in disguise” and the importance of observation to gaining an understanding of the problem. For example, the designers at IDEO observed that children hold a toothbrush tightly in the fist while they brush their teeth. This observation led to the design of chunky, padded handles for children’s toothbrushes. Note that the designers did not lament that children do not hold their toothbrushes correctly, nor did they decide to teach children the proper way to brush their teeth. They met children where they are. Whether designing a toothbrush, a public program, or an organizational structure, the approach is the same.

In October 2013, I attended the Public Innovators Lab, a three-day workshop presented by the Harwood Institute which is engaged in partnership with the American Library Association (ALA). The core principle of the Harwood Institute is to “turn outward” toward the community: “Only when you gain a deep and authentic understanding of the nature of a community and people’s lives can you understand the conditions you must create for change to come about.”³ Note that the concept applies whether the community is the geographic area served by the public library or the library itself, as in the case of a new organizational design and structure. Rich Harwood defines a public innovator as an “individual who holds ideals that guide him or her; who is pragmatic in his or her work; and who understands what it means to take risks.”⁴ Harwood also offers a simple value proposition: “If you turn outward and make more intentional judgments and choices in creating change, you will produce greater impact and relevance in your community.“⁵

To be innovative, add value, and produce impact, one must understand the context for the user and also the institutional mission of the provider. Only then can one be strategic. Kathryn Deiss observed that, “Innovation and strategic thinking are critical to any organization’s future and have direct correlations to the organization’s mission and purpose.”⁶ Business books abound with stories of industries such as the railroads that lost their place in society because they were unclear about their mission. The public library’s mission is not about circulating books, but about supporting lifelong learning. As learning has become more interactive and collaborative, public libraries have become social learning spaces. The change from a passive institution, of potential use to motivated individuals who came to the library to check out a book, to an institution actively engaged with individuals and groups, welcoming them to classes in digital learning and to collaborative spaces in the library, or meeting them in their afterschool care centers and church social halls for programs, is a true innovation in public library service.

The Urban Libraries Council, whose motto is “Inspiring Libraries. Transforming Communities,” has an annual Top Innovators award program with recognition for public library innovations in ten categories: (1) learning; (2) civic and community engagement; (3) collections; (4) customer service; (5) economic and workforce development; (6) health, wellness, and safety; (7) operations; (8) organizational change and strategic management; (9) positioning the library; and (10) sustainability.⁷

Another Merriam-Webster definition for “innovation” is “something that deviates from established doctrine or practice.”⁸ There is a danger for libraries in seeing that deviation as a one-time leap that will lead to the firm ground of newly established doctrine or practice. In fact, it is necessary for library staff to see innovation not as a single breakthrough, but as a sustainable practice leading to continuous improvement and progress. I am reminded of the slogan of General Electric in the 1960s: “Progress is our most important product.” There are always problems to be solved and better ways of doing things to be discovered. As Brian Fabes, the CEO of the Civic Consulting Alliance in Chicago, queried at the LJ Directors’ Summit, “If we’re so good, why aren’t we better?”⁹

Accepting the need for constant innovation will require that public libraries adopt a disciplined approach to turning outward toward the community to understand how the library can adapt to people’s changing lifestyles and patterns. It will also require that public libraries hire people who are creative, analytical, and social to engage with community residents, and to form partnerships with agencies staffed with workers having diverse skills who can work with us to help the community achieve its aspirations. Learning and innovation skills are part of the suite of “21st Century Skills” as outlined by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).¹⁰ Creativity, along with critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, cross-disciplinary thinking, and innovation are all cited by IMLS as essential skills, not as inherent attributes of certain people. Public libraries should enable staff to practice these skills through encouragement of experimentation, work in cross-functional teams, and a tolerance for failure.

So what is holding us back? Inherent in innovation is change. We will never achieve the transformation of libraries that is possible with constant innovation unless we can persuade librarians that the need for change is urgent. In his book Leading Change, John Kotter outlines an eight-stage change process that begins with a sense of urgency.¹¹ This preliminary stage includes looking at the market and the competition and also considering the crises (or potential crises) and opportunities. Is it possible that some people do not see the confluence of the Internet, Google, e-books, and ubiquitous mobile technology as creating an urgent need for change in how public libraries operate? Indeed, the abundant significant developments in technology, along with concomitant social changes, have created a compelling need for change in public libraries. Everett Rogers talks about “clusters of innovations” that lead to major technological advances in medicine or agriculture such as the innovation of the heart pacemaker that depended on the invention of transistors, tiny batteries, and other such developments.¹²

It would seem that, at the current time, we have experienced such a cluster of innovations and we are now poised for a major advance in the delivery of public library services. Important steps in the diffusion of innovation include the decision to implement an innovation in whole or in part and then the actual implementation, which involves putting the innovation to use. Successful implementation requires application of the innovation in the local setting and the possible need to adapt the innovation for local use. Rogers asserts that a “higher degree of re-invention leads to a higher degree of sustainability of an innovation.”¹³ William Duggan encourages a very broad look at how similar problems have been addressed in other contexts: “Be careful of straight benchmarking. That’s a way to copy industry leaders in that function, but it’s not a path to innovation. Looking as widely as possible outside your industry is the key to functional innovation.”¹⁴

The diffusion of innovation in public libraries is not about installing maker technology in every library outlet. It is about considering local circumstances and community needs, conducting a participatory and extensive process of seeking solutions, and then adapting—rather than adopting—innovations to solve local problems and create value in the lives of local residents. The future of the public library depends on sustainable and continuous innovation. To truly innovate, we should begin by turning outward to understand our community and its potential.

References and Notes

1. Merriam-Webster Online, s.v. “innovation,” accessed Jan. 14, 2014.
2. Michelle Ha of IDEO, conference presentation at Library Journal’s 2013 Directors’ Summit, Nov. 19-20, 2013.
3. The Harwood Institute, “About,” accessed Feb. 10, 2014.
4. Richard Harwood, Public Innovators Lab Guide, The Harwood Institute in collaboration with ALA, Washington, D.C., October 28- 30, 2013.
5. Ibid.
6. Kathryn Deiss, “Innovation and Strategy: Risk and Choice in Shaping User-Centered Libraries,” Library Trends 53, no. 1 (summer 2004): 17.
7. Program descriptions for the winners and other contributors can be found on the ULC website.
8. Merriam-Webster Online, s.v. “innovation.”
9. Library Journal Directors’ Summit conference presentation, Nov. 19-20, 2013.
10. Institute of Museum and Library Services, Museums, Libraries and 21st Century Skills (Washington D.C., 2009): 23-24.
11. John P. Kotter, Leading Change (Boston: Harvard Business Review Pr., 2012): 23.
12. Everett M. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovation, fifth ed. (New York: Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, 2003): 162.
13. Ibid., 183
14. William Duggan, Creative Strategy: A Guide for Innovation (New York: Columbia University Pr., 2012): 60.

The post Innovation in Public Libraries first appeared on Public Libraries Online.