ASRT Mtg Minutes
Topic: Outreach

Attendees:

Alison, Pinson
Rachel, Botanical Gardens
Jacqueline, BPL
Adrian, BPL
Joanne, Gardendale
Kiera, Titusville
Tamara, Irondale
Terri, Vestavia Hills
Erika, Powderley
Katie, Springville Rd
Holley, O'Neal
Holly, Homewood
Melanie, Hoover
Jennifer, BPL
Molly, BPL
Weston, BPL
Shannon, Hoover

To view the entire 54 minute zoom meeting: https://shorturl.at/sYZ1b

Our next meeting: Wednesday, May 14th @ WYLAM Library, 10 am. TOPIC: Censorship

Shannon started us off by describing how Hoover has revamped its structure to create a "community services" dept that handles outreach. Steve is in charge of the Bookmobile and it is making the rounds to let the community see and enjoy the new service. We have a request form (https://www.hooverlibrary.org/community-outreach) people can use to request outreach services online - it is going to schools, parks, senior centers and other small areas. For many years, Pam did outreach to senior living facilities by bringing her "Books to You" program, she was able to visit Hoover facilities once every 2 months. These are programs developed by Pam that showcase materials from the collection highlighting a certain topic. In the past, she struggled to go to all 10 facilities in our area just once a year. Now we visit everyone at least once a month with the Books to You programs!  Pam is still doing her tours, with added visits and Traci is working with Memory Care and Assisted Living facilities. She is doing similar programs but with an added craft. It is wonderful to be able to increase these visits.Our Book Club at the Hoover Senior Center, the Page Turners, has been meeting since 2008. We average about 16 people each month and still have members that joined at the very first session. We also speak to community groups and represent the library at Hoover events. Contact Pam Bainter at pam.bainter@hooverlibrary.org if you have other questions.

Another thing is that Katie Jane at Hoover does a monthly offsite book club aimed at parents which introduces new kids books. It seems to be popular and going strong. They meet at Baba Java Coffee in Hoover.

From Weston @ BPL via email:
At Central, Outreach does:

-Bookmobile at Central Transit station downtown. We get to park in one of the bus slots. (Very popular!)

-Karaoke for Seniors. We have a portable Karaoke machine (Moukey Karaoke) that we bring with us on the bookmobile.

-Paints and Poems. We read one or two poems at a time to seniors then have them paint what they are feeling, thinking, remembering when listening to the poem. Doesn't always work out as some seniors are a bit too literally, but fun nevertheless. 

-International Jazz Day is April 30^th this year. We are looking to book local Jazz musicians to play the small mini park between Linn-Henley and the courthouse during the lunch hour. 

-We went to Kami-Con and tabled. Kami-Con is a anime/manga centered convention. We interacted with close to 700 folks over the course of the weekend. We have a button maker and made custom buttons just for this event. I was able to design them using this site. https://designer.buttonmakers.net/desktop/index.php

-We are still waiting to hear back from Iron City Comic-Con about tabling there as well.

 

Tamara at Irondale: was asked to do smart phone program for seniors. Divided between iPhone and Android, she prepared a specific program but found most questions were targeted on gmail - so she plans to revamp that. She got the idea for Conversation Cafe at PLA, geared towards memory care patients, it would be simple games and activities on a theme. She went to a great deal of effort to plan a "British" theme with a tea party and took that on the road to a senior facility not even in Irondale but it did not travel well. 

Katie from SR mentioned that their computer outreach was popular but not very well attended. Low numbers meant they could focus on individual instruction but easy to derail too. Identity theft issues were most often requested. Could the computer techs help with that type of outreach?

 

Libraries are often asked to speak at groups throughout the city on various topics. I've done several at the Hoover Country Club. Terry has a gardening group and Rotary Club coming up in April.

 

Terry at VH does a book group with Town Village Retirement that has been going on for many years. They meet once a month with an average attendance of 12 to 15. Some come and don't say a word but they are getting fed and enjoying themselves! They also develop a relationship with them and they show up at the library for other things.

 

Alison at Pinson doesn't really have a book club but their local coffee shop does have a book club and a staff member will attend each month. They bring the books to the meeting and lets them check them out at the coffee shop. Between 8-10 people attend regularly and now they come to the library! They create bookmarks and other ways to promote the coffee shop book club. Pinson doesn't have senior centers or senior living facilities but they are looking for other ways to get out into the community. Alison does a few festivals and events and when the library is there, she is sure to bring dog treats because that hooks the owners!

 

Any time we can put together a cheap/easy takeaway craft to hand out at events or festivals, parents LOVE them. It's a way to connect parents with new activities and you could always put it with a library calendar so they know to come by the library for more information.

 

Kiera at Titusville is working with Invisible Histories in June (Invisible Histories locates, collects, researches, and creates community-based, educational programming around LGBTQ history in the Deep South. Invisible Histories believes archiving is resistance to oppression and history leads to liberation. In our work, we center joy and community while never erasing the painful and complicated experiences of our folks. We WILL save our stories, one box at a time.) They will be doing a program on archiving personal items. They have several different talks and can come to your library to do them (for FREE). BPL has come to Hoover to do a Genealogy program too. Perhaps develop a traveling Genealogy program for your area.

 

Fontaine with Books-By-Mail can come to your library or your senior facilities to introduce people to what they do and who qualifies. This a very valuable program for the seniors in your area. BPL also has Bestsellers Club that anyone, no matter where you live in the county, can register for and get bestsellers sent to patrons at your library. 

Holley mentioned that she participates in the Bham Aids Outreach (BAO) book club and they regularly ask her to help them get more obscure books through ILL downtown - another service that is invaluable. She's done presentations to the group on using ILL and Books-by-Mail and other library services. Take it on the road! Tamara also reminds everyone that BPL Southern History will send a staff member to join you on outreach missions. BPL joined them at their senior center and a staff member of Irondale added to the discussion by explaining what local archives are held at Irondale.

 

Nontraditional outreach includes BPL having a booth at KamiKon this year! Their booth was next to VH. Services can be highlighted at a booth like this. They had flyers, stickers, keychains, bookmarks, little stuff that doesn't cost too much. AND CANDY! VH did a giveaway and trivia at their booth. Raffles are hugely popular. I put together a "Readers Giveaway" that includes ARCs, blank notebooks, bookmarks, stickers, cups, etc. This is so popular and adults love them. Slips of paper with their name and email/cell are put in a basket but why not use this to our advantage? I often ask, on the slip of paper, "Would you like your email added to our Adult Event newsletter?" That way you can cross promote services.

 

Avondale library creates "Adult Activity Kits" that are given out in the library. Each has a different topic (example: Agatha Christie) that has a recipe, crossword, word search, adult coloring sheet, custom designed bookmarks printed on cardstock all put together by printing on a 11 X 17 sheet of paper that folds into a folder to hold everything. One of the best features is that they utilize QR codes to link patrons to further information on the internet - a QR code to PBS Agatha Christie films, a bibliography of her works, documentary link, videos on Hoopla, official website. They went to a lot of trouble collecting all this information - they even included a teabag! My idea is to create these for senior outreach events too. It will inform and delight everyone! (The other example I had from Avondale was "Ghost Stories" and the folder included a list of "spooky podcasts" and links to all kinds of stuff online.

 

Joann at Gardendale said that they have had a booth at the local Magnolia Festival and they prepare all year long by collecting books to give out (around 400 books each year!) They definitely see an uptick in attendance after the festival. With this one great opportunity to reach out, they are able to plan all year and people look forward to the library being there. 

Something else new at Hoover is that our Parks & Rec dept came to us to collaborate with programming. Youth department is doing several "Storytimes in the Park" for kids (Our bookmobile will be there too) and we've planned a bigger event on April 5th (Spring Into Nature!) at a newer people/dog park that is located right on the river (Loch Haven Park). We're having Nature Journaling for kids and I invited a Samford biologist to come teach adults how to use the iNaturalist app, which catalogs places and nature (trees, bugs, flowers, you name it) along with where you found it. Another reason to collaborate is that they have quite a nice budget that we can tap into to make the event great.

 

VH also partners with their Arts Council to do programming (Can you say "COLOR YOUR WORLD" summer reading theme??) Perhaps smaller libraries might take advantage of this. Perhaps summer kickoff can take advantage of that partnership. Alison says she knows from experience that partnering with other city organizations makes the mayor and city council VERY happy! Another advantage is that other agencies or groups might have different ways of reaching the community or can pay for advertising that the library doesn't have.

 

Kiera also told us about the Birmingham Museum of Art CULTURE CASES that are available for checkout! (Taken from the website:

Take your students on a trip around the world with the Birmingham Museum of Art’s Culture Case program! Both physical and digital Culture Cases include objects from diverse regions, customs, and periods to create fun and exciting hands-on arts and culture learning experiences. They’re great for classrooms, libraries, after school programs, and more!

Global Art Culture Cases are actual suitcases that are available for free checkout and provide a tactile experience for students. Each case contains objects from different cultures around the world, all connected by a shared theme. These cases contain educator facilitation packets with quick guides to objects, questions for the class, and links to additional resources—all designed to enhance classroom engagement.

Virtual Culture Cases are digital cases that can be accessed online. Each virtual case is focused on a region of the world and provides additional digital resources like videos, coloring sheets, and lesson plans connected to the Alabama Course of Study Standards.)

Art objects from different countries, etc. and they would love to come help do outreach to seniors. That is awesome!!!

Wednesday, May 14th @ WYLAM Library 10 am. TOPIC: Censorship