Bowling, anyone?

I have a free game card in front of me that entitles the bearer to "one free game of bowling for each member of your group up to 10 people. Limit one free game per person." It's for AMF Charleston Lanes and only good until April 6, so if you want to go bowling soon, let me know.
Comment here and let me know you would like this. First one to comment will get the card. I'll send it to you right away.

What I'm reading now...

Yesterday I saw a great way to promote specific titles and reading in general. Becky Melancon read found this tip in Library Journal and worked with Kate Hudson in Reference to put it into action. It's a clear plastic badge holder, attached to our name tag, that holds a card that says:
What I'm reading now... Next to that is image of the book jacket of the book the staff member is reading. I was excited and Kate was kind enough to make one for me. I'm wearing it now and I've been on a mission in the last 24 hours to spread the news.
I think this is great! It may be a little hard to visualize, but if you visit Main you can see staff members in Reference wearing this and soon, I think, in other departments across the building. It could be expanded to be What I'm watching now..., or What I'm listening to now...

I think this is most definitely an idea worth spreading, so let me know if you are interested in more details. And, what are you reading now??

Calendar spotlight

Yesterday's The Post and Courier, March 26, 2008, had a great article by Kristen Hankla featuring Lee Moultrie's and CCPL's Kim Odom efforts to help people find health information in the library. Moultrie and Odom were chosen to be part of the Aetna African American History Calendar and are profiled on the December 2008 page.

Kim, manager of the St. Paul branch, is one of the members of REACH, Racial and Ethnic Approached to Community Health, which works in the Charleston and Georgetown counties. This group was awarded a national award last year for their innovative approach to working with the community to share health information. Kim is quoted as saying, "Giving people as much information as possible is going to help them be a better patient in the patient/physician relationship." Kim has not only shown people in the library how to find information about health conditions, medications and nutrition, she has shared this with numerous churches and the Hollywood Senior Center, all the while encouraging people to get a library card to take advantage of the library's offerings.

Interested in getting a copy of this calendar? You can download a free copy at Aetna's website or get a paper copy sent to you (for $4), by calling 860-273-0509.

Professional collection

Yesterday I received an addition to the professional materials I store in my office and that made me think that probably many of you don't know about our professional collections. I have several books on my bookshelf of a wide variety of titles. These books are here for your use, as well as mine.

The latest addition is part of the Neal-Schuman series, A How-To-Do-It Manual, Library Contests, by Kathleen R.T. Imhoff and Ruthie Maslin. It covers the nuts and bolts of planning and implementing various types of library contests, including why and how to evaluate success.

If you'd like to borrow this book, just let me know!

Great stories CLUB grant

We've won a grant!
(ALA website)

The Great Stories CLUB is organized by the American Library Association Public Programs Office (PPO), in cooperation with the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). Major funding for the Great Stories CLUB has been provided by Oprah's Angel Network.

The Great Stories CLUB is a reading and discussion program that targets underserved, troubled teen populations. The program reaches teens through books that are relevant to their lives, inviting them to read and keep the books, and encourages them to consider and discuss each title with a group of their peers. It seeks to show that reading can be a source of pleasure, a tool for self-exploration, and a meaningful way to connect to the wider world. Its ultimate goal is to inspire young adults who face difficult situations to take control of their lives by embracing the power of reading.

Charleston County Public Library is one of 173 libraries, and eight libraries within South Carolina, to receive this grant. Our Young Adult Department at Main established a working relationship with the Carolina Youth Development Center (CYDC) in 2006 to provide their teen residents with library cards, programs and materials. Once a month the YA staff visits the Ledford House, one of the programs directed by CYDC. As grant recipients, we will receive copies of three grant selected titles for the teens to discuss, access to online resources designed to assist with programming, and a small cash grant for refreshments.

Another good example of the great outreach going on here at CCPL. I know there are more--please share!

Jonathan Green week, part 2

The Jonathan Green week festivities were busy and moving experiences, both for the presenters and the audience. It's touching to hear Jonathan speak and he has a great rapport with the audience. People love him and he couldn't be more gracious and giving.
He got a chance to go into the Children's department and was blown away by the paper dolls. Loved Karine's quilt, too. It's the photo above. What a creative use of his work--and he thought so too.

We're lucky that a man of his stature is such a library supporter and the community is indebted to him. I know that there are many students who will never forget meeting him. Cindy Schweinfest, Branch Manager Mount Pleasant Regional Library had this to say. "We generally do not get a large turnout for programs for adults at MTP (even though we usually get crowds to attend childrens, and especially summer reading programs). So many of the people shook my hand as they were leaving and thanked me for having the program, so I definitely consider this a complete success." I know these comments hold true across the county.

Libraries do touch lives!

There are so many wonderful stories about the ways lives are touched by libraries. I'd like to share one I read recently. And if you have one that you'd like to share also, please let me know.

From Summer Mauldin, RAYA, Main Library, used with permission.
I wanted to tell you about an experience I had today. Two months ago on an outreach visit to Crisis Ministries homeless shelter, I met a woman named Ms. G**** who had just moved to Charleston from Virginia. She told me how her life had 'gotten away from her' and she moved to Charleston to start fresh, though she was finding it difficult to cope with homelessness. I told her about the Working Opportunities for Women (WOW) program I help with weekly at the YWCA (I take them library card applications, job-related books, TLC schedules, etc). The program targets low-income women and teaches them job skills. I got Ms. G**** a library card and encouraged her to use the library's resources to get herself stable. On my next visit to the shelter, she was already gone--which is sometimes a good sign and sometimes a bad sign. I hoped for the former.

On my visit to the YWCA today, I was excited to meet my new class of WOW recruits--each group of women takes the classes for eight weeks, so this was my first day with the new group. When I walked in the room, Ms. G**** was there! She came up and hugged me and said since leaving the shelter, she had found housing and enrolled in the YWCA's program, and most recently, gotten a job. She was thrilled. After I left, I started to think about how this is a defining example of successful outreach--when one person feels supported by the library. Ms. G****'s first point-of-contact with CCPL was when we came to her at the homeless shelter; then she came in and used our facility to locate housing and a job; then we return to continue supporting her at the YWCA while she completes an intensive job training class. It's the ideal outreach relationship! Now she and her class are taking a 'field trip' to CCPL's March 13 Small Business Fair where she will attend workshops, get SCORE counseling, etc. What a wonderful opportunity, and what a wonderful example of how library departments can work together, in conjunction with community organizations, to enrich our county--one member at a time.

As you can imagine, this was a wonderful feeling, and I know that the effect CCPL has had on this woman wouldn't show up in any statistics, but it's there. From the moment she arrived in Charleston, the library encouraged and supported her in her quest to better herself and her community. What a wonderful example of how the library services extend far beyond books and reference desks.

Jonathan Green week at CCPL

Today marks the start of Jonathan Green week here at the library. There's a whole series of wonderful events planned, at Main, Otranto, Mt. Pleasant and Otranto. Movies, poetry, music, and a chance to hear Jonathan Green speak. I was lucky enough to hear him in September, when he joined us for one of the featured programs as part of The Big Read. Please do yourself a favor and go!

In addition to the planned programs, there's an activity for children. Pam Cadden had a great idea and Jonathan was gracious enough to say yes, so children can color Jonathan Green paper dolls. The Children's department at Main has them strung up, as you can see. They looks great! (And the staff has some obvious coloring ability too.)