Showing posts with label Alison Haertjens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alison Haertjens. Show all posts
Monday, May 11, 2020
Total Pageviews Gadget
I added the Total Pageviews gadget to the blog, and dragged it to the bottom of the sidebar as it is not important enough to have it at the top. I feel this is useful for the blog because as the pageviews increase, it gives more of an impression of legitimacy in that more people are looking at and potentially learning from our blog.
Monday, April 27, 2020
Libraries and the Homeless
Libraries are a public space for all in which access to information is paramount. Understandably, many unsheltered people take refuge in public libraries because they are safe, comfortable, welcoming, and climate-controlled, in addition to having valuable services, programs, and endless sources of information. But there are opportunities for libraries to not just include the homeless as patrons, but enable better access and services for this underserved population.
The homeless population of several cities has greatly increased over the last few years, and many public library systems have stepped up to the challenges of keeping their libraries accessible to all patrons, or becoming so if they weren't already. In Library Journal, Editor-in-Chief Rebecca T. Miller discusses barriers of access to information that the homeless face, and ways that those barriers can be eliminated or reduced. Two of the services mentioned are facilitating better access to showers and restrooms and enabling parents and caregivers to use computers for job seeking while their children play nearby. Making the library more usable for all helps remove the barriers to access to information. Miller suggests that it is not enough just to search for gaps in access, but that library staff need to go beyond and think of limitations of access as not just a challenge for patrons, but for public institutions to address and attempt to overcome (8).
The PBS report “Quiet Comfort” introduces us to the United States’ first full-time library social worker. This is another way that the San Francisco Public Library has assessed the needs of its patrons and adapted its staffing and services to help the community have maximum access to information.
How has your public library changed its services and programs to better meet the needs of your community's unsheltered population? What services do you think would be beneficial at your location? Tell us in the comments!
Works Cited
Miller, Rebecca T. “Real-World Barriers.” Library Journal, vol. 140, no. 16, Oct. 2015, p. 8. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=109996174&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
“Quiet Comfort: Library Social Worker Helps Homeless Seeking Quiet Refuge.” YouTube, PBS, 28 Jan. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOeBLhs5Jko.
The homeless population of several cities has greatly increased over the last few years, and many public library systems have stepped up to the challenges of keeping their libraries accessible to all patrons, or becoming so if they weren't already. In Library Journal, Editor-in-Chief Rebecca T. Miller discusses barriers of access to information that the homeless face, and ways that those barriers can be eliminated or reduced. Two of the services mentioned are facilitating better access to showers and restrooms and enabling parents and caregivers to use computers for job seeking while their children play nearby. Making the library more usable for all helps remove the barriers to access to information. Miller suggests that it is not enough just to search for gaps in access, but that library staff need to go beyond and think of limitations of access as not just a challenge for patrons, but for public institutions to address and attempt to overcome (8).
The PBS report “Quiet Comfort” introduces us to the United States’ first full-time library social worker. This is another way that the San Francisco Public Library has assessed the needs of its patrons and adapted its staffing and services to help the community have maximum access to information.
How has your public library changed its services and programs to better meet the needs of your community's unsheltered population? What services do you think would be beneficial at your location? Tell us in the comments!
Works Cited
Miller, Rebecca T. “Real-World Barriers.” Library Journal, vol. 140, no. 16, Oct. 2015, p. 8. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=109996174&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
“Quiet Comfort: Library Social Worker Helps Homeless Seeking Quiet Refuge.” YouTube, PBS, 28 Jan. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOeBLhs5Jko.
Libraries and Student Success
School libraries have long been safe spaces for students to find a good book and do research for assignments. But the library’s function in student success goes far beyond readers’ advisory and reference books. School library staff teach information literacy and technology, encourage critical thinking, and collaborate with teachers and school resource specialists to help students become not just better readers, but better students and researchers for life.
In the article “Equal Access + Equal Opportunity = Success For All Learners”, Schenell Agee explores ways that school libraries can better support students with disabilities. “Successful school libraries curate print and digital resources and resources that all learners can access” (Agee 26). Several tips and resources are provided for how to provide equal access to students with various disabilities, such as vision impairments, hearing impairments, and physical and cognitive disabilities. Without equal access, there cannot be equal opportunity, and the chances for student success are diminished. Incorporating accommodations and resources for students with disabilities makes it possible for library staff to help all patrons become better learners.
The video “Accommodations and Modifications for Students with Disabilities” discusses tips for such accommodations and modifications in the classroom. While school library staff are not typically involved in that aspect of the student’s day, it is beneficial for us to know what best practices are for the student with disabilities in school, and support and contribute to those accommodations in the library for student success for all.
What resources have made an impact on success for all students in your school library? Tell us in the comments!
Works Cited
“Accommodations and Modifications for Students with Disabilities.” YouTube, ECACorg, 25 Jan. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0xdaCEqrU0.
Agee, Schenell. “Equal Access + Equal Opportunity = Success for All Learners.” Knowledge Quest, vol. 48, no. 2, Jan. 2019, pp. 24–29. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1233107&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
In the article “Equal Access + Equal Opportunity = Success For All Learners”, Schenell Agee explores ways that school libraries can better support students with disabilities. “Successful school libraries curate print and digital resources and resources that all learners can access” (Agee 26). Several tips and resources are provided for how to provide equal access to students with various disabilities, such as vision impairments, hearing impairments, and physical and cognitive disabilities. Without equal access, there cannot be equal opportunity, and the chances for student success are diminished. Incorporating accommodations and resources for students with disabilities makes it possible for library staff to help all patrons become better learners.
The video “Accommodations and Modifications for Students with Disabilities” discusses tips for such accommodations and modifications in the classroom. While school library staff are not typically involved in that aspect of the student’s day, it is beneficial for us to know what best practices are for the student with disabilities in school, and support and contribute to those accommodations in the library for student success for all.
What resources have made an impact on success for all students in your school library? Tell us in the comments!
Works Cited
“Accommodations and Modifications for Students with Disabilities.” YouTube, ECACorg, 25 Jan. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0xdaCEqrU0.
Agee, Schenell. “Equal Access + Equal Opportunity = Success for All Learners.” Knowledge Quest, vol. 48, no. 2, Jan. 2019, pp. 24–29. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1233107&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Social Networking and Libraries
Those who don’t use libraries have long seen them as repositories of dusty old books. Library staff perennially seek to change this misrepresentation, and there is no better way to do so in our digital world than through social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. Because social media is consumed so heavily by the younger generations, the social networking phenomenon is also helping to advertise to that demographic, and shining light on the exciting and beneficial programs and services that libraries offer.
This is not only a winning strategy for public libraries, but academic ones as well. In the article “How Academic Libraries Can Leverage Social Networking to Popularize Their Services: An Empirical Study”, the authors review existing studies on how users respond to social media efforts of academic libraries. One key takeaway is that social media marketing for libraries should have a target and purpose for each social network used. Strategies must be utilized to maximize the effect of the social media accounts and individual posts, with the idea of getting “information relevant to users in a short period of time” (Booker and Bandayopadhyay 145). Likes and followers mean more exposure, and a carefully and strategically-implemented social networking effort gets the word out to more users without bombarding them with superfluous content.
In the video “Social Media for Libraries”, the Georgia Public Library Service offers training for “Strengthening Your Social Media Presence”. While this video is targeted to public libraries and not academic as the aforementioned study, the many tips presented can be applied by any library using social media.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP_KywVp7Cs
How are social networks being used in your library? Have you seen more value in social networks that have emerged since this video was made in 2016? Tell us in the comments!
Works Cited
Booker, Latrice, and Subir Bandyopadhyay. “How Academic Libraries Can Leverage Social Networking to Popularize Their Services: An Empirical Study.” Journal of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences, vol. 16, no. 2, May 2017, pp. 129–146. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=129365572&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
“Social Media For Libraries.” YouTube, Georgia Public Library Service, 21 Mar. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP_KywVp7Cs.
This is not only a winning strategy for public libraries, but academic ones as well. In the article “How Academic Libraries Can Leverage Social Networking to Popularize Their Services: An Empirical Study”, the authors review existing studies on how users respond to social media efforts of academic libraries. One key takeaway is that social media marketing for libraries should have a target and purpose for each social network used. Strategies must be utilized to maximize the effect of the social media accounts and individual posts, with the idea of getting “information relevant to users in a short period of time” (Booker and Bandayopadhyay 145). Likes and followers mean more exposure, and a carefully and strategically-implemented social networking effort gets the word out to more users without bombarding them with superfluous content.
In the video “Social Media for Libraries”, the Georgia Public Library Service offers training for “Strengthening Your Social Media Presence”. While this video is targeted to public libraries and not academic as the aforementioned study, the many tips presented can be applied by any library using social media.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP_KywVp7Cs
How are social networks being used in your library? Have you seen more value in social networks that have emerged since this video was made in 2016? Tell us in the comments!
Works Cited
Booker, Latrice, and Subir Bandyopadhyay. “How Academic Libraries Can Leverage Social Networking to Popularize Their Services: An Empirical Study.” Journal of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences, vol. 16, no. 2, May 2017, pp. 129–146. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=129365572&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
“Social Media For Libraries.” YouTube, Georgia Public Library Service, 21 Mar. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP_KywVp7Cs.
Libraries as Social Hubs
In an ever-polarized and distracted world fraught with fake news and propaganda, the library strives to be the great community equalizer. In the article “Libraries as Values-Driven Participatory Culture Hubs”, published in Information Today in June 2018, Brendan Howley argues that “libraries matter because they’re the cornerstone and touchstone of shared stories – they embody and set free the culture in which we live” (Howley, 15). They encourage conversations and participation in community, and while social media can spark those conversations, the library facilitates that participation.
Howley lists six aspects that libraries facilitate, making them “critical community resources”. These are:
• Diversity of voice
• Social equity
• Transparency and social accountability
• Access to the building blocks of an open society
• Access to trusted repositories of community data
• Access to business intelligence for centers of small business and entrepreneurship (15)
In the TedX Talk video “Public Libraries: The Next Level”, Brampton Library’s CEO discusses how libraries are assisting patrons in creating their own content, as individuals and groups, further connecting them with their communities. She also explains how kids come to the library for their most popular program, LegoMania, and learn to engage in cooperation, which helps them move on to the next level of programming, LegoRobotics. This program, and several other STEM programs, help kids gain engineering and planning skills that will help them move to the next level as community members.
It is clear that beyond just being a place to get books or a space where the community can convene, libraries serve a much larger community, social, and educational purpose. This can be seen not only at the public library, but academic libraries as well. Study spaces encourage students to gather and exchange information. Library events encourage students to explore the library and feel part of the academic community. Students convene at the library for academics, often resulting in social connections and plans.
What changes have you seen in your library regarding its function as a social hub? Please comment!
Additional resources about this topic are cited below.
Works Cited
Harris, Ryan, et al. “Creating Shared Campus Experiences: The Library as Culture Club.” Journal of the Medical Library Association, vol. 101, no. 4, Oct. 2013, pp. 254–256. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3163/1536-5050.101.4.005.
Hinze, Shana. “Librarians as Community Ambassadors.” Young Adult Library Services, vol. 15, no. 1, Fall 2016, pp. 27–30. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=118843606&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Howley, Brendan. “Libraries as Values-Driven Participatory Culture Hubs.” Information Today, vol. 35, no. 5, June 2018, pp. 15–16. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=130182780&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Padgett, Lauree. “The Social Library.” Information Today, vol. 34, no. 10, Dec. 2017, p. 23. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=126810320&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
“Public Libraries: The Next Level.” YouTube, TedX, 2 Oct. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frOurFNzFE0.
Howley lists six aspects that libraries facilitate, making them “critical community resources”. These are:
• Diversity of voice
• Social equity
• Transparency and social accountability
• Access to the building blocks of an open society
• Access to trusted repositories of community data
• Access to business intelligence for centers of small business and entrepreneurship (15)
In the TedX Talk video “Public Libraries: The Next Level”, Brampton Library’s CEO discusses how libraries are assisting patrons in creating their own content, as individuals and groups, further connecting them with their communities. She also explains how kids come to the library for their most popular program, LegoMania, and learn to engage in cooperation, which helps them move on to the next level of programming, LegoRobotics. This program, and several other STEM programs, help kids gain engineering and planning skills that will help them move to the next level as community members.
It is clear that beyond just being a place to get books or a space where the community can convene, libraries serve a much larger community, social, and educational purpose. This can be seen not only at the public library, but academic libraries as well. Study spaces encourage students to gather and exchange information. Library events encourage students to explore the library and feel part of the academic community. Students convene at the library for academics, often resulting in social connections and plans.
What changes have you seen in your library regarding its function as a social hub? Please comment!
Additional resources about this topic are cited below.
Works Cited
Harris, Ryan, et al. “Creating Shared Campus Experiences: The Library as Culture Club.” Journal of the Medical Library Association, vol. 101, no. 4, Oct. 2013, pp. 254–256. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3163/1536-5050.101.4.005.
Hinze, Shana. “Librarians as Community Ambassadors.” Young Adult Library Services, vol. 15, no. 1, Fall 2016, pp. 27–30. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=118843606&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Howley, Brendan. “Libraries as Values-Driven Participatory Culture Hubs.” Information Today, vol. 35, no. 5, June 2018, pp. 15–16. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=130182780&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Padgett, Lauree. “The Social Library.” Information Today, vol. 34, no. 10, Dec. 2017, p. 23. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=126810320&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
“Public Libraries: The Next Level.” YouTube, TedX, 2 Oct. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frOurFNzFE0.
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