Across our nation and globally, more and more libraries are evolving into active community hubs that encourage personal enrichment, deepen understanding and assist meaningful collaboration. As this continues, so too, do the opportunities for library spaces to reflect priorities of the local community.
We are currently working on developing an updated strategic plan and are looking at newly released, cutting edge resources that libraries like ours can use as part of the Transforming Library Spaces for Community Engagement project. These resources are the result of a collaborative effort between WebJunction, an online library staff support network that strives to create and encourage excellence in libraries, and two pilot libraries at Bellingham Public Library and Whatcom County Library System, with support from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. This collaboration was designed to explore best practices for transforming library space to support community goals, encourage discussion, and inspire service delivery in a way that enhances public engagement. We are excited to be participating and hope the result is an amazing library for Lebanon and area residents.
We would like to thank the many people who helped with summer reading and to those who participated. We were joined again by the wonderful staff of Help for Mom Preschool and their students as well as some of the faculty from McKendree and some of our out-of-town Lebanon Advertiser readers.
We are excited about some fun programs we have planned for the fall and winter, so stay tuned to our column, facebook and our window for dates, times and topics. Do you want to participate in a book club? We are happy to order books for your whole group. New groups are springing up all over town, so find a group and enjoy some good reads and great discussions!
Back to school: Best wishes to the students who will be heading back to school soon. We will miss the many kids who came in to read, play Scrabble, volunteer and use the computers over the summer. We hope they will drop in from time to time during the school year.
You are here: No, we won’t need to post a map, but we have been rearranging things at the library. Reference materials are up front on the west wall which allowed us to expand the Young Adult area and gave us enough space for a creative new display area by the water cooler. Come in and check it out!
Name the library hedgehog contest. So many people have fallen in love with Miss Genevieve’s hedgehog that we are going to keep him up on the window making little changes as we progress through the seasons. Drop in and submit your idea for the perfect name for our hedgehog starting Wednesday. The winner gets a gift card to Barnes and Noble. Contest ends August 31st. Limit of one name per day per person.
Until next week, read another good book!