How has the
library made your life better? I saw a
news story the other day about a study done in the U.K. that found that
visiting the library made people as happy as getting a raise. I wonder if it’s because browsing at the
library is like shopping without having to pay for it! For many people, the library is their happy
place.
St. Paul
Public Library has just started a neat public awareness campaign called
“Because of the Library”. It’s being run
by their very active Friends of the Library group, the same people who organize
the Minnesota Book Awards. A big part of
the effort is gathering people’s stories about the benefits they have gotten
from using the library. They are using
the hashtag #BecauseOfTheLibrary on Twitter and Facebook to make it easy for
people to share these stories.
We’d love to
hear about it if our library or other local libraries have made a difference
for you or your family, as well. Feel
free to tag us on Facebook or Twitter to share something good that has happened
for you here. On Facebook, we’re
Litchfield Public Library (MN). On
Twitter, you’d add @litchlibrary to your tweet.
What kinds
of things could you share? It depends on
what matters to you. Our library
system’s new strategic plan uses the phrase “read, learn, meet, and
discover.” Those things all happen daily
in our building.
Have you
found a great book? Did a staff member
help you find a new author that you’ve enjoyed?
Maybe you’ve checked out a book that helped you learn something and
accomplish a goal. If a librarian helped
you find the information you really needed, we’d especially love to know about
that.
Do you bring
your child to story hour, book club, or Brickhead Club? Have you seen them
learning new skills because of it?
Adults learn, too, whether in book clubs or at cultural events. Sometimes the learning happens one-on-one
when a staff person helps a patron with an e-reader or an internet search.
Have you
used our study rooms to work on a group project for school or our meeting room
to attend a support group or seminar?
Many meetings happen here, and it’s also an informal gathering spot for
the community.
Do you use
our public computers or wi-fi? For many
people in our rural area, this is the one place where they have access to the
internet at reasonably high speed. (You
are going to love it this summer when it will get much, much faster.) If you’ve used our computers or wi-fi to find
a job, do your taxes, or make travel plans, that would be great to know. If you use the resources on our library
websites without coming in to the library, a shout-out on Twitter would be so
fun to see.
Your
feedback helps us evaluate whether we’re meeting the goals of our strategic
plan, and the point of the plan is to provide you with excellent library
service. Let us know if something good
has happened for you because of the library.
