Linking the Library to the Community
October 22, 2013By Melissa Heintz Public Affairs Specialist, IMLS The Waukegan Public Library has been serving its community for the past 115 years. For Executive Director Richard Lee, the best measurement of the library’s success is how well it answers the needs of the community, not the numbers that come from book circulation. The Waukegan, IL community needed the library to be a place that supports education.
Museums Encourage Kids to Get Active at Worldwide Day of Play Events
September 27, 2013By Melissa Heintz Public Affairs Specialist, IMLS On September 21, Nickelodeon went completely dark, taking programming off the air on all channels and shutting down its websites from 12 – 3 p.m. to reinforce the simple message: get up, get out, and go play! As one of television’s leading entertainment brands for kids, Nick has promoted health and wellness efforts during Worldwide Day of Play (… Read more
Millions of Moments of Discovery: US2020 Launches City Competition
September 27, 2013By Max Milder Fellow, US2020 Enter a classroom anywhere in the U.S. today, and you will likely encounter a scene that could easily have fit in two or three decades ago. Students are sitting at desks. Teachers are using whiteboards and textbooks. Technology that could illuminate concepts is nowhere to be seen. This occurs not from a lack of imagination, but rather a lack of resources.
Meet the 2013 National Student Poets
September 26, 2013By Susan Hildreth Director, IMLS Last weekend, the fresh, young voices of five student poets were introduced to the American public. They are the National Student Poets of 2013, and I was privileged to meet them. These poets’ works were among the 400 selected for National Scholastic Art & Writing awards from thousands of entries. From the top entries, a panel of esteemed poet jurors selected… Read more
Nominate an Afterschool Program for a Chance to Win $10,000
September 26, 2013By Nikki Yamashiro Research Associate, Afterschool Alliance At the Afterschool Alliance we’ve seen the innovative and exciting ways libraries and museums across the country are providing kids with hands-on, experiential learning during the out-of-school hours.
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Federal Student Aid Made Easy
September 24, 2013By Teri DeVoe Program Specialist, IMLS If you asked random IMLS grant applicants about their first attempts requesting federal funding, few would probably think back to their senior year of high school. The reality is that many library and museum professionals likely filled out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at some point leading up to or during their post-secondary… Read more
In Brooklyn, Building and Strengthening Community Through Listening
September 23, 2013By Hillary Richard Project Coordinator, Building Strong Community Networks Building Strong Community Networks (BSCN) is an action-research project aimed at meeting community needs through collaboration. Our partnership—the Heart of Brooklyn—is a consortium of cultural institutions in central Brooklyn: Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Public Library,… Read more
Chipping Away at It
September 20, 2013By Leanne Jenkins Planning Director, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe Fifteen years ago, we at the the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Library had no functional way to keep track of our collections, no good way to share the many objects and photographs that tell the story of this community’s history, culture, and traditions.
Digital Inclusion: Whose Job Is It?
September 19, 2013By Angela Siefer Digital Inclusion Program Manager at OCLC’s WebJunction Libraries are essential providers of digital literacy training and public access. As it continues to evolve in our increasingly digital society, the library’s role as a community anchor institution becomes more and more clear. Our communities need libraries to actively participate in and lead multisector collaborations that… Read more
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If Not for the Library
September 11, 2013Ed Note: This is a cross post from the blog of whitehouse.gov.