Bridging the Distance by Youth Services Librarian Claudia Haines Homer, Alaska is a small, rural town that sits on the shores of Kachemak Bay. Its winter days are dark and cold while summers seem endless. The town is filled with both old-timers who are here for the long haul and newcomers who might be here only a season or…
On August 9, 2014 a black teenager named Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. The boy, who was eighteen years old, was unarmed. His death spurred on protests in the city of Ferguson that drew international media attention both in August, immediately following the shooting, and again…
In February of this year, the Thomas Memorial Library in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, opened the doors of its newly renovated building. What is not new, however, is their partnership with Family Place Libraries, a network of libraries promoting early literacy and play-based engagement with families of young children. The initiative operates nation-wide with a training institute based in Centereach, New…
If you take a moment to ponder the concept of community, you begin to realize that it is a truly multi-faceted notion. There are numerous ways to define it, from the town in which you live to a group of individuals who congregate and share their love of knitting. People find and define community in many aspects of their lives.…
When the idea for a community-focused themed newsletter was presented, I associated community with the people that make up my city, and knew I had nothing to contribute, as I am an elementary school librarian, and not a city library employee. But it was pointed out to me, that my community…is my school. As the elementary librarian at a small,…