The Woodward Public Library was selected last summer to participate in an American Library Association (ALA) initiative called, Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities.
Participation in the initiative came with a $20,000 grant from the ALA to help the Woodward Public Library — and more than 200 other libraries chosen — to provide community engagement and accessible resources to small and rural libraries to help them better serve people with disabilities.
“We were so proud to be chosen for this amazing opportunity,” said Woodward Public Library Director Myrna Griffith. “This grant allowed our library to get to know and better serve our residents with disabilities. It will help us improve our services and to ensure this population feels welcome and comfortable in our space and that we are meeting their needs. In addition, this generous grant allowed all patrons of the Woodward Public Library to enjoy improved selection and access to our physical and e-audio materials.”
Griffith said the funding helped the Woodward Public library improve its audio collection, display and the assistances they can provide to its patrons to find and access both physical and e-collection as well as new technology.
As a part of the grant, WPL Youth Services Librarian Tara Turner took an online course in how to lead conversations, a skill vital to library work today. Turner hosted the initial conversations with residents about improving access to the library’s physical and e-collection.
Turner later took a position at another library, but the work continued under the direction Griffith, who further improved the audio collection, display and technology.
“This grant was vital as many patrons do not have consistent access to the internet or the technology to access e-materials, and they often need some guidance navigating unfamiliar technology and internet sites both at home and at the library,” Griffith said. “This funding helped the library make all resources more accessible with additional trained staff time, improved displays and devices that can be borrowed to access digital and e-materials.”
The ALA’s Libraries Transforming Communities initiative has been re-imagining the role libraries play in supporting communities since 2014. Libraries of all types have used free dialogue and deliberation training and resources to lead community and campus forums, to take part in anti-violence activities, to provide a space for residents to come together and discuss challenging topics and to have productive conversations with civic leaders, library trustees and staff.
The Woodward Public Library received more good news when it learned it would get some 120 new children’s books from the Pilcrow Foundation in Cottage Grove, Oregon.
According to the Pilcrow Foundation website, their mission is to provide new, high-quality, hardcover children’s books to rural public libraries across the U.S., an effort that brings to children “an opportunity for active engagement within the community and lifelong learning.”
The Pilcrow Children’s Book Project matched the library’s contribution two-to-one and then added another $200, providing the library $1,400 with which to buy 84 new, hardcover books. When the books arrived, generous donors added even more titles to the collection, giving the Woodward Public Library 120 new books for ages birth to seventh grade.
“The library has been celebrating our new books during the month of June with its Summer Reading Program—Get Caught Reading,” said Griffith. “Children are being introduced to these new titles through reading, show and tell and book-talking the books. One young person picked out a cat book right away. They were excited to find the kind of cat they had at home in the book.”
Griffith said the library has greatly benefitted from the addition of these books to its collection. The library in most recent years has been doing extensive weeding of its entire collection, which was very dated. These new titles and recent copyrights have sparked reading interest and enhanced the collection in the children’s area.
“It is all thanks to these generous donors,” she said. Anyone interested in donating to this cause can contact the Pilcrow Foundation online or by email pilcrowfoundation@gmail.com.
