Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Wandering Librarians



You may have noticed DPL in places where you might not have expected to find us these last couple of months.  We have been increasingly stepping out of the Library building and taking part in community events since our first foray at the Decatur-Morgan Hospital block party in June.  These events provide us with a way to reconnect with Decatur and Morgan County residents.  Read on for tales of our “out-of-office” exploits.

3rd Friday Downtown – June 2015 – October 2015
We attended our first 3rd Friday back in June, and have been delighted to be part of it ever since.  Summer weather notwithstanding, we’ve had a fabulous time providing a LEGO table or crafts for kids to do, on-demand storytimes with patron Frank Adamsky, and DPL-branded swag to those who took our survey.  We used that survey as a chance to touch base with our citizens and find out what people want in a Library.   We also had the opportunity to talk with people about our new programs and services.  We are looking forward to next year’s 3rd Fridays!

United Way “Get on the Bus” Tour – September 2nd, 8:30am
We started out the morning at the United Way of Morgan County office, where we boarded a Boys & Girls Club van and began a tour of the amazing service work being done in our city.  Our first stop was the Volunteer Center of Morgan County, followed by a visit to the Arc of Morgan County.  After that, we visited the home of a lady taking part in the Senior Companion program and then headed to Chestnut Grove Elementary School to meet some Foster Grandparents.  We ended our tour with lunch at the Meals on Wheels distribution center.  (Senior Companions, Foster Grandparents, and Meals on Wheels are all coordinated by the Community Action Partnership.)  We learned so much about the kindness and charity of the people of Decatur.  Each of these groups are doing outstanding work, so we’ve linked them above.  Please take a moment to check out what they do to make our local world a better place!

River Clay Fine Arts Festival – September 26th & 27th
How exciting to be a part of this festival!  We had a tent set up with the vendors where we extolled the glories of Decatur Public Library to passers-by.  Our resident artist, Heather (you know her from the Reference Desk) came up with a wonderful make-and-take art project that involved upcycling old book pages, the art of Zen-tangle, and found poetry.  We had a lot of fun and were very impressed by the level of professionalism and skill that went into creating what we are sure will be a yearly event.

Rocket City Lit Fest – October 10th & 11th
This event took us to Huntsville for two marathon days.  The Rocket City Lit Fest also had its first year and we had a great time reaching out to people.  We gave away free books (from a donation we received of 50 cases of the same title) and invited everyone to come see us when in Decatur.  We met a few Decatur and Hartselle residents while there and made contact with a lot of local authors who will hopefully visit our library in the future.  

Some of these events were exhausting but it is always worthwhile to get out and talk to people.  Our library is a pretty wonderful place and we want to make sure everyone knows what it has to offer!  If you would be interested in having the library be present at your event, please contact Rhonda or Stephanie at stephrhonda@decatur.lib.al.us.