2018-12-14 SPLAT Curiosity Report: Volume 2, Issue 4
Featured Story
Fine Free at Our Library
We are fine free!! I want to shout it from the library roof! After months of research and planning our board and library staff have made the bold and daring step to go fine free. As the library made this leap we considered many options. Looking into the libraries that have already gone fine less and to look at their approach was one crucial way we studied the issue before doing the same. I would like to share three ideas that helped us harden our resolve to move forward with the bold idea of no fines.
- Fines undermine library missions: in fact evidence shows that it prevents people from returning materials for fear of fines. Keeping patrons away from the library that we are desperately trying to welcome in.
- Fines prevent those with limited resources from returning to the library; Last week, the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore announced it was eliminating fines on overdue books and materials. Though borrowers are still responsible for replacement costs for lost items, the Pratt erased $186,000 in outstanding penalties for 26,000 borrowers and reinstated 13,000 users whose cards were previously blocked due to unpaid fines. What a great way to get patrons back into the library.
- Fines are a negative aspect to libraries who are seeking positive ways to reach patrons. In a world where libraries are more crucial than ever to reach patrons who need to bridge the digital and economic divide.
We are convinced that as we strive forward looking into ways we can make a positive impact in our community that fine free is a huge step. This is critical to our library’s mission to provide equal access and equality to our patrons.
Fail Forward
We’ve all been there. You pour your heart into a program, and no one shows up. You try something new, and you fall on your face. Sound familiar? Fail Forward is the place to share your failures, and give you the opportunity to share what you learned from them. Did you promote your program in a different way after no one showed up? Maybe you took a new approach to the new thing you were excited about? Awesome! Share your story via our online form so others can learn, and realize that failure is often part of the process.
Book Distribution Fail
Amy Campbell, Public Services Supervisor at Marshall Public Library shares her fail forward: In 2016, I heard a shocking statistic of how few children below a certain income level have age-appropriate books at home. A partnership with the local food bank led to distributing books to kids in holiday food boxes. I wrote to authors and publishers explaining our plan and received about 400 new books from enthusiastic supporters. As the program continued, however, we realized the fatal flaw in our plan: the books were handed out randomly to cars waiting for their food boxes. Children weren’t choosing them so we didn’t know if they really interested the kids or if the books were too easy or too hard for them to read. Our plan, we suspected, had none of the impact we wanted. We have shifted to partnering with a local aid agency that works with families long-term. Our goal is to have well-stocked bookshelves at this office from which kids can choose a book to keep at each visit, and we will eventually expand to other aid agencies. Our embarrassing failure was a necessary step to a better program!
Crush Corner
Is there a library you follow on social media who is always doing new and exciting things? How about a blog you follow that inspires you in the work you do? Library Crush Corner is a place for those working in Idaho libraries to share what inspires them, and who they’re crushing on… in a professional sense. Share your story via our online form so we can publish it in a future issue!
Boise Airport Digital Library
Last time I flew out of Boise I happened to walk by the Boise Digital Library at the Boise Airport. What a fantastic idea! I have forgotten my book at home so many times and had to buy an expensive magazine or book at the airport to have some analog entertainment for the flight. I would love to be able to spend some time browsing though ~free~ entertainment options after I’m so frazzled from parking, waiting in line, and passing through security and all the other tiny stressors of the airport. What a boon for Boise residents! Visit the Boise Digital Library at Gate B16 for TumbleBooks, digital magazines, charging stations and other useful library services. Keep it up, Boise!
SPLAT explores new ways to build capacity and support library folk as they serve their communities. Library folk throughout the state of Idaho volunteer to serve on the Special Projects Library Action Team (SPLAT). Learn more about SPLAT at splat.lili.org
SPLAT is brought to you by the Idaho Commission for Libraries and is funded in part with a federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (LS-00-18-0013-18). The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.