2021-09-24 SPLAT Curiosity Report: Volume 9, Issue 7

Featured Story

Staff Book Club

If your library does not have a staff book club yet, I would highly recommend getting one. My coworkers and I have been having a wonderful time reading and discussing books that we believe to be relevant to the way we are trying to keep up with library and community needs.

We take turns picking out books and attend a discussion at the end of the reading period. Sometimes we have discussion questions ready to go, but mostly we find enough to talk about and discuss on our own. Our book club has explored a lot of different types of subjects, but the majority have had a focus on social services and social sciences. One of my favorite reads that we have done so far is “The Intelligence Trap”, by David Robson. It was not a light read and it was a lot to take in, but the topic was fascinating and it got us thinking about the different ways that people learn around the world and all the different ways people can learn as well as adapt to learning environments.

The book club meeting is a really great time for staff to think creatively and collaborate together on a variety of topics. A lot of our group discussions have given us some fantastic ideas for staff or community development, including an idea to build an outdoor structure at our library for WiFi services! While sometimes it is hard to remember to read the books, we always bring something interesting to the discussion and learn something new that we may not have learned on our own!

– Monique Gaddy

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.

Royal Fail

In 2019, the local renaissance faire reached out about being a summer reading sponsor. They even offered to send out a storytime-ready Ren Faire princess! I was thrilled to partner with a new sponsor and host a royally awesome program. It was going to be amazing. But then the craft crowns didn’t arrive, 2.5x my estimate came, and the princess didn’t have a book or experience reading aloud to so many kids. Construction paper bands, an obscene number of jewels, and some really fast stapling filled in the gaps for crowns and Leah Wilcox’s Falling for Rapunzel came to our princess’ rescue as a totally engrossed audience listened to her read the story.

Even though the chaos made it feel like a failure, I was the only one that knew what had gone wrong and the attendees were happy, which is all that really matters in the end. It’s something I’ve learned to remind myself of when things feel like they’ve gone completely awry.

– Mallory Snow

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? What about a new idea, book, or resource that you want to share? Library Crush Corner is a place for those working in Idaho libraries to share what inspires them, and who or what they’re crushing on… in a professional sense. Share your story via our online form so we can publish it in a future issue!

Pottsboro Area Library

I’ve been crushing on the Pottsboro Area Library since I read about their stellar response to the storms that wrought havoc in Texas this February. When the city of Pottsboro lost power and water, the library helped coordinate resources and inform residents, and it acted as central location for the distribution of water and hot meals. In the aftermath of the storm, the library hosted community conversations and trainings on emergency preparedness. They are also working to secure emergency access to power from the electric company, so that they can better serve the community when the next emergency occurs.

– Simon Clifford

SPLAT explores the ever-evolving library world and supports library folks as they adapt to meet the needs of 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 was made possible, in part, by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (LS-246156-OLS-20). The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.