“Everybody wants everyone else to succeed” in America's third most populous county When Fairbanks Branch Library Assistant Branch Manager Melinda Brinkle says “everybody wants everyone else to succeed” in Harris County she refers both to 1) everybody within the Harris County Library System and 2) everybody within Harris County Read More
Strike when the iron is hot (and heat it up if it is not!) Michelle Willis is the director of the Scotch Plains Public Library in New Jersey. She’s lived in the community since the age of 15 and has worked her entire career at this library. Throughout Read More
Libraries work because we do! Workplace wellness plants the seed Gale Bacon has been the library director in the city of Belgrade, Montana, since 2006. Gale said, "personally, I'm a strong wellness advocate, I walk my talk, I workout every day, so I see the benefit and the value in Read More
Tell people how the library can partner with them. Around 2016, the Marion Public Library facilitated a community planning meeting focused on the design of a new library building that they intended to create within the next few years. Someone from the Heritage Area on Aging (AAA) came Read More
From Informal Small Town Connections to Strategic Partnerships In the small town of Pella, Iowa, there exists a long tradition of library staff working informally with others to get things done. Jeanette Vaughhn, who oversees Community Services for the town, said over the years she's routinely seen library Read More
Orchestrate and organize to launch and sustain bold new initiatives The success of the Gail Borden Public Library District in Elgin, Illinois comes down to a culture in which library staff are empowered and supported in launching bold new initiatives by changing how they work: Shifting from dedicating Read More
A simple strategy to get started: Empower everyone to be partnering Memphis Public Libraries (MPL) strives to empower all members of its community, including all library employees. MPL has created a number of formal and informal systems and initiatives to try to create a library system where a growth mindsets flourishes at Read More
Hook the library in to the issues your community faces! Around 2016, a parent (and yoga instructor in training) in the city of High Point, North Carolina, noticed that there was no place in the city where youth could learn yoga. This parent approached Jim Zola, Head of Read More
Bringing people with the right connections and interests into your library Chang Liu, the director of the Loudoun County Public Library in Northern Virginia, has worked in libraries her entire career. She earned her Bachelor's degree in librarianship in China and has worked in libraries ever since. Despite Read More
It's not all about you: Centering the community The Baxter Memorial Library is located in Gorham, Maine. It neighbors a large open space, used on a seasonal basis for the town’s farmers market. As it warms up, many who come to the farmers market also stop in to Read More
