DECEMBER 2025 NEWSLETTER
The December 2025 newsletter of Let’s Move in Libraries includes:
- A celebration of the 2025 I Partner with My Public Library Awardees
- A call for participation in a short survey on SilverSneakers® and public libraries
- How to follow along StoryWalk Week 2025
- How and why to join our monthly Birds of a Feather online conversation
Our main story is the celebration of the 2025 I Partner with My Public Library Awards. On November 14, 2025, we held the Third Annual Awards Ceremony. Watch the recording here.
Among this year’s 10 winners is The Sharing Place, nominated by Orillia Public Library, Ontario, Canada. This partnership (pictured here) centers around school-break food distribution in the Winter, March, and Summer, extending the school fuel program into a public, stigma-free setting. The collaboration expanded during the pandemic and now includes donation drives and shared resource distribution.
Impacts of the partnership include:
- Directly addressing food insecurity by extending school snack access when school is out, so children keep getting nutritious food year-round.
- Removing stigma associated with needing food by operating openly and without any requirements.
- De-escalating hunger-related behaviours that in the past had led to issues and incidents in the library.
Learn more about this and all 10 of this year’s awardees at the I Partner with My Public Library webpage. Join us in this celebration!
About the I Partner with My Public Library Awards. These annual awards were started in 2023 after a three-year national (U.S.) study determined that the most impactful public library initiatives require strong community partnerships with a wide range of collaborators. We’re thrilled to shine a light on library partnerships through this endeavor.
The goals of these annual awards are two-fold: (1) to celebrate the amazing work that is only possible when public libraries collaborate with community partners, and (2) to highlight opportunities for both public libraries and potential community partners to start and extend collaborations.
Complex community needs can only be addressed through community collaborations. It is our honor to award and celebrate the work these amazing community collaborators and their public library partners have done across all of North America.
Nominations in 2026 will open on June 1, 2026.
A call for participation in a short survey on SilverSneakers® and public libraries
Calling all public libraries in the United States of America. We want to hear from you! This one-page survey was designed by Let’s Move in Libraries and seeks to gather information on you interest in, engagement with, and awareness of SilverSneakers®. We estimate it will take you no more than 5 minutes to complete. Coalition survey
Start the survey here.
The survey will be open during the months of December 2025 and January 2026, and results will inform future collaborations between Let’s Move in Libraries and SilverSneakers.
How to follow along StoryWalk Week 2025
For the FIFTH year, Let’s Move in Libraries is teaming up with the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services (ABOS) for StoryWalk Week 2025!
This year’s StoryWalk Week will be December 8-12. The call for participation was open during the month of November.
Follow along with all the StoryWalk photos and stories shared by following ABOS and Let’s Move in Libraries on social media: ABOS on Instagram, ABOS on Facebook, Let’s Move in Libraries on Facebook & Instagram.
In addition, all photos and stories shared will be available after StoryWalk Week on the Let’s Move in Libraries website, alongside submissions from StoryWalk Week 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
How to join our monthly Birds of a Feather online conversations
Want to join a community of public library workers and partners interested in the topics celebrated by Let’s Move in Libraries?
Have a burning question you’d like to ask other librarians?
Join us in our monthly Birds of a Feather conversation series.
Beginning in February 2023, we host a monthly one-hour Birds of a Feather online conversation. Join us December 17, 2025 at 12 pm Eastern / 9 am Pacific for the next installment in this series of inspiring, engaging, open and lively conversations.
What is a Birds of a Feather conversation? It’s an opportunity for individuals with shared interests to gather together (birds of a feather flock together) to share resources, inspire one another, and generally build community.
These events are never recorded so that all participants can share freely. Join us!
Here are some of the resources shared during our November conversation, which primarily focused on food literacy, food access, and food recovery programs:
Here’s link to fermentation workshops to connect flavor, texture, and culture
ConnectWell at the Library Report
ConnectWell: The Truth about Juice
Readers to Eaters Book: Feeding the Young Athlete
A map of food recovery and gleaning groups around the USA
You Can Now Drop Off Your Food Scraps At 13 Chicago Public Library Locations
Conference at Louisville – Hook and Cook
Kentucky Hunters for the Hungry
RidWell: Send Less to Landfills
Plastic Knives used in library programs
Public Librarianship and Food Justice: Working With and Alongside Communities
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Subscribe to the Let’s Move in Libraries newsletter for monthly editions of success stories, educational opportunities, and food for thought that will deepen the impact of HEAL (Healthy Eating & Active Living) programs and services in public libraries. Also follow the project on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter to stay up-to-date. The Let’s Move in Libraries project focuses on how public libraries create opportunities for individuals of all ages and abilities to engage in healthy activities.