JUNE 2024 NEWSLETTER
The June 2024 newsletter of Let’s Move in Libraries includes:
- A celebration of Bike Month
- An update on our non-profit status
- A reminder about StoryWalk® Week 2024
- A new StoryWalk resource
- How to join monthly Birds of a Feather online conversations
This month’s featured image is the official call for nominations for the second annual “I Partner With My Public Library Award.”
Do you work at a public library? Has a community partner made a difference by collaborating with you?
The I Partner With My Public Library Award invites you to recognize the accomplishments of exceptional partners. Each year, up to 10 are honored at an online ceremony held in their honor.
Submitting a nomination is the perfect way to thank your partners, and to celebrate the work you have done together. These annual awards also inspire others to reach out to new partners.
Nominations will be accepted through the end of August 2024. Final decisions will be made on October 15, 2024, with a public awards ceremony occurring in November, 2024. Awardees will be publicly celebrated on the Let’s Move in Libraries webpage. Join us in this endeavor!
Click here to submit a nomination
In addition to submitting a nomination, you can also serve as a reviewer. Reviewers will spend approximately 3-5 hours in September 2024 reviewing nominations and filling out an online form. Learn more, and serve as a reviewer!
You can submit a nomination and serve as a reviewer: We’ll make sure you don’t review your own nomination! You do not need to work in a public library to serve as a reviewer.
To get inspired, check out the 2023 Award Winners and Honorable Mentions at the I Partner with My Public Library webpage. We can’t wait to read your nominations!
Please share this news widely.
A celebration of Bike Month!
Did you know that National Bike Month is May in the United States, and June in Canada? In celebration of this fact, Library Journal recently published an article documenting some of the many ways public libraries are offering innovative ways to support bicycling all year round.
Here is a brief excerpt. Go to LJ to read the full article!
“In Oklahoma, the Mustang Public Library launched a bike checkout program in April, just in time for National Bike Month. Library Director Julie Slupe was inspired by similar programs in other public libraries.
“I found that the Bethlehem Area Public Library [PA] had a bike program that piqued my interest,” said Slupe. She then noticed that the Oklahoma Department of Libraries (via the Institute of Museum and Library Services) was interested in providing funding to public libraries interested in fighting diabetes, she said.
With the funding in hand, Slupe now hopes the library bikes will be used “by families to ride around the 128 acres of the park situated behind our library.” To get them started, the library plans to offer a bike riding program led by library staff.
To help make the new collection a success, Mustang Parks & Recreation supplied the library with bike racks, and has also agreed to store the bikes during the winter months, as well as help with any needed repairs. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation will also be offering a bike safety program.”
Read the full article at Art, Health, Community: Libraries Support Bicycling During Bike Month and Beyond.
An update on our non-profit status
We are thrilled to share that Let’s Move in Libraries is now an officially designated non-profit institution, according to the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This news means that donors can deduct contributions they make to Let’s Move in Libraries under IRC Section 170.
We’re also qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers or gifts. Please see this 501(c)(3) letter from the IRS and contact us with questions, or to start the donation process. In the near future there will be systems in place to facilitate online donations, as well as to order Let’s Move in Libraries merchandise.
We are excited about the possibilities this new development creates, including opportunities to apply for grants, to provide funding to public libraries, to support those interested in attending conferences or continuing education opportunities, and much more!
If you have an idea, let us know!
A reminder about StoryWalk® Week 2024
We want to remind you that for the fourth consecutive year we are teaming up with the Association of Bookmobile & Outreach Services (ABOS) for the Fourth Annual StoryWalk® Week celebration!
This year the fun will be November 10-16, 2024.
To participate, all you need to do is a share a photograph of your library’s StoryWalk from the year 2024, along with a brief caption. We’ll be opening up the call for participation in October 2024.
To get ideas and inspiration check out the webpages for
And our StoryWalk resource page.
Let’s get moving outside!
While you wait for StoryWalk Week 2024, we’d like to also invite you to share your StoryWalk stories! We feature them online and in our newsletters to inspire others.
A new StoryWalk resource
Kelley Donner recently shared the following StoryWalk resource with us. It sounds like a promising product for librarians who may wish to purchase ready-to-go StoryWalk pages that come with activity prompts embedded in them.
Kelley writes “As an author/illustrator, and an educator for over 20 years, encouraging children to read has always been a passion of mine. Nevertheless, as a mom of three boys with dyslexia, I’ve found that sometimes in order to get children to read you need to think outside the box. About a year ago, I found out about the Storywalk® Project and it inspired me to create something completely new. I decided to make editions of my books that are especially suited for walks in schools and which can be used either indoors or outdoors. Now, instead of needing to buy 2-3 books in order to do a walk, a librarian only needs to buy one, cut on the dotted lines, place spreads together, and laminate. Prompts have already been added. I currently have four of these DIY books on the market, including School is More Than a Building and Run, Oscar, Run! (which is a Storybook Run, not walk).
Researching and creating these editions led me on a journey to really think about creative ways to get children to read. After discussing with librarians and teachers about their experience setting up and creating walks, I decided to set up a website called StorybookWalk.com. Here you will find books, display ideas, and links as well as hanging hacks and tips for how to do a walk on a budget. I also give information on how to get permission from authors and how to do a walk from scratch. Of course, there is a link to information regarding the original Storywalk® Project as well.”
Take a look, and thanks for sharing Kelley!
Have a resource you’d like to share? Let us know by contacting us.
How to join our monthly Birds of a Feather 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. The next event will be July 17, 2024 at 12 pm Eastern / 9 am Pacific.
Important note: In celebration of the US federal holiday we are cancelling our June conversation, which was scheduled for June 19. Happy Juneteenth, and we will see you in July!
Join us for an inspiring, engaging, open and lively conversation.
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.
Here are some of the resources shared in our May 2024 conversation:
- Know Your Flow: A Menstrual Health Collaboration – Know Your Flow is a partnership between the NNLM Region 6 Ohio State Advisory Group and Aunt Flow to help everyone access quality health information and free period products. Together we can reduce stigma and promote menstrual equity. Learn how you can help. Join the campaign!
- New ‘Library of Things’ food preservation collections benefit Eastern Oregonians – Oregon State University Extension Service faculty in Harney and Wallowa counties partnered with the nonprofit organization Libraries of Eastern Oregon to launch two “Libraries of Things” in the summer of 2023 at libraries in Joseph and Burns
- Medical Inflatables – We talked about how to bring these to libraries through partnerships with healthcare organizations, as in this examples from Greensboro, North Carolina
These events are never recorded so that all participants can share freely. Join us!
Was this newsletter forwarded to you?
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.