The March 2024 newsletter of Let’s Move in Libraries includes:

• Inspirational stories from Kansas and Colorado
• The recording of our relationship-driven library webinar
• An invitation to our monthly Birds of a Feather call
• A new webinar series on health partnerships
• A request for input on the intersections of food justice and public librarianship

This month’s featured image comes from the 2024 Public Library Association conference.

We’re thrilled to share that we will be at the conference for all three days and we can’t wait to meet with any of you who will be there.

We’re especially excited to invite you to an in-person meet up to take place Wednesday, April 3, from 4:30-6 pm near the Exhibit Hall. This is an opportunity to meet colleagues, network, connect, and also get a copy of our Cultivating the Relationship-Driven Library Toolkit.

Let us know if you’ll be coming to the in-person meet-up so we make sure we have enough toolkits and space, and so we can keep an eye out for you!

In addition, you can join Dr. Noah Lenstra at OCLC’s Public Library Research Agenda Panel, taking place in their booth in the exhibit hall on April 3 at 2 pm.

Finally, you can join us Friday, April 5 at 12:30 pm at the How-To Stage where Dr. Noah Lenstra will be presenting How To Cultivate Relationship-Driven Libraries: A Four-Step Guide for Lasting Partnerships. Here is the session description:

“Cultivating and sustaining the relationship-driven library has four steps: 1) planting the seeds of partnership, 2) nurturing co-developed ideas, 3) harvesting and celebrating accomplishments, and 4) resting and preparing for future partnerships. You’ll leave with renewed confidence in your ability to find partners, cultivate working relationships with them, and keep relationships fresh and impactful. You’ll also learn how to advocate for the time you needed for this process. Everyone goes home with a print toolkit.”

If you’re going to be at the conference, you can let us know by filling out our meet-up registration form, or simply sending us an email!

We hope to see you in Ohio!

Inspirational stories from Kansas and Colorado

We want to thank the Eugene Field Branch of the Denver Public Library and the Erie (Kansas) City Public Library for sharing these inspiring stories!

And we’d like to invite you to share your stories as well! We feature them online and in our newsletters to inspire others.

The Eugene Field Branch of the Denver Public Library shared with us that “We launched our monthly Older Adult Walking program in May of 2023. Our branch, the Eugene Field Branch of the Denver Public Library, has a strong Older Adult customer base. The purpose of the program is to create connections, gain knowledge, find joy and make our participants feel they are of value as members of our community. From the very beginning our walking group had attracted a large number of participants.  We learn together through booking presenters who have expertise on certain topics that we feel are of interest to our older adults, such as birding, tree identification, and instructors who conduct active adult classes at the local recreation center.

As a librarian, I also lead walks on topics that encourage our participants to share  stories and interests which fosters a sense of connection.  An example of this was our Gratitude Walk, in which I employed thoughtful prompts  to make it a peaceful morning stroll.  In all of these ways, I have seen our participants engaged, joyful, connecting with each other and forming community. I have had older adults tell me it has been hard to find connection and this walk is giving them that.”

Next, we want to thank Julie Kent, Director, Erie City Public Library in Kansas for sharing this story: “This year our library is participating in 1000 Hours Outside.  This program is designed to get our kids outdoors and doing fun activities.  Our library is also participating in February’s Great Backyard Bird Count. We have produced birding journals, grab and go pinecone bird feeders for families to do together and will be meeting with the 5th grade class here in Erie on Friday to get them started.  They will be instructed to observe the birds in their backyard or other areas, count them and then with the help of their parents or teachers, will upload these statistics to Cornell University to give their count. These statistics will be shared with the science community to determine the health of our planet and how the populations of birds are doing. This count is done in more than 100 countries.”

 We’d like to invite you to share your stories as well! We feature them online and in our newsletters to inspire others.

The recording of our relationship-driven library webinar

We were blown away by the engagement in our webinar held Wednesday February 14 on Cultivating the Relationship-Driven Library. This webinar, based on the HEAL at the Library Project, was hosted by Niche Academy! In total nearly 700 people participated in the live webinar and over 2000 registered for the event. The recording is now available online, along with the slides, chat, and more. Check it out!

Here’s a description: “We all know that teamwork makes the dream work, but what does that actually mean for the day-to-day work of librarianship? Cultivating and sustaining the relationship-driven library has four steps: 1) planting the seeds of partnership, 2) nurturing co-developed ideas, 3) harvesting and celebrating accomplishments, and 4) resting and preparing for future partnerships. Join Noah Lenstra for this webinar on building the relationship-driven library. You’ll leave this session with renewed confidence in your ability to find partners, cultivate working relationships with them, and keep relationships fresh and impactful, as well as how to tactfully step back from relationships that aren’t working the way you hoped they would. Finally, you’ll learn how to advocate for the time you need for this process. If you’re interested but not able to attend the live webinar, go ahead and register. We’ll send a recording to all registrants after the fact.”

Here is a piece of feedback we received from a participant: “Thanks for sharing your experiences in the webinar today. It helped reinforce so much of what we do here. We have a lot of community partnerships and I’m a strong proponent of relationship development. It has certainly helped us in many arenas, from partnering on one-of programs, to a local pollinator garden where previously we just had stones and weeds, to a seed library we are working on launching soon, to partnerships with the local Cultural Council to fund three consecutive artists-in-residence – the next being a drag artist.  I look forward to helping advance this work.”

Check out the recording and please share widely!

An invitation to our monthly Birds of a Feather call

• Iowa participants shared that an organization called Nine Square Feet based out of Des Moines is working with a number of Iowa public libraries to do seed give aways. As they note on their social media “Our 9th annual Seed Swap and Giveaway is scheduled for February 24, 2024 at libraries all across the state of Iowa!”
• A number of participants shared programs that they use or recommend for librarians interested in bringing movement and exercise classes for adults to their libraries, including Ageless Grace – Timeless Fitness for the Body & Brain, Geri-Fit, DrumFit, and Tai Chi for Arthritis.
• The following hydroponic garden kit was recommended during a discussion on that topic
• We had a lively conversation about what libraries were doing for Summer 2024, including many sharing resources and ideas related to the Collaborative Summer Library Program theme of Adventure Begins at Your Library : La aventura comienza en tu biblioteca. Colorado State Library shared their summer program guide, including a passive program guide that includes instructions on creating a DIY Bike Repair Station at your library.
• For those interested in movement-based programs for kiddos, the book Yoga Frog by Nora Shalaway was recommended
• Finally we talked about a range of ideas related to sustainability, including everything from sustainability fairs at libraries to securing Sustainable Library Certification from the Sustainable Libraries Initiative.

These events are never recorded so that all participants can share freely. Join us!