The October 2026 newsletter of Let’s Move in Libraries includes:

• The Awardees for the Fourth Annual I Partner with My Public Library Awards
• A Safe Routes to Libraries update
• A webinar recording on physical literacy programs for all ages
• Advisory Board updates
• How and why to join our monthly Birds of a Feather online conversation

But first, our main story.

Announcing the 2026 I Partner with My Public Library Awardees

Ten partnerships have been named the 2026 I Partner with My Public Library Awardees — from a retired bookmobile re-purposed by a community in rural Kentucky to city schools in the Philippines, the first award ever made outside North America. Congratulations to all ten.

The 2026 awardees

• B3 | Being, Belonging, Becoming, nominated by Chapel Hill Public Library, North Carolina. A nonprofit coffee kiosk in the library offering paid internships to neurodivergent people.
• The Bonanza Restaurant, nominated by Pembroke Public Library, Ontario. A downtown restaurant that hosts the library’s Casual Choir and helped its Multilicious program triple to 155 participants.
• Bullitt County Health Department, nominated by Bullitt County Public Library, Kentucky. Brings public health services into the library year-round, including a mental health festival that drew 614 participants.
• CASA by the Lakes, nominated by Marshall County Public Library, Kentucky. Created a family space and a mothers’ support group with the library, working to prevent child abuse and neglect.
• Community Seed Bank Committee of the NC State Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Gaston County, nominated by Gaston County Public Library, North Carolina. Volunteers who package thousands of seed packets a year for the library’s free seed bank.
• Department of Education – Schools Division Office of Makati City (DepEd Makati), nominated by Makati City Library, Philippines. Brings library storytelling and environmental education into city schools, reaching more than 440 children and family members. Read their story below.
• E3 Community Services, nominated by Collingwood Public Library, Ontario. Supports the 40 volunteers with intellectual disabilities who run the library’s pay-what-you-can Happy Day Café.
• Fountain Run Women’s Group, nominated by William B. Harlan Memorial Library, Kentucky. Turned the library’s retired bookmobile into a permanent mini-branch for a community of about 220 people.
• Merriweather Arts and Culture Center, nominated by Howard County Library System, Maryland. Hosts Battle of the Books for more than 1,800 fifth graders — 42 percent of the county’s public-school fifth grade.
• Reach Across Hill County, nominated by Hillsboro City Library, Texas. A substance misuse prevention nonprofit that sponsors the library’s Dungeons & Dragons club and Community Care Corner.

Detailed information on all Awardees will be shared online in conjunction with the 2026 Awards Ceremony, which will be held online on Thursday, November 19, at 2 pm Eastern / 11 am Pacific. It is free and open to all. Register here.

A rigorous review

This year’s 31 nominations came from public libraries in 13 U.S. states, two Canadian provinces and the Philippines. Twenty-three volunteer reviewers from 16 states and provinces read them through September. Every nomination was read independently by four or five reviewers and scored against seven defined criteria. No reviewer read a nomination they were connected to.

To every reviewer: thank you. This was many hours of careful, generous work, and these awards could not happen without it.

To everyone who submitted a nomination: A huge thank you as well!

About the awards

Let’s Move in Libraries launched these awards in 2023, after a three-year national study found that the most impactful public library initiatives depend on strong partnerships with a wide range of collaborators. With this year’s cohort, 41 partnerships have now been honored.

Our goal in these awards is to shine a light on the power of community collaboration. To that end, we also invite you to explore “Partner Stories,” an ever-evolving showcase of community partnerships that include public libraries.

Awardee spotlight: When a library story comes home

Department of Education – Schools Division Office of Makati City (DepEd Makati), nominated by Makati City Library, Philippines

Makati is a highly urbanized city of about 310,000 residents, whose estimated daytime population tops 2.3 million. The city actively promotes proper waste management, but Makati City Library saw that knowing about recycling and waste segregation does not always become a daily habit. It also saw that demanding work schedules and screen time can limit how much families read and learn together.

The library’s answer was to go where families already are: the public schools. Its partner in getting there is DepEd Makati, the city’s schools division.

The two began sharing resources in 2024. In 2025 they signed a five-year Memorandum of Agreement covering literacy programs, training, mobile-library services and joint evaluation. This year they started bringing the second season of the library’s storytelling program, “Stories Brought by the Book Mobile Van in the Modern Age,” into Makati’s public schools.

Children in Grades 1–3 take part with a parent, sibling or grandparent, so that what they learn can continue at home. The roles are clearly divided. The library provides the environmental stories, guided reading circles and interactive puzzles, along with trained facilitators and follow-up with families. DepEd Makati brings its school network, coordinates schools and schedules, and prepares each school community to take part.

Six school activities have drawn 222 family registrations, representing at least 444 children and family members. Follow-up with 14 volunteer families offered an encouraging early sign: 12 reported continued or developing waste-segregation practices.

One parent described buying two waste bins and labeling them for biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. The children needed regular reminders at first, but sorting became easier, and the family began taking plastic containers and bottles to their building’s collection area. “It feels good because the family works together, the home stays clean, and there are no unpleasant odors,” the parent said. Just as important, one parent said the activity gave the family time “to enjoy being together again.”

The program is approved through 2027 and will extend to the remaining grade levels and every public school in Makati.

Reviewers singled out different strengths. One noted that the agreement “clearly defines each organization’s roles and responsibilities, how they evaluate programs, and how they schedule future events,” and praised “the positive, lasting impact their programming has on the community.” Another highlighted “its clear innovation and focus on contributing to the greater good by teaching families environmental responsibility and advocacy.” A third wrote that the partnership “promotes core values of preservation and sustainability by teaching community members to make environmentally and economically responsible choices.”

Congratulations to DepEd Makati and everyone at Makati City Library, the first I Partner awardees from outside North America.

A Safe Routes to Libraries update

On September 8, the Urban Libraries Council and the Safe Routes Partnership wrapped up their free Safe Routes to Libraries Virtual Learning Series with a session on growing the movement through

cross-sector collaborations. Recordings and slides from the July, August, and September sessions are available on the series page.

The Safe Routes to Libraries team also presented at the Association for Rural & Small Libraries Conference in Montgomery, Alabama. There, a small but very engaged group joined the team for a workshop that led to great discussion.

Ready to get started with Safe Routes to Libraries? The key resources include:

• The Safe Routes to Libraries Resource Center from the Safe Routes Partnership, with curated resources for library directors, library staff, K-12 school partners, local planning and transit staff, and library visitors
• The Urban Libraries Council’s Safe Routes to Libraries GIS Mapping Tool and Tip Sheet
• The Urban Libraries Council’s Safe Routes to Libraries Impact Brief

Learn more at the Safe Routes to Libraries homepage.

Put it into practice this month: National Walk & Roll to School Day is Wednesday, October 7, 2026. As the series’ August session highlighted, back-to-school season is a perfect time for libraries and K-12 schools to team up. Join a local school’s event, or invite families to walk or roll to the library after school.

Watch the recording: Get Your Community Moving

Missed the webinar “Get Your Community Moving: Physical Literacy Programs for All Ages” held Tuesday, September 15th 2026? The recording and related resources are available for free through Limitless Librarian. Watch it, share it with colleagues, and use the resources to plan movement-based programs for every age at your library.

This inspiring conversation was led by Let’s Move in Libraries Advisory Board member Jenn Carson, who as Director of the L.P. Fisher Public Library in Woodstock, NB Canada, has been encouraging library patrons, volunteers, and staff to get up and move. These movement-based programs include yoga, story walks, circulating fitness equipment, kite-flying, running, dance classes, and much more. They can be adapted to people with different abilities and even taken online! Join Carson as she discusses her career-spanning journey implementing movement-based programs in libraries, schools, and museums.

Jenn Carson is an award-winning author, library director, yoga teacher, jiu jitsu coach, and internationally recognized expert in physical literacy. She is one half of the ceramics duo Potters in Crime. She was deemed by Amplify East as a “remarkable woman making a difference in Atlantic Canada.” In 2019, she was named a Mover & Shaker by Library Journal and hailed as “The Lethal Librarian” in a feature profile in [Edit] Magazine for her radical leadership and library advocacy.

Watch the webinar, download the slides, and try something new in your community!

Advisory Board updates

Our 2026–2027 Advisory Board is meeting monthly from September 2026 through May 2027.  Starting in August 2026, the function of the Advisory Board has evolved to focus on priority campaigns of the non-profit organization. In the 2026-2027 year, the Let’s Move in Libraries Advisory Board will focus on framing public libraries as critical community partners that enhance, augment, and strengthen community access to nature and greenspaces. We’ll be posting updates on our exciting work in the months to come! Thanks to our Board for coming together to support and guide this important work. Thank you to these library leaders and researchers for sharing their expertise:

• Jenn Carson, L.P. Fisher Public Library (Woodstock, New Brunswick)
• Deborah Dutcher, New Hampshire State Library
• Roanna Hooton, New Carlisle Public Library (Indiana)
• Lynette DelPrete, Anne Arundel County Public Library, Maryland City at Russett branch (Maryland)
• Amelia Hill, PhD student, University of Alabama
• Julianna Robbins, California State Library
• Trina Evans, Kokomo-Howard County Public Library (Indiana)
• Stephanie Fennell, Deputy Director, Durham County Library (North Carolina)

How and why to join our monthly Birds of a Feather online conversation

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.

Since February 2023 we’ve hosted a monthly one-hour Birds of a Feather online conversation.

We invite all to sign up to join us Wednesday, October 21, 2026 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!

Our September call brought together library workers and partners from California, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, North Carolina, and Texas. Here are the resources shared during the call:

• Walk, Bike & Roll to School: National Walk & Roll to School Day is October 7, 2026
• Public library engagement in diffusing a planned community health initiative: A dual case study (Bonnici & Ma, Public Library Quarterly, 2019), a study of the roles two public libraries played in a Blue Zones Project
• Blue Zones
• Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIPs): the plans communities build from a community health assessment (CHA or CHNA) to set health priorities and strategies
• ConnectWell: Founder Andrea Bloom welcomes inquiries (abloom@connectwell.health) from libraries interested in offering ConnectWell’s digital health content to boost health literacy
• Mental Health First Aid Training for All | MHFA USA
• The Library as Cognitive Gym | Faith in Our Future : Alan S. Inouye in Library Journal (September 1, 2026) on how libraries can help counter screen overload and the fading habit of long-form reading
• Readers to Eaters Food Literacy Books
• Creating a Nature Mandala – Sprouting Wild Ones: a seasonal nature-art activity for marking the equinoxes (one participant’s library has already hosted nature mandalas)
• Library Corps AmeriCorps opportunities at Kansas City (MO) Public Library: with support from the Missouri Community Service Commission, members spend a year (about 110 hours a month) building community connection through outreach, programs, one-on-one support, and referrals
• North Pocono library community garden cultivates hope, nourishes needy families (The Times-Tribune): over 11 years, the garden has sent nearly 12,000 pounds of food to the North Pocono Food Pantry and has grown to include a pollinator area and a family garden
• McCracken County (KY) Public Library Gardening Group on Facebook 
• Brownsville (TX) Public Library’s new greenhouses and Little Seed Library: visitors can take home five seeds a week and swap plants in the greenhouses, and the library’s Makerspace prints pots and plant labels

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