SEPTEMBER 2024 NEWSLETTER
The September 2024 newsletter of Let’s Move in Libraries includes:
- An update on our I Partner with My Public Library awards
- A new podcast episode on surviving the stacks through community partnerships
- A reminder on StoryWalk Week 2024
- How to join monthly Birds of a Feather online conversations
This month’s featured image comes from Emmett, Idaho, where the Emmett Library is one of hundreds of public libraries across America that have received a Community Challenge Grant from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)’s Livable Communities Community Challenge Grant.
The grant is part of a “quick-action” program targeted at helping organizations help their communities become more livable in the long term — improving public places with an emphasis on the needs of adults age 50 and over.
Learn more at the program website. Applications in 2025 are expected to open in mid-January.
To get ready for this and other small grants that may help your library become more livable, join Let’s Move in Libraries and EveryLibrary on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, for a “Free Webinar: Small Grants as a Stepping Stone to Funding Library Health in All Policies Projects.”
In addition to talking about this funding opportunity and how public libraries can utilize it, we’ll also talk about scaling up your efforts after receiving small-scale grant funding, with strategies for transitioning from modest grants to more substantial capacity-building funding.
If you’d like to continue your learning after the webinar, we invite you to sign up for a free, virtual workshop that will explore how local leaders can design for people of all ages in urban, suburban and rural communities. This free online event takes place October 16 and 17, from 1-5 pm Eastern each day, and is sponsored by AARP’s Livable Communities. Participants will hear about innovative solutions and best practices to design places that benefit people of all ages and abilities through four key themes: Housing, Transportation, Public Spaces, and Community Engagement. Sign up now!
An update on our I Partner with My Public Library awards
On August 31, 2024, the nomination period for the 2024 “I Partner With My Public Library Award” closed. We’re thrilled to have received over 60 nominations from 32 states, provinces, and territories in two nations (US & Canada)! Full list of participating places include:
Alberta
Arizona
British Columbia
California
Colorado
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Michigan
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Northern Mariana Islands
Ohio
Oklahoma
Ontario
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Now that nominations have closed, our team of volunteer reviewers will be spending September evaluating the nominations.
In our October newsletter we’ll be announcing this year’s 10 Awardees, as well as additional Honorable Mentions.
An online Awards Ceremony open to all will be held in November 2024. Look for information on how to sign up in our October newsletter!
We want to thank EVERYONE who has worked to make this annual program a success! We’re now in our second year, and look forward to celebrating public library partnerships and partners for years to come!
Finally, if you missed this year’s call to participate, don’t worry! Another call for applications will be coming in June 2025 for that year’s awards.
A new podcast episode on surviving the stacks through community partnerships
Noah Lenstra, founder of Let’s Move in Libraries, was honored to join the Surviving the Stacks Podcast earlier this Summer.
This new podcast, led by Dr. Beth Wahler and Dr. Jane Garner, features stories and examples from across the globe to increase support to library workers and administrators experiencing challenges, bring awareness of the public to common library concerns, improve understanding about the reasons why libraries are seeing these challenges, and share innovative solutions for libraries to consider using in their own community.
Dr. Lenstra joined an episode discussing the phenomenon of public library workers feeling pressured to be all things to all people. We talked about how public libraries can survive this pressure by re-imagining how new library services are developed, shifting from trying to do it all by ourselves to leveraging community partnerships to share the load. He shared examples from the HEAL at the Library project to demonstrate how working collaboratively with others can help us survive the stacks.
We encourage everyone to give a listen to this important new initiative!
A reminder about StoryWalk® Week 2024
In the October newsletter we’ll be launching the call for participation for 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.
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.
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 September 18, 2024 at 12 pm Eastern / 9 am Pacific.
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.
These events are never recorded so that all participants can share freely. Join us!
Here are some of the resources shared in our August conversation:
Physical activity resources
- Library Journal article on Bike Month programming
- Certification Opportunity: Brain Fitness with Ageless Grace – Colorado Virtual Library
- WALK – Movement Experience & Book Reading with Jonathon Stalls | Poudre Libraries
Join the author of WALK – Slow Down, Wake Up & Connect at 1-3 Miles per Hour, Jonathon Stalls (he, his), for a community walk and book reading event - Virtual Fitness and Wellness Classes – Senior Planet from AARP
- Falls Prevention Awareness Week Toolkit
Food related resources
- Presentación de “Recetario para la Memoria”/ Unveiling “The Memory Recipe Book”
- Readers to Eaters – Our Books
- Adult Nourishing Modern Hungers program
- Children’s kimchi workshop to partner with Summer Lunch at the Library
- Family Dinner Project
- How to Raise a Voracious Reader
Promoting literacy with dinnertime storytelling, family conversation, and books about food - Be Mighty Little Rock – Central Arkansas Library System
- Little Free Pantry movement
- State Library of North Carolina Food Literacy Grants
Play related resources
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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.