Celebrate The 16th Annual Friends Group Week
United For Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, coordinates Friends of Libraries Week. This year marks the 16th annual recognition as a time to promote local Friends Groups, raise awareness of their efforts, and thank them for their work in support of libraries everywhere. You can be part of it all next week—October 17-23.
The United For Libraries website has lots of ideas, including a sample press release, promotional materials, social media graphics, and stories about how Friends Groups across the country support their libraries in fun and effective ways. You can also watch a recorded webinar that offers ideas on how to celebrate National Friends of Libraries Week within your library and throughout the community. Another video to prompt a fresh way to say "thanks" to your own Friends Group is a thank-you video filmed by the Jacksonville (FL) Public Library.
United for Libraries maintains a variety of resources for library friends, foundations, and trustees. Note that some of their materials are behind a pay wall, accessible to members. But among the materials that are freely available are these publications, available to download at the button below:
- Libraries Need Friends: Starting a Friends Group or Revitalizing the One You Have (PDF)
- Friends Groups: Critical Support for School Libraries (PDF)
- Power Guide for Successful Advocacy (PDF)
How will you tout the support of your Friends Group?
Share plans with each other on Library Talk
Free and Online
This news is thanks to State Law Librarian Mandy Easter. The Iowa Access to Justice Summit will take place Thursday November 4th. Iowa librarians are invited to join other human services professionals and advocates for this free, virtual event.
The Iowa Access to Justice Summit will help anyone who works with the public to better understand existing legal resources and how to connect individuals and families with those resources. The desired audience includes advocates, case managers, social workers, teachers, librarians, and others in public service occupations.
Learn about identifying legal issues, navigating the court system, accessing interactive court forms, using online referral tools, and connecting clients to legal organizations whose mission is to help facilitate access to legal services.
Mandy will be will be participating in the summit and she encourages librarians to attend and also to share the event information with patrons as well. Join for a few sessions or stay for the day. Find the link to register at the button below
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October is designated as Health Literacy Month. Following a grim pandemic year and with COVID issues still worrisome, this is an opportune time for libraries to promote and support health literacy.
This annual, worldwide, awareness-raising event began in 1999. Since then, health care organizations, community services, government agencies, colleges, and many others have hosted a wide range of Health Literacy Month activities. Assisting in the cause is the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM) and the American Library Association (ALA): these two agencies have partnered to create a free toolkit for raising awareness of how libraries support health literacy in their communities and is part of the Libraries Transform campaign.
The theme for Health Literacy Month is “Building Awareness Through Action.” From the Health Literacy Month website “This month, we will work together to shift from health literacy awareness to health literacy action by building a world where all individuals have access to quality health outcomes." To help public libraries move from health awareness to health action, the program website also provides a toolkit--linked at the button below--which includes social media graphics, video clips, print posters and flyers, even ZOOM room backgrounds.
Library policies prevent staff from answering specific patron questions regarding medical conditions or treatment options. But staff can certainly guide library users to reliable and authoritative health information, allowing patrons to make more educated health-related decisions. Promote October as Health Literacy Month @ Your Library.
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