Kid-Focused Libraries Win IMLS Highest Honors
RSSBy Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 10/20/2009
Public libraries that offer stellar programs for Pre-K-12 students, provide quality programming to its blind and physically handicapped patrons, and tell the story of the citizen soldier in American history are among five winners of this year’s National Medal for Museum and Library Service, sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
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The Gail Borden Public Library’s SPACE: Dare to Dream project featured a recreation of Galileo’s studio, complete with a working model of his telescope. |
Stark County District Library in Canton, OH, was one of 10 recipients of the $10,000 grant given to all the winners. The 125-year-old library focuses heavily on its children and teen patrons with a Kidmobile service, which it launched in 1997, and even a theatre troupe, which lets students ages 4 to 14 perform in a series of fractured fairytales.
“Basically if you try out you get a part,” says Linda Dahl, spokesperson for the Stark Country District Library, which has 84 students performing this year. “And if you’re talented you get a bigger part.”
The Kidmobile is a particular favorite in town, which serves 97 different preschools, daycare centers and kindergarten classroom, making 1,291 stops on its route. The library added a second bus in 2001, after its waiting list had grown to more than 50 schools, and each stop now gets a 20-minute story hour, and allows kids to check out books, which are then left in the classroom.
“The [children] get really excited and always show you the book they chose,” says Tammy Long, manager of mobile services who started the program 12 years ago. “And they get so excited that the teachers don’t usually tell them we’re coming until we arrive.”
Other winners this year include the Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin, IL, which recently held a library card drive getting 8,000 new students to sign-up for cards. It also runs a fairly substantial teen program, which is promising $10 off any late fines for older kids during October’s Teen Read Month.
Another winner, the Multnomah County Library in Portland, OR, overflows with programs that help immigrants overcome barriers and successfully adapt by offering citizenship classes, English conversation practice sessions, and a Spanish language version of the Multnomah County Library Web site. The library also offers programs and services designed to address the most important period for literacy development—birth to age eight.
The Braille Institute Library Services in Los Angeles, CA, won for its commitment to providing quality programming and library services to its blind, visually impaired, reading disabled, and physically handicapped patrons in southern California. Outreach efforts include several book-of-the-month clubs, a children’s book club, and an annual summer reading program that promotes childhood literacy by encouraging children to continue reading even when school is not in session.
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Spanish language storytime is a popular Multnomah County Library program. Photo by Kristin Beadle.
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IMLS started including libraries in its awards in 2000, and each year five win along with five museums. Nominations can come from fans, or the institutions themselves. The main criteria? That these organizations offer an original way to help their communities.
IMLS received 76 museum nominations, and 40 for the library awards this year—and the 10 winners will be honored at a ceremony in Washington, DC, at a yet-to-be assigned date, says IMLS spokeswoman Jeannine Mjoseth. Recipients can cash their $10,000 check now.
