Adult Services Minutes - November 01, 2023

Guest Speaker – Community Literacy Centers – Liz Willner, the Education Program Coordinator at CLC, talked about our current partnership, how we can support low-literacy adults, shared some writing from students, and discussed the new book that we have in the system. 

• Reading Partners: The program is for 4 weeks (and the readers/ partners have 2 sessions a week for those 4 weeks). Results: Readers have completed an entire book; readers have gained positive feelings towards reading; the program has created ‘pleasure’ readers; and much more. 
• This is a program that helps people aged 18 and older. 
• These sessions are held on Zoom or in person at the reader's nearest library location (library-located sessions create a habit of library interactions and usage). 
• The CLC also helps with transportation issues, childcare issues, and beyond. · Please visit Community Literacy Centers if you seek more information regarding their resources, events, and future updates. CLC's Reading Partners Program - Information for Adult Librarians.pdf is an information source that guides Adult Librarians – and others, who participate in Reading Partner duties. Below are further explanations of key points on the sheet on how to support low-literacy adults in our everyday interactions:
  •  Instead of giving an answer to a question, reword phrasing and look for signs of the reader's understanding. 
  • Start with short stories. 
  • When writing information, write less and do not write in cursive. 
  • Offer a lot of support (offer your help because they sometimes do not and will not feel comfortable initiating) and stick to that person until they do not need you anymore (within reason). 

Liz gave a huge KUDOS to all libraries that made readers/reading partners feel welcomed! If you require additional information, please contact Liz at [email protected] 

Updates 

Let’s Talk About It Oklahoma & Spring Author Visits– Heather (DVS)

Oklahoma Humanities offers a book discussion group program called Let’s Talk About It, Oklahoma. This is a book reading and discussion series that requires grant planning and matching organizational dollars. If you are interested in applying for and offering this program in FY25, please contact Heather Zeoli. 

Literary Voices® 2024 will be the first week of April 2024 with Kwame Alexander, James Patterson, and Kevin Kwan. Details on the promotion of these events will come from DVS after Jan. 1. To learn more now (to plan adult passive or active programming re: these authors) visit www.literaryvoices.org 

Period Products - Jessica Gonzalez (OES) OES has a surplus of period products that all locations can order through the supply catalog each month. Never hesitate to contact Jess or Djimon! Also, we are here to help facilitate having Period OKC come to your location with a table if interested.  

• Period Supplies – PADS: https://my.metrolibrary.info/drupal/supplies/period-supplies-pads  
• Period Supplies – TAMPONS: https://my.metrolibrary.info/drupal/supplies/period-supplies-tampons 

We are currently working with CAIR, the OK Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, our Public Works Department, the OK Wellness Alliance, and others to learn about and brainstorm ways we can support our staff and community through health literacy. 

Punk shows – Meg Nance Coker (Special Collections) PLEASE view Library Live Presentation 

• The Oklahoma Underground Music Archive has gathered an Archival Collection of Zines, Photographs, Concert Tickets, T-shirts, etc. There is also a Facebook group connected that has 1.4K members.
• UMAmi has been received well by the community and is growing with each month (the link provided is an Excel sheet where you can request zine copies for your branch). 
• In July 2023, there was a Library Live event at DN that featured Crust punk through 4 bands. This was a successful event that brought a good crowd to the location, so now we want to spread it throughout the system. 
• Idea: Quarterly concert, rotating locations, 2-3 bands/artists, different genres (indie rock, post-punk, synth-wave, etc.) Provided: Consistent branding and media, tie-in with UMA and SCR social media, features in UMAmi zine, access to artist listing, background projection, physical sign, and extra copies of zine. 

Young at Art, Aspen events, Animal Welfare with Kirkpatrick – Judie (Special Collections) Young at Art, OCARL, Common Enemy, and Events in Aspen Presentation! 

• Caldecott Exhibition coming in December 
• OCARL Travelling Collection: BHC and HRC 
• Modify your event descriptions in Aspen (using verbiage that better integrates with our items and events)
• Common Enemy documentary link (preview). Show this film at your location. It is a free showing and the production team will bring guests from the film.
• More questions? Email Judie! 

Teresa (OUT) update: Library by Mail bookmarks are coming in soon and will be available for request. 

Kristin (OES) update: Solar eclipse glasses (more will be sent to locations soon), in the process of translating several documents and pamphlets to have Spanish versions, and sensory bags will be ready to launch once Processing is done processing (sensory bags are in-library use only). 

Emily (OES) update: Winter Reader BINGO update: Mugs have been ordered, Marketing is working on Bingo cards, and training is coming in December. 

Sharing and Programming Discussion 

Heidi (DVS) - Managers have been tasked with determining which staff support will supervise volunteers. For those that do, here are the upcoming trainings for Supervisors of Volunteers: 

• Here is the link to enroll in Leading Volunteers for 2024 ~ https://metrou.sumtotal.host/Core/pillarRedirect?relyingParty=LM&url=core%2Factivitydetails%2FViewActivityDetails%3FActivityId%3D24194%26UserMode%3D0 
• Samaritan 2.0 link to enroll ~ https://METROU.sumtotal.host/core/pillarRedirect?relyingParty=LM&url=app%2Fmanagement%2FLMS_ActDetails.aspx%3FActivityId%3D52187%26UserMode%3D0 

Friends February Booksale volunteer opportunities will be open and available in mid-November for volunteer sign-up. 

If there are questions about volunteers or volunteering, please let Heidi know! 

Saidah and Cameron (RE) 

• Sewing Program for teens and adults; Writing Legacy for Memoir for NaNoWriMo; Poetry Group meeting Saturday, Guest poet; new engagement staff: Cameron 

Kadey (DC) 

• DC has officially been making a location-specific program calendar for one year, and the guests love them. 
• If you have not taken the Leading Volunteers with Confidence training yet, it is highly recommended to do so (contact Heidi in DVS for more information). 
• The adult volunteer who started in May has quickly become a valuable member of the DC team. She has translated the last couple of program calendars into Spanish and was involved in our Hispanic Heritage Month program planning. Paint & Sip has been a popular monthly program for adults with a group of about 15 adults consistently attending each month. 
• Tracie has been working with the city of DC to coordinate a Veteran's Day Flag Raising Ceremony. 
• Take-Home Tuesday for November highlights Native American Cooking
• Sabrina is leading a Native American Boarding School Documentary screening. 
• DC is gearing up for holiday programs—Holiday Budget Books, Santa's Workshop, Winter Wonderland Storytime, Polar Express Night, and Hanukkah Take & Make. 
• Due to staffing issues, DHS-embedded worker has been spotty, so please call DC to make sure they are here before sending a guest who needs this service. 

Sharon (SO) 

• Ended Fall DnD session 
• In the market for volunteers! 
• The financial literacy class is on Nov. 2. Nov. 11 is a Genealogy Teatime program, Nov. 12 is Red Dirt Poetry, and Nov. 30 is Lego Christmas Village. 

Meg (SCR) 

• In the process of getting oral history centralized and allowing people to look at these documented experiences and make them accessible to all. 
• October was Queer History Month, and we found the following source and content discovery: a journal submitted regarding a lesbian couple that was together for 30 + years. 
• Queer Travel guides. 
• Opportunities for virtual volunteer tasks are coming soon (oral histories, transcriptions, UMAmi magazine) 

Leslie (NW) 

• Bad art night and aroma therapy programs 

Daniele (BE) 

• In October, they had a Poe Murder Mystery Party that went well and had 18 adults! 
• Upcoming All Ages programming: Coffee & Crafts - with about 30 people regularly, Fiber Arts group, guest-lead sewing class with the OES machines. DnD for teens and adults has about 20 people every 2 weeks. Increased usage of our maker space and related programming. Lots of holiday crafts are coming in December. 
• Nov 14: What Now? Thriving After Baby with COBA (Collation of Oklahoma Breastfeeding Advocates) and OK Dept of Health. at 11:30 AM dealing with postpartum and mental health. 
• After hosting weekly NaNoWriMo Prep meetings, they are hosting three weekly NaNo Write-Ins. Saw 6-15 at Prep, so excited to see who all attends the Write-ins. 
• Apple Pie Time returns in Nov - families can come make a pie together and then take it home and freeze it to cook on Thanksgiving. 
• 2 SNU Performances - Fall concert on 11/18 and quartet winter concert in Dec 
• Dec 11: Laura (children's librarian) and Danielle are hosting a Storytime for Special Needs Adults. DRTC is bringing a group, and they hope that opening it up brings in more from the community. This is their first try, and then they will assess how to proceed for more in the future. 
• Danielle and Kristin - along with Natasha Parker (AL), Tracy Mabry (MC), and Breanna Salzsieder (DC)- are planning an Early Parenting Resource Fair that will be hosted on Feb 17 @ BI that focuses on resources for 0-5yo. They are planning a take-home kit for system-wide distribution as well, and more info will come soon. 
• Also working on an interviewing workshop with Work Ready OK for January. 
• Tai Chai at the Y next door (too cold for outside) and Chair Yoga on Tues/Thurs in Nov 

Kristin (OES) 

• Oklahoma Fancy Dancers have a few performances left in our system and are also on the cover of our METRO Magazine for November. 

Kelly (BI) 

• BI's 60th Birthday Party is in September. The Sugar-Free Allstars played and there was a slideshow of BI history. People also put together Birthday Cake box kits for an instant party with donations our guests had been dropping off. 30 kits were donated to Pivot for the youth there. 
• Recurring 
  • Vinyl Record and Art Nights Monthly started in September 
  • Makerspace Crafternoons 
  • Lo-Fi Study Halls 
• Genealogy 
• Murder at the Halloween Party 
• Hocus Pocus Escape Room 
• Fancy Dancers 
• Sewing a Rice Bag 
• NaNoWriMo Write-In 
• Mary Kay Zuravleff Author Visit 
• Native American Heritage through Film-Osage Murders and Sequoyah documentaries 
• Jan Brett Winter Wonderland Program and Book Signing 
• Behind the Nutcracker with the OKC Ballet-documentary 

Natalie (MWC) 

• Danielle has been working with Goodwill for Resume Help, Ace that Interview, and Beginner Computer Classes. They are working on getting those in the mornings as well. 
• MWC has been uploading their programs to Peachjar and has also been printing a calendar that has two months of programs on the front and back. Natalie has also been taking these calendars into programs so that she can talk about some of the upcoming programs. 
• MWC's Children programmers and Natalie have been working on a Homeschool meet and greet where there will be activities for the kids, and she can talk with the adults about what they would like to see at the library and what resources they would like. 
• Natalie has started to do a Wood Burning Class every other month, last time was trinket boxes and in December will be Welcome Signs. 
• Natalie has been doing the Book Subscription boxes and has 20 people signed up as well as having a waitlist of 5 people. They sign up in one month and they'll get books for three months, then each month they'll get 1-2 books depending on what they asked for and will also receive a drink mix, 2 stickers, and a special item (this month will be a 3-D printed coin she made that has One More Chapter on one side and Go To Bed on the other.) 
• In January MC will have someone from the Red Cross come to the library to teach a CPR Class, but you will not be able to get certified, and then they plan to bring them back in March for a Disaster Preparedness class. 

Lynda and Danielle (AL) 

• AL covered Fall Fest having 500 attendees, a story walk, and 30 volunteers. 
• Danielle hosted AL’s first full-service event at Trinity which had a great turnout (pumpkin snowman craft). 
• AL has a few Native American events: Food Explorers, talking sticks, and weaving. 
• Danielle is working on a Camp Half-Blood event to celebrate the Percy Jackson release. 
• Danielle is taking point on the family Joyfest kit that will total 400 activities (80 kits x 4 each) 
• Tons of outreach - OCCC, Metro Tech, OKCPS, Hispanic Chamber 
• Trinity is getting a new roof put on as well as being at a stand-still for getting a phone, cameras, or printing/fax. 
• AL started filling out (2-3 weeklong) Grand Opening plans for February 5th to coincide with the original anniversary of Feb 4th, 2013. 

Mark (RD) · Almonte Construction update

• Almonte will have a podcast studio, which is the first in our system! 
• Completion in the first part of January, February 5th is the potential GRAND opening. 
• Edmond 2 – in the value engineering perspective phase. 

Amy (VI) 

• Programs and Take-Home Kits: Tai-Chi, Grape Dumpling Take-Home Kit, Paper Craft Pumpkin Kit, National Novel Writing Month, and Lo-fi study hours - for studying students, in December. 
• Idea? - Poetry Month in April. 

Judie (Special Collections) 

• Please send prints, emails, and digitized promotional flyers for documentation purposes. We all want to either look back at our past or make it available for future information-seekers to access. 
• 1000 years of Joys and Sorrows by Ai Weiwei book club was a success
•  Have Adult Art kit ideas? (contact Judie) 

Eva (DN) 

• Paranormal Fest went great, over 300 attended 
• November: International Game Day event Nov 11 - Magic the Gathering tournament, game design workshop, board games, and Super Smash Bros in Auditorium 
• Art by indigenous artists in Philomathea Hall display case 
• Job Fair rescheduled for spring 
• December: Winter Crafternoon, Young at Art 
• January: Craft Fest 

Armando (WA) 

• Programs: Creative writing chat books, ESL classes going strong, CAIR expanded the ESL to include a conversational component, painting your own mugs, Screened Road from Home, Fall Fest 

Stacy (WR) 

• Take-home kits: Art Around the World (pick a country and folk art, then create a simplified art craft. Guests also receive information about said area). 
• Thanksgiving kit coming soon