16 • JULY 2014
LIBRARY Working to transform communities
The Current
SCLD among libraries chosen for program By Sarah Robertson
CURRENT CONTRIBUTOR
Summer Reading kicks off with a BANG! Pick up a program guide for Adult Summer Reading at your neighborhood library or check it out online at scld.org
Libraries have long been the center of communities. The Spokane County Library District (SCLD) is hoping to play an even larger role in shaping the community through a recent grant from the American Library Association. SCLD is one of 10 libraries from across the country chosen to take part in the Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC) Public Innovators Cohort, which is in partnership with the Harwood Institute and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The library received nearly $60,000 in training and services as part of the TLC initiative, which is a nationwide approach to provide libraries the tools they need as community leaders to bring about change. SCLD Deputy Director Patrick Roewe said the library is hoping to engage the communities served by the district to evaluate what roles it can meet. “Libraries are uniquely suited to foster these conversations,” Roewe said. “We’re an unusual party because we’re open to all people.” The first step of the LTC program involved an intensive, three-day training in Denver, Colo., in May for SCLD staff to understand the tools and Harwood Institutes method. The next step is to find out
organizations,” he said. “Our aim is for community-wide improvement.”
Summer is when we like to spend more time outdoors, and I turned to “Day hiking Eastern Washington: Kettles-Selkirks, Columbia Plateau, Blue Mountains” by Rich Landers and Craig Romano to help plan some of our adventures. The book covers hikes throughout the region, but we’re focusing on exploring some of the 17 hikes specifically around Spokane. The guide rates each hike on a scale of 1-5 for overall appeal, and then also 1-5 for difficulty. I also appreciate that the “Hike at a Glance” chart tells me whether we can take the dog, the kids or both. The husband and I are particularly looking forward to taking a picnic and hiking the Palouse Falls trail (hike #112) without the kids. We also took a look at “Paddle Routes of the Inland Northwest: 50 Flatwater and Whitewater Trips for Canoe & Kayak” by Rich Landers and Dan Hansen to plan some easy paddles. Our family is already familiar with the delights of the Little Spokane River, but we are looking for-
ward to trying out some other waterways. Each featured paddle includes a map, distance and approximate length of the paddle, as well as detailed information about whitewater, put-in and take-out information. Since we aren’t especially skilled, we’ll stick with flatwater and rivers that don’t have significant whitewater (nothing above a Class I or maybe II for us). Not everyone enjoys being outside, and there’s plenty of indoor staycation opportunities. We plan to take in a show at the Planetarium at Spokane Falls Community College, and we will of course be sampling the offerings at our local library. There are plenty of local concerts, art galleries, theaters and museums to keep us plenty busy. If you’re looking for staycation ideas, check out Spokane County Library District’s Pinterest page for some inspiration, www.pinterest.com/spcolibrarydist/. We’ll see you out there. Gwendolyn Haley is a Library Services Manager at Spokane County Library District.
THE CHOSEN TEN The following libraries were selected by the American Library Association to participate in the Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC) Public Innovators Cohort. Red Hook Public Library (N.Y.), pop. 1,900 Columbus Public Library (Wis.), pop. 5,000 Knox County Library (Ind.), pop. 33,900 Suffolk Public Library System (Va.), pop. 85,000 Hartford Public Library (Conn.), pop. 125,000 Springfield City Library (Mass.), pop. 153,000 Tuscaloosa Public Library (Ala.), pop. 195,000 Spokane County Library District (Wash.), pop. 255,000 San Jose Public Library (Calif.), pop: 980,000 Los Angeles Public Library (Calif.), pop. 3.8 million
Resource Review
We’re no scientists, but we think we have your solution for summer enjoyment. No equations required! By Gwendolyn Haley
SPOKANE COUNTY LIBRARY DISTRICT
www.scld.org
the needs and goals of the community by meeting people where they’re at. “We’re getting our staff up to speed, and we’ll be reaching out to community groups to host conversations on their aspirations,” Roewe said. “We want to go to where the folks are at.” If it is determined that there is not a library role to fill, Roewe said the library will share the information gathered with other organizations to help fulfill needs. The whole process will take about 18 months to complete and will include ongoing training for SCLD library staff. The LTC initiative will start with Spokane Valley and eventually include the other areas of the county that SCLD serves. Roewe sees the grant as an investment in the community, one he hopes will be used as a stepping stone to other projects. With the training received, SCLD staff will be able to re-employ the tools used for the initial LTC project and gather new data as needed. “We are in a unique community position as we serve a broad spectrum of people,” he said. After the process is completed, the information will be available to the public as well as to community groups. Roewe hopes that by sharing the information with community partners, they can be a catalyst for change. “The library starts the conversation, and we want to directly serve members of our community through the library or other
Why is it we never seem to appreciate our hometowns until we have company? I have a dear friend who visits us every year, and each visit I try to find new and fabulous things to do in the Spokane area. When she arrives, I present an itinerary of things we might do, and then we plan her visit from there. We now have a running joke that I always hold something back with an, “If we had more time, we could have done this...” to entice her to visit again next year. It’s funny we never think to do any of these activities the other 51 weekends out of the year! My family vowed to change that this year.