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Strategic Planning Takes a Leap Forward with Data Analytics

December 3, 2015

Posted 12/3/2015

By Jackie Sullivan and Sarah Withers

Mastering data analytics for public library administrators and their board of trustees is a critical success factor for planning and community engagement. The South Carolina State Library wanted to optimize the strategic planning resources that public libraries currently have available including collection strategy, materials investment, outreach, and programming to drive more value to the communities they serve.

Entrepreneurs Lack the Resources Necessary to Start Successful Businesses

January 5, 2016December 2, 2015

Librarians can find themselves in difficult positions when budding entrepreneurs, in search of answers that may determine the fate of their businesses, rush into the library. Steven Assarian, a business librarian at Grand Rapids Public Library, remembers well the day he found himself in such a situation. “An entrepreneur obviously interested in serving tourists came in and asked very specifically whether a particular town was a resort town,” Assarian recalled.

Not only is it Assarian’s job to provide consultation for entrepreneurs in need of business plans, but he’s also responsible for teaching business research techniques to classes of between 10-20 people. The ability to locate and use relevant information during the formation of a startup is a determining factor in whether the business will succeed. The pressure on librarians like Assarian to link entrepreneurs with current and rich data can be great.

“Usually these are people who really need help,” Assarian said. “They just don’t know what’s available or where to begin the process.”

Christmas Fiction: A New Trend?

January 5, 2016December 1, 2015

Posted on December 1, 2015

By Holly Hibner and Mary Kelly

It seems like there are more fiction authors than ever who are publishing Christmas titles. Many can be categorized as “women’s fiction,” but there are a number of Christmas crime books as well. Why is it so popular (and lucrative) to write a Christmas novel? Is this a new trend or simply a tradition?

Christmas novels have been around since roughly Charles Dickens’ time. Sir Walter Scott wrote the Christmas poem “Christmas in the Olden Time” (1904) and William Sandys’ Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (1833) are examples of Christmas titles that pre-date Dickens, but A Christmas Carol by Dickens was among the first Christmas titles in the form of what we consider a “novel” today. Dickens felt that the best way to educate people about poverty and social injustice was through an emotional, touching Christmas story, rather than through political pamphlets. He wanted people to be kind and generous toward one another, and used “the spirit of Christmas” to make his point (1).

Evanston Public Library Enhances Patrons’ Experience with Gale’s Vast Online Resources

November 30, 2015November 30, 2015

Posted on November 30, 2015

Lesley Williams is Head of Adult Services at the Evanston Public Library (EPL) in Evanston, Illinois. In the 18 years that she has worked there, the library has continually subscribed to products from Gale. Today, as a primary “go to” resource for the library’s broad range of patrons, GVRL eBooks are instrumental in helping EPL fulfill its mission. That mission is to be the heart of the community, promoting the development of independent, self-confident, and literate citizens by providing open access to cultural, intellectual, technological, and informational resources. “GVRL is the only online reference book service that we’ve ever had,” says Lesley.

The Hunger Games, Classroom Lessons

January 5, 2016November 20, 2015

Posted on November 20, 2015

By Traci J. Cothran

Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 has finally hit the big screen, enthralling young minds with the drama, action and adventures of Katniss Everdeen. Nestled in with all the unfavorable odds and pageantry are real issues that students can explore – while flexing their critical thinking skills – under this pop culture umbrella.

Global Warming and Climate Change. In The Hunger Games, the US has collapsed following a devastating series of drought, fire and storms, resulting in a fight for the remaining limited resources. The resulting society, Panem, rose in its wake. Science In Context provides factual overviews as well as in-depth articles on global warming, air pollution, and their lasting effects.

Peer Picks…Meet Our Newest Peer Picks Selector

November 11, 2015

Posted on November 11, 2015

Robin Bradford is currently the collection development librarian for fiction, Large Print, DVD, music and world languages for the Timberland Regional Library System in Washington. Prior to moving to Washington a few months ago, she was the fiction collection development librarian for the Indianapolis Public Library. She has worked in a variety of libraries, academic and public, in a variety of positions, from student assistant to librarian. The one thing that has been a constant throughout, however, is a love of reading. When she isn’t working, or tweeting, or blogging, or reading, or at a conference focused on books, Robin is looking at the map and planning her next adventure.

Social Skills in the Digital Age

January 5, 2016November 10, 2015

Posted on November 10, 2015

Note to librarians: This blog post is for you to share! If you have this title, be sure to link it to your GVRL collection. If you don’t have this title and want to learn more, access a free trial today!

Communication is more complex than ever. Today, we tweet, chat, blog, email, text,…and, oh yeah…talk. New tools that enhance communication can also complicate it, making it difficult to navigate professional communication and steering people away from face-to-face communication that was more typical for earlier generations.

To support the development of social and professional communication skills, your library is offering a new online resource. Life and Career Skills: Social Skills provides simple, straightforward guidance to enhance verbal, written, and non-verbal communication that’s useful in all aspects of life. It’s designed especially for young adults who are entering the workforce or transitioning to new environments.

From Toddlers to Seniors: Learning at Every Life Stage

January 5, 2016November 6, 2015

Posted November 6, 2015

By Rosemary Long

Libraries continue to be represented in popular media as book repositories, a place for story time, and – in the most progressive TV shows – a place where people use (get this!) real, live computers!

Popular culture hasn’t caught up with the reality of today’s public library, where the mission has transitioned from providing information to delivering outcomes-based learning. Not just information seeking, but engaging in active learning. Gale’s online education programs helps libraries impact lives by supporting education, skills development, and personal enrichment.

Encourage Literacy with NaNoWriMo!

April 16, 2019November 5, 2015

Posted on November 5, 2015
By Anne Nagrant, Customer Success Manager

I enjoy the act of writing, and I used to write really long essays in college, but I’ve never tackled a major project like writing an entire novel. It seems so daunting. I think I might have trouble staying motivated long enough to really make progress. Luckily for people like me, November brings us NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)!

Tools of the Trade: Empathy, Respect, Openness,
Communications, and the Library Mission

November 18, 2015November 4, 2015

Posted on November 4, 2015
During the time of unrest in Ferguson, we at the Ferguson Municipal Public Library (FMPL) made a conscious decision to simply stay open for our community. We forged many vital relationships during those difficult days by providing empathy, respect, and comfort to the people in our community.

Empathy and Respect – Keeping our doors open during the hard days created a shift in how the people of Ferguson thought of their library. The empathy and respect we showed our patrons created a synergistic boost to the community as a whole.

Understand patrons, and respect them as people. Everything else grows from this, but you have to really mean it. If you care deeply about your community, it shows in every conversation, decision, and service. This cannot be an abstract thing—caring in aggregate but not in specific. It’s about building actual relationships. After all, we serve each patron as a person, individually.