Celebrating Many Women with Many Resources

By Robert Lisiecki

March marks the time for us to celebrate Women’s History Month. During this month, we’ll remember and celebrate the various women throughout history who have made lasting impacts on the world as we know it today. And boy, there are a lot of women to celebrate.

The women we recognize come from different eras and backgrounds—each presenting her own unique story. When thinking about the uniqueness that each story presents, I began thinking about some of our resources. Each resource is crafted and created to provide a unique functionality and utility to tell its own story.

Today, I’d like to reflect on five different women from five different resources, highlighting some high-level information. Some women are more well-known while others, to me at least, are less. I hope this post can serve as an example on how different resources can impact research. Let’s go.

Five Impactful Women from Five Different Resources

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Helping Students Succeed

By Angie T.  In 2014, for the first time, my library organized celebratory events for National Library Week. We invited students, faculty, and staff to submit speech bubbles with stories of how libraries had changed their lives. We received responses such as: “Thanks to our library, I have been able to keep up on my … Read more

Inspire A Lifelong Love of Reading…One Party at a Time

By Adam W. 

The love of reading happens over the Summer, after you shut the text book for the year and chart your own reading course. Kids are going to read in November because they read what they wanted in the Summer. The Summer Reading Party is just an extension of reading, it is one chapter to spark a lifelong love.

The 2014 theme is Spark a Reaction and that is exactly what we do with the Library Kick-Off Party. We kickstart the rest of the Summer. We have rides, bounce houses, authors, prize giveaways, Kindles, GoPros, Boat Rentals, even a PS4.

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I <3 My Library!

By Shawn K.  Our library is a small, but a vibrant part of our rural community. They are constantly looking to the community for ideas on how to improve and make things better. My kiddos love going to check out books, of course, but they also love going to all of the different activities sponsored … Read more

Who Are Your Patrons? Where Are They Coming From? And What Branches Do They Visit?  

Public Library Branch Insights and User Visits and Demographics

Patrons at your main branch mostly hail from all over town, but patrons at your eastside branch come from within just a few blocks away. Or do they?? Do you know how far people travel to get to a particular location? And, if you did know, how might it change your collection and outreach programs?

Branch Insights, a new Analytics On Demand app, tracks cardholders’ use across various branches in a single library system. With this information presented in maps and tables, you can gain insight into where and how individual patron types are engaging the library system so you can tailor materials, programs, services, and outreach to meet patron needs at each library site.

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7 Obscure March Holidays with InfoTrac Articles to Match

By Nick Schultz

When you think of March holidays, St. Patrick’s Day may be the only one that comes to mind. Well, I’m not Irish, so I felt the need to explore holidays I could rally behind… with food. The InfoTrac Culinary Arts Collection proved to be the perfect source!

Feel free to share these images and the links to the InfoTrac articles and recipes with your library users on social media. Lure them in with food!

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