Beyond Books: Library celebrates National Outreach Day
April is a big month for libraries. National Library Week runs from April 23 to 29 and celebrates the invaluable role libraries and library professionals play in their communities.
During this week, on April 26, we also celebrate National Library Outreach Day (formerly National Bookmobile Day). On this day, we pay tribute to library staff who take library services beyond brick and mortar. As patron needs change, our Outreach staff continues to adapt and develop innovative ways to deliver library materials and services that transform lives and support lifelong learning. We bring the library to those who are marginalized and underserved, ensuring that all community members have access to library services.
It’s been almost a year since our new mobile library, “The Bee” hit the streets and hollers of Chillicothe and Ross County. We visit folks in outlying communities like Massieville, Adelphi, and Clarksburg; and we also visit highly-visible and accessible places like Yoctangee Park and the Big Lots parking lot on Bridge Street. Wherever we go, we get such gratitude in return. Countless patrons have shared their memories of having a Bookmobile visit their neck of the woods when they were younger, and they’re so excited to once again have access to those mobile library services.
Patrons are surprised to find out everything they can do at a Bee stop: sign up for a library card, browse and check out items (including Beyond Books items like seeds, cake pans, and WiFi hotspots), use a laptop, or use the Bee’s built-in WiFi. When we held our grand opening event, the very first patron on the Bee was a child who poked his head out of the door and yelled, “They have cookbooks!” Yes, we even have cookbooks on the Bee.
Our Outreach Department also maintains two “BookHives,” or 24/7 library hold pickup lockers, in the village of Clarksburg and at Zane Village in Chillicothe. The BookHives are available to all patrons, not just patrons living in those communities. If you can’t make it to the library to pick up your holds during normal operating hours, you can request to have them sent to a BookHive where you can pick them up any time, day or night.
The Bee and BookHives are brand-new to us, but Outreach service is not. While we’re developing nontraditional ways of connecting with library patrons, we’re also delivering materials to homebound patrons and agency partners (nursing homes, daycares, shelters, housing complexes, etc.) every day. Homebound book delivery is especially rewarding for library staff. Some of our homebound patrons have very little interaction with others outside of their home. It’s a real treat to be able to bring library materials and smiling faces to those who desperately need them.
The Outreach Department has a robust schedule planned for spring and summer, including regular Bee stops throughout the county. Visit CRCPL.org/outreach to learn more.
Jenn Slone is the CRCPL Access Director and an obsessive gardener who dreams about turning Bookmobiles into Bees, book lockers into Hives, and is constantly on the lookout for ways to “Pollinate the community with good things.”
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Beyond Books: Library celebrates National Outreach Day
