Transformations
How Does Your Library Transform New Mexico?
Librarians, teachers, and patrons across New Mexico tell the story of how libraries transform our communities, our lives, and our future!
New Mexico’s libraries transform the classroom!
Our school was recently blessed with the hiring of a full-time, highly qualified librarian. Before, we had a wonderful volunteer who helped organize our collection, and keep the books flowing. That was wonderful. I regularly received books about music in my music classroom. Now, however, we operate on a whole new level. Our library has opened the whole world to us. We can access books and other materials from around the world. She pulls resources for our Inquiry Units. She designs displays that focus on attributes we want our students to exemplify. We know how to access peer reviewed journals, and kid-friendly databases. She told us our students can get tutoring at home OR in our classroom through ElPortal. We have someone to help our students learn research skills as they inquire into the subjects in their classrooms! I personally have benefitted by just going to our librarian and asking a question based on a limited understanding of her resources. She saved me so much time and energy by giving me great ideas, and by handing me resources that would apply immediately. I go to her often now when I’m thinking, “How might I do…?” That’s absolutely a transformation of my classroom, and of our whole school!
- The International School at Mesa del Sol, Albuquerque, New Mexico
New Mexico libraries transform…learning and play.
The Silver City Public Library has developed a mobile interactive space for tweens and teens to explore, experiment, create, and learn. Participants can try many things: build and program robots, make electrical circuits, try out free image editing software, design using 3D drawing software, experiment using physics and math, and more. In March 2016 the town recreation center brought a group of young people to participate in the activities. They were excited to play around, and learned while doing so. For example, several kids (and their accompanying adults) re-familiarized themselves with electrical circuit concepts by connecting battery packs to LEDs. Afterwards recreation center director Mike Madrid described the value of these types of experiences: “I want to thank you all again for having some of our children come play with the robots. You should have seen them afterwards, they were so excited, they would not stop talking about it. Things like that may seem small, but can make a big difference in a child’s life.”
- Silver City Public Library
New Mexico libraries transform the way we look at our state’s history.
The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center is documenting the history of health care in the state with a rich collection of oral histories. The interviews provide information on the work experiences, individual perspectives, and collectively a broader insight into the state’s history. Interviews were conducted mostly during the 1980s and 90s, and feature some of New Mexico’s longest practicing medical doctors, public health nurses, and other health care professionals. Over 150 transcribed interviews are available through the New Mexico Digital Collections portal.
New Mexico libraries transform…reading
The Silver City Public Library began offering e-book and downloadable audiobook borrowing in 2014, and more community members are benefitting from the system every day. E-books and digital audiobooks appeal to people for a wide variety of reasons. Some people have been buying e-books for a while, and are pleased to find out that they can read them for free through the library. Others appreciate the ability to change text size and contrast settings to make books more readable for their eyes. One gentleman stopped by the library’s front desk to learn how to set up audiobook borrowing on his smartphone, so that he could listen while traveling. After his trip he returned to let us know that the system worked great. On another occasion, a library volunteer sent a friend to our troubleshooting open lab and emailed later: “I told a friend of mine about the open lab because she wanted to read ebooks. She messaged me after she went to the lab. She was thrilled; everything was set up on her device. Good work!” We held our first workshop devoted entirely to e-book/audiobook borrowing in August 2016, where a dozen enthusiastic attendees learned to download the app, set up their accounts, borrow items, and download for offline reading.
- Silver City Public Library
New Mexico libraries transform… Jemez Springs
Public Library partnered with Explora! and Jemez Sustainable Solutions to bring hands-on activities about alternative energy and “farming for fuels” to the local Farmer’s Market on Saturday October 1st, 2016.
-Jemez Springs Public Library
New Mexico Libraries Transform our educational possibilities.
A regular library patron requested help formatting a word document. It was a final essay for her GED. She came into the library a month later to write a cover letter and submit an online job application, and she showed me her successful GED certificate. She told me “I’m not doing it for myself, I’m doing it for my kids so they can see that education is important.
- Embudo Valley Library and Community Center
New Mexico libraries transform children’s futures!
In a society in which information is at our fingertips and travels at the speed of light, it is important to realize that our libraries offer the connection to new technology and information, but they also give children room to slow down, analyze where they are from and where they are going. In our recent theme, “My Kingdom for a Book!”, children were encouraged to learn about New Mexico, the United States and their place in the world. Reading opens doors to places and times they could not enter otherwise. The children were very excited to research and make a coat of arms of their families backgrounds and to make maps of their community. They learned about the opportunities for education that those in the feudal system could not. The children experienced history in a personal way and, more importantly, how their lives are better because of advances in medicine, inventions and technology. The time to slow down, read and enter the many worlds available to the children of New Mexico is transforming their views of themselves, their education and their futures.
- Bel-Air Elementary, Albuquerque, New Mexico
New Mexico libraries transform our families.
Single mom Lila and her three year old autistic son Elliot began attending our STEM TO READ storytime to connect with other families. The first time they attended Elliot was extremely withdrawn, and spent the entire session rocking under Lila's coat. Over the course of a few weeks of attendance, Elliot began to interact with the program coordinator and to participate in some activities. After six months of attendance, Elliot became an enthusiastic participant, interacting with other children and even taking the lead in some of the science activities and free play. His mother expressed that the format of Caterpillar Club, with its emphasis on the parent/child community and gentle, participatory activities, had really helped Elliot to overcome some social developmental issues.
- Embudo Valley Library and Community Center
New Mexico libraries transform… Jemez Springs
Public Library participated in the Valles Caldera Elk Festival on September 24, 2016. Kids enjoyed making their own bugle to “bugle like an elk” and adults learned about library services and enjoyed a “make the coyote chase the elk” Mobius strip challenge. Over 550 people attended the event while we were there on this beautiful afternoon!
- Jemez Springs Public Library
New Mexico libraries transform…learning!
The Silver City Public Library has developed a mobile interactive space called “WildWorks” for tweens and teens to explore, experiment, create, and learn. Participants can try many things: build and program robots, make electrical circuits, try out free image editing software, design using 3D drawing software, experiment using physics and math, and more. Hannah Wecks, librarian at Snell Middle School in Bayard, innovates to make the school library an essential hub of the educational environment. She invited WildWorks to visit the school in January 2016, and we were thrilled! During their lunch periods, students were able to connect six people to complete a circuit and activate a MakeyMakey (makeymakey.com), test out paper airplane designs, make LEDs light up using conductive dough and electrical paint, and get an introduction to Lego Mindstorms robots (mindstorms.lego.com). The school science teacher brought her class in for a while, too! Hands-on, informal, open activities offered by public and school libraries help students to see science, technology, engineering, math, and design concepts in action.
- Silver City Public Library
New Mexico libraries transform…technology training
In July 2014 the Silver City Public Library launched a broad partnership to offer technology training in Grant County. We began working with the Bayard Public Library, Adult Education Services at Western New Mexico University, the New Mexico Small Business Development Center, New Mexico Workforce Connection, Literacy Link-Leamos, and the Silver City Arts and Cultural District to offer free classes, workshops, and open lab sessions focused on computers, internet, and other technology tools. The project was made possible by the support of a Freeport-McMoran Community Investment Fund grant of $15,000, awarded to the library in March 2014. Using these funds, we obtained the necessary equipment to teach technology skills with a mobile computer lab. The partners offered many formal classes and workshops, but open labs have become one of the most popular and effective types of sessions. During two-hour open lab sessions, community members come to practice any technology skills they wish using library devices, with knowledgeable staff and volunteers available to assist. Many people bring in their own laptops, tablets, e-readers, and even smartphones to troubleshoot problems. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. When the library staff and volunteers are busy, participants are patient and often willing to discuss their tech questions with each other, comparing their experiences with internet, mobile devices, and various software applications. Silver City has found that using a community partnership model and facilitating collaborative technology learning are winning strategies to bridge the digital divide.
- Silver City Public Library