Tech Invasion @ Rider University

To enhance pedagogy at Rider University, librarians and students participate in course content with virtual reality headsets.  At Rider University, the VR headsets have also allowed for immersive programming that helps our students to have a greater understanding of a societal issue.  Increasing access to technology is the new normal at Rider University.

ACMS Library Website

The American Center for Mongolian Studies (ACMS) Library serves members and patrons in Mongolia, the United States, and around the world. The decline in foot traffic to the ACMS Library during the COVID-19 pandemic further emphasized the need for a robust online presence. The ACMS Library website was a project of the organization’s Library Fellowship Program, and the goal of the project is to provide library patrons, both locally in Ulaanbaatar as well as online international visitors to the library website, with an attractive, user-friendly landing page with information about the library, library resources, and supporting digital resources about Mongolia and topics of interest in both English and Mongolian language. The library website provides a platform to share library information, highlight new materials, share the online library catalog, provide links to digital archive projects, showcase new and emerging scholarship in Mongolian Studies, and other resources of interest to patrons. 

Polo de Digitalización

The new normal for our library meant a change of habits from the users. They now request more digital materials, which means we have to adapt and transform to meet our users needs. Part of this new phase is strengthening our digital collections, with a digitization initiative. We got donated a DIY Book Scanner that has an open design and uses open source software. It's made from free available plans, and tailored to our needs at a lower cost than industrial equipment. 

Community Engaged Art: Tiny Art Show

Looking for new ways to engage community members with arts and culture and create opportunities to connect with each other we invited community members to pick up a Tiny Art Kit. Each kit included a mini canvas, easel, paints and brushes. From adults and seniors, youth and children, the popularity of the project was beyond our expectations. The Tiny Art Kits were offered as take home kits,  in programs and at outreach events. A local high school art program participated, transforming the small canvases into mini masterpieces. We invited all participants to return their works for in-branch display, resulting in a visual arts exhibition. The Tiny Art Show exhibited 212 unique works of art, displayed on walls and in stacks between books, delighting patrons that happened upon them while browsing the collection. One patron, a senior in the community, visited the first morning of the Tiny Art launch to locate her painting. She shared how much she enjoyed this project and was “blown away” by how wonderful the paintings had turned out. Tiny Art Show is an example of how libraries are evolving to meet the changing needs of their communities, from offering unique experiences to fostering creativity and skill-building.

The Europe Challenge 2022: For Cultural Inclusion Without Borders and Restrictions

A public library in Ormož, Slovenia, recognizes that migration is a constant factor in the development of human society, leading to multicultural, varied, and diverse communities. As the process of integrating immigrants and refugees occurs primarily at the local level, it is crucial to implement appropriate measures at this level. The librarians in Ormož feel a sense of responsibility towards their community and strive to contribute to a cohesive society by encouraging refugees to participate in local cultural and social events, providing them with opportunities to develop their talents, hobbies, and educational needs.

The Ormož Library and its partner organization, the Adult Education Centre Ormož, have created and developed a project as part of The Europe Challenge 2022: For Cultural Inclusion Without Borders and Restrictions. The library offers a variety of activities, such as creative workshops, literary evenings with Ukrainian authors, solo dancing classes, shadow puppet performances in Slovene and Ukrainian, language courses, Human Library event, poetry translating workshop, trench candles workshops, lectures on migration and provides necessary information and literature for approximately 30 Ukrainians. Through these examples of thoughtful and in-depth approaches, as well as the friendly and human actions of employees, volunteers, and supporters, the Ormož Library demonstrates that positive changes in the community are possible.