Programs

On Saturday, March 16, a standing-room-only crowd—especially notable for one of the first warm days of spring and the day of New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day parade—packed into Queens Public Library's (QPL) Queensbridge Tech Lab, a makerspace in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens. Drawing them to the space was the Queens Name Explorer Edit-a-Thon, hosted by QPL’s Memory Project, Wikimedia NYC, OpenStreetMap US, and Urban Archive.

Our initial goals were to create a unique outreach event for our communities; give students, faculty, and staff an outlet for creativity and civic engagement; and provide student internship opportunities grounded in experiential learning. We felt that a live concert would be a great format, as music is an accessible art form and allows diverse voices to be heard.

Prince George’s County Memorial Library System, MD, last August hosted its first annual social justice summer camp. During five full days at five separate branches, groups of teens learned about the history of social justice movements along with project management skills to help effect change in their own communities.

While many libraries built their own online book clubs, especially during COVID shutdowns, a growing array of larger options from library vendors and consumer-facing brands alike give libraries plenty of choices for connection.

Over the past 16 months, COVID-19 has forced public libraries to consider how to contribute to their patrons’ health and well-being. Anythink Libraries in Adams County, CO, has developed Renew, a new initiative designed to offer its participants both helpful programs and an online method of tracking their progress developing a lifestyle that is healthy physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Whether gardening, sending up a rocket, or savoring an art exhibit, taking programs outdoors lets libraries offer in-person connection in line with COVID safety protocols.

When Baltimore County Public Libraries (BCPL) implemented its successful Lawyers in the Library program at its Essex branch in 2016, it was a way to offer legal help to those in need who didn’t have the means to hire a lawyer on their own. However, library staff began to realize that there was more that could be done. So the library and Maryland Legal Aid decided to create the Mobile Library Law Center.

In Maryland, public libraries across the state have developed models for maximizing the impact of social justice–focused virtual programs by copresenting and cross-promoting selected events. Maryland libraries were able to rely on high quality programs from neighboring systems to provide a more robust lineup of virtual events. 

By working with local experts on civic open data projects, libraries can become the heart of the smart city.