Innovative Outreach

By Craig Settles, October 22, 2020, Daily Yonder. A public library in Pottsboro, Texas, offered telehealth services to its patrons throughout the pandemic despite broadband access issues. Now, it could become a blueprint for a national rural network of libraries providing access to telehealth. A couple of years ago I wrote several pieces advocating for libraries to become part of telehealth hubs., I argued that libraries reach out and touch virtually everyone in their communities across the...

By Rachel Looker, June 8, 2020, NACo - county news. When looking to find new ways to promote library services to the public, staff from Orange County, Calif. Public Libraries knew they would need to go beyond the typical promotional items to bring awareness of what libraries can offer to the community. Regional Services Manager Matthew Patsel and his team launched the Pop-Up Libraries Program in 2018 to raise public awareness of the services that are available at Orange County libraries. The...

By Deborah Fallows, March 31, 2020, Atlantic America’s public libraries have led the ranks of “ second responders ,” stepping up for their communities in times of natural or manmade disasters, like hurricanes, floods, shootings, fires, and big downturns in individual lives. Throughout all these events, libraries have stayed open, filling in for the kids when their schools closed; offering therapeutic sessions in art or conversation or writing after losses of life; bringing in nurses or...