HCL visit
On a recent trip to Ridgedale Public Library, I was lucky to run into my aunt, Sue Colten, who is a children’s librarian there. I was amazed to see how well Ridgedale has incorporated early literacy steps into their environment http://www.hclib.org/BirthTo6/EarlyLit.cfm.
Some examples involved magnetic letters to mount on decorated cookie sheets to word games on the floor. The large chandelier cut-outs hanging from the ceiling looked familiar, and when I asked where they were from, I learned that one of the children’s librarians had worked out a partnership with the local Target store to get a few of the large display pieces you see hanging over the lobby areas during the holidays. The teen area was also jazzed up simply by laying a funky wrapping paper over the middle of the table overlapped with contact paper. These simple ideas are very easy to incorporate but really stand out to a visiting librarian and patron. Thank you to all the reference staff at Ridgedale for introducing yourself to me- it is so nice to put a name with a face. The friendliness continued when I visited the Brookdale Public Library, where the information desk staff also introduced themselves to me and assisted me with my microfilm hunt. Thank you HCL for the great service to patrons and fellow librarians!