Cleveland Heights – University Heights Public Library Board meeting highlights 9-22-14

SEPTEMBER 22, 2014

  • Friends partners in Welcome Home
  • New adult services associate
  • Book Bike adds outreach tablet
  • Friends events
  • New Immigrant Welcoming Hub
  • Anti-bullying programming
  • State funding for libraries reduced
  • August Public Service report

Rick Ortmeyer, secretary, was absent.

Friends partners in Welcome Home

In partnership with FutureHeights and Reaching Heights, Friends will participate in Welcome Home, a program for new residents. The program will be presented twice a year, in October and June. The Oct. 5 program, at Nighttown, will feature local authors.

New adult services associate

Ellen Paulini has been hired as a full-time adult services associate. She has a B.A. in English literature from SUNY Buffalo and a M.L.S. from Kent State University. She has been a part-time adult services associate since July 2012 and has provided excellent customer service.

Book Bike adds outreach tablet

The addition of an outreach tablet with circulation software expands the Book Bike’s capacity to check out materials.

Friends events

The annual meeting of members will be held Oct. 12 at 1:30 p.m. with the Native American Read-In at 2 p.m. The Fall Mega Book Sale will be held Nov. 6–9, and a theater outing will be held Dec. 6 with Dobama presenting “A Civil War Christmas.”

New Immigrant Welcoming Hub

US Together and Welcoming Cleveland have chosen the Noble Neighborhood Library as the new immigrant welcoming hub. Many immigrants from Nepal have moved into the Noble neighborhood and have been welcomed by the library.

Anti-bullying programming

Board member Abby Botnick has aided another partnership with the Anti-Defamation League. This winter the library will begin anti-bias programming for young children and their parents. The Library will also work with the Gay-Lesbian and Straight Education Network to provide anti-bullying programs for older children.

State funding for libraries reduced

On Nov. 4 both the Lee Road Library and the University Heights Library host voters. The Ohio Library Council reminds voters that Ohio’s state funding for libraries has been reduced by 24 percent since 2008—a loss of more than $105 million. This means that Ohio’s public libraries are being funded at 1996 levels.

August Public Service report highlights:

  • The “Gandalf Returns to Hobbiton” mural was installed in the children’s room at Coventry Village Library.
  • At Noble Neighborhood Library, the African Drumming and Dance program attracted 28 children, teens and adults who danced along with Youth Services Associate Shenee King.
  • Noble Neighborhood Library’s garden yielded the first taste of tomatoes, cucumbers and radishes, and children also made wind chimes from hangers, jars and beads.
  • At University Heights Library, customers can now use three new shopping carts with wheels and extending handles.
  • Target invited the University Heights Library to participate in its National Night Out family program, which included the sharing of crafts and stories.
  • “Personal Narratives of the Local LGBT Movement,” part of the library’s Looking Through the LGBT Lens series, was presented in partnership with the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland. The LGBT Artists’ Showcase featured theater, poetry and art by three local artists.
  • The August Movie Night feature was “Pariah” (2011), the story of a 17-year-old African-American girl [who is] quietly embracing her identity as a lesbian.

LWV Observer: Anne S. McFarland.

These meeting summaries are abstracted from LWV observers’ written reports. The summaries have been edited and prepared by Anne McFarland, Charlene Morse and Maryann Barnes. To receive e-mail postings of full reports, send an e-mail to mbarnes9515@gmail.com or join through Google groups using “lwv-chuh observer reports” as a search phrase.

These reports contain member observation and selected highlights of public meetings and are not official statements of the Heights Chapter of the League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland. This disclaimer must accompany any redistribution of these reports.

Read More on Library
Volume 7, Issue 11, Posted 4:13 PM, 10.19.2014