Sunday, October 20, 2013

Day centered around Jackson County libraries

Logo: Learn-a-Palooza at the Medford library in Jackson County, OR

Saturday was entirely centered around Jackson County Library Services. We caught Rogue Valley Transit’s Route 10 into Medford for Learn-a-Palooza at the Medford library.

Promotional slogan: "Learn. Connect. Grow." (with your Library)
It was a great event, staffed by representatives at informative booths centered around learning, literacy and vital library advocacy. As we visited the booths, we had entry slips validated to win a Kindle eReader.

Learn-a-Palooza was punctuated by an in-depth, behind-the-scenes tour. I felt entirely within my element as Medford branch manager Laura Kimberly took us “behind the counter” in circulation and book repair.

As we toured the building, we encountered various activities that were scheduled throughout the day: a children’s drumming circle and teen arts and crafts. Tech support Eric Molinsky and his son Andrew offered assistance with Library2Go, an OverDrive-powered e-lending platform available to library cardholders.

On our return trip, a woman on the bus asked who had won the Kindle (She saw us sporting pins that read: “Learn. Connect. Grow. with your Library”).

We had the bus drop us downtown for the Ashland library teen program’s game night. It was a lot of fun, with a vast selection of games suitable for all ages.

Altogether, the day was a celebration of our libraries: their vitality and importance. I hope that visitors came away with a sense of urgency to keep our libraries open to the public.

A condensed version of this post was published as a letter to the editor, Nov. 4 by the Medford Mail Tribune.

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