See you @ the Book Fair!

Join us on Saturday, December 6th at the Orland Park BARNES and NOBLE book store for our library fundraiser! Mention Homer Library when you check out at ANY Barnes and Noble store (not just the Orland location) and the library will receive a percentage of the sale. These funds will allow more new book and audio purchases for you!

FREE GIFT WRAP & PROGRAMS
Back by popular demand Homer Librarians will be on hand to gift wrap your store purchases. The library has also arranged a variety of interesting programming. We welcome the Stage Door Dance Academy, artist illustrator Jeff Ebbeler, and have many exciting activities for the kids. Take a chance on a free raffle basket, too!

We expect a fun day for everyone. Visit us at Barnes and Noble on Saturday, plan on purchasing some great holiday reading gifts, and help support the Homer Township Public Library at the same time. I hope to see you there!

Strengthen Your Library Image with Community Involvement

Connections matter. When I first came on as Director of the Homer Township Public Library I immediately noticed an opportunity. The library had connections with the local schools but did not have strong connections with other community agencies. In my experience if library leaders are not "at the table" many community leaders do not take notice of the library, except peripherally. Without putting ourselves out there and telling our story the library is often not seen as a significant community "player." The vibrancy of our services and value to the community is often not front and center unless we make it known.

Get Involved!
So I joined the Homer Township Chamber of Commerce and made many new connections, partnerships and friends. I was elected to the Chamber of Commerce board (and served for seven years). I wrote an LSTA grant which created a Chamber/Library partnership. Librarians gave presentations at several Chamber Business Luncheons to demonstrate what support we provide to the business members and community at large. I was elected President of the Homer Chamber of Commerce in 2005. A crowning moment was when Homer Library received the Chamber's Business of the Year Award in 2006.

Connections matter. Currently I sit on two other community boards including the Lions Club and the Homer Glen Community and Nature Center Foundation. I served on the Parent/Teacher Organization as Vice President for several years. Grant writing for the Village of Homer Glen led to my service on the Village's Green Community Committee. The Library is now included in quarterly Intergovernmental Planning Commission meetings for both Homer Glen and Lockport. Homer Library is better known - and understood - because of these connections. Our library message and importance to the Homer Community has been strengthened and enriched.

I was honored this month at the Homer Township Chamber of Commerce's 20th Anniversary Event for my leadership and community involvement in service as a trustee. It was a proud moment witnessed by 120 business members and local officials.

Strengthen Your Image
Make the connections to strengthen your library's visibility. Be a voice. Extol your increasing use (more than 600 visitors daily!) or point out your newest services (Polish Story time!). It is up to us as librarians to ensure that our residents, including community leaders, understand what a library is today.

Homer Library - with 30+ employees and a 1.6 million dollar budget - operates like a business and I often point that out. That includes using "best practices" for employing different types of public relations (print, blogs, e-news, and face-to-face communications) to spotlight the library. Many people still have that image of the "little local library" but in truth we are a dynamic and vital community center of activity. Highlight the library at every opportunity and tell your story. Showcase your services with photos to demonstrate this, too.

We need our communities to realize today how essential libraries are in supporting residents at every stage in their lives. We need to encourage both residents and community leaders to become library advocates and - even more so - library champions. Break those library stereotypes we still experience; challenge yourself to get involved with other agencies to be both seen and heard. It will make a true difference.

Food for Fines in November @ Homer Library

Overdues? Fines on your account? All will be forgiven in the month of November with the Library's Food for Fines Month. Bring in a non-perishable food item to be donated to local food bank Lockport FISH Pantry during the month of November.

Your book fines or overdues will be erased and the community food bank will benefit. This is a great opportunity to return long overdue items, a wonderful way to get books back on the shelves for other readers to use, and a true "neighbor helping neighbor" food bank initiative. Everyone wins!

Statistics-
In 2007 we donated 900 food items and saved our customers approximately $900 in fines
2008 - to date statistics show that library customers have brought in several hundred items and we anticipate more. We hope to match last year's efforts!

Young Adult Committee
Staff Member Julie H. is coordinating this year's drive with the library's Young Adult Club (YAC) members. They will be organizing the delivery of food items to the Lockport FISH Pantry, which is a Northern Illinois Food Bank Partner Agency. Pictures are posted on the library photo site here.

Periodically we offer incentives to our customers to encourage the return of library items and assist the community. This Food For Fines program is one way you can help out those less fortunate and save some money at the same time. Community work and involvement say much about us. Take a moment to give thanks for the blessings in your life and then please bring a donation to the library to help us assist others. We thank you!

New: Polish Story Time!

Once upon a time...I was a Youth Services (YS) Director. Back then a large part of my day involved programming, including Story Hour and a variety of creative activities.

I no longer work in YS but the core elements that entice and excite our youngest library users remain. The Homer Library Youth Services Staff have supersized traditional programs - adding jazzy titles and bringing in new activities and focus on board. "Story hour" is called a variety of things now and has really been expanded along with other youth programs in a most creative manner. For example, we offer:

• Wiggles 'n Giggles



• Story Time



• Stories in the Park



• Pajama Time



• Polish Story Time - brand new this Fall! We are pleased to offer this newest program with stories, a craft, and fingerplays in the Polish Language. Story time elements can help children develop their listening skills and prepare them for more structured learning activities. They are a wonderful and fun way to encourage reading and participation by our earliest learners and to instill that the library is a great destination!
  
  Visit our website to see the Fall newsletter, which details many of our great programs and services.

Power to the Librarians!

The Illinois Library Association (ILA) annual conference is always an excellent opportunity for both learning and networking with fellow colleagues. Sessions deal with a variety of issues libraries are facing. I find great value in attending and bring back new ideas (and energy!) to continue to serve my community well. See conference pictures here.

Pictured left: Anne Craig, Director of Illinois State Library and Sheree Kozel-La Ha, Homer Library Director (with grant award).

Grant Award
It was an honor to be recognized for our newest LSTA grant award Destination Station: A Learning R/evolution @ Homer Library. This award will fund new computers, software, and training for the community we serve. Grant awards offer an excellent opportunity (& needed funding!) to expand the ways we reach our community of users and to do some really neat things at the library. Homer Library will become a destination for the use of technology and tools that support the needs of the community - at every age and stage in a person's life. This includes the library helping customers process information and transitioning into a "learning center" or destination, not just an information center. We are convinced the Destination Station: a Learning R/evolution @ Homer Library project will enrich the community and that you will find more value than ever at Homer Library!

Fashion First!
Creativity was certainly on display at the Illinois Library Association Conference "Style from the Stacks" event. And what a fun event, where library "designers" used index cards, multimedia items, book bags, posters, and more to showcase fashion for trendy librarians! Fashion event pictures are posted here. I love being a librarian and salute my fellow library colleagues for such a creative effort.

Pictured right: a dress designed using paperback romance novel covers and book pages...tres elegant!