Pop-up at the Plaza

We're smack in the middle of National Library Week, and Wednesday is all about Outreach! But what does that look like for the Duncan Public Library today?

Today, it looks like a pop-up library! So we've backed up the snazzy new library van with books, library cards, and informational hand outs to take the library to our community instead of making the community come to the library. I'm at the Duncan Plaza Apartments. I've set up in their community room with my laptop and a random selection of books (because I've never been here before; once I start coming, I tailor the books to the location) to make library cards and introduce people to library programs.

While the apartments aren't actually that far from the library itself, that doesn't mean that people don't have trouble getting to us. Not everyone has reliable transportation and a lot of people of all walks of life don't know about all of the cool stuff that libraries (and especially ours) can do for them.

And pop-ups are always great! I quite literally had barely sat down my baskets of books when people came to start browsing. New patrons got to check out cards right away and several people realized they still had library cards after all of this time. While here, I will also drop off some books from our Miss Millie Book Delivery Service, for homebound patrons. This gives me an opportunity to talk about one of the most important parts of my job (bringing the library to you!) and learn what kind of services patrons need from the library.

And it's not just information sharing! We've talked about favorite books (lots of history and mystery buffs). I got to see one woman's diamond art paintings (I admire the patience it takes to make those! They're so detailed and the "diamonds" are so small!).

While at pop-ups I serve double-duty as a tech helper. A lot of my work is being quick at downloading and setting up the various library apps that we offer. Once they're set up and going, everything's great! But fiddly screens and library card numbers that are 14 digits long make for a challenge for any patron that would like to get multiple apps all set up at once. (Did you know that i have the first 8 digits of our library card numbers memorized? Makes typing way faster!) So I'll spend a lot of my time today explaining our different apps and how to make the most out of using each one.

Finally, so much of pop-ups is BRAINSTORMING. I'm writing this blog post right now while I've got a break between talking to people, but that means thoughts have been forming about different outreach services I could offer at this location and others like it, all of which go straight into a notes app to be refined later.

Remember: libraries are for EVERYONE. Which means you, even if it doesn't always feel like it. What I love about outreach is getting to make that true for everyone that I can.

To learn more about the library's outreach program or to volunteer with Ms. Millie Book Delivery service, please reach out to us at dploutreach@duncanok.gov!