Books, Crafts, and Mini Darth Vaders

On a bright mid-morning in early October, just as the IUP homecoming parade is wrapping up, kids and their families at the Indiana Free Library are preparing for a very different parade of their own – a Star Wars costume parade. While the revelers migrate toward campus, in the basement children’s section of the library, a Star Wars themed reading party is getting started. At five kid-sized tables spread throughout the similarly sized bookshelves, there are volunteers and parents helping children make popsicle stick Yoda puppets and pop-up storm troopers, and praising their efforts at Star Wars coloring pages. Toddlers and pre-teens alike joined in the fun, eating popcorn and pretzels and quenching their thirst with Yoda Soda (green punch).

The aspect of this event that caught my attention the most – though the Death Star piñata was a close second – was how open and inclusive not only the library staff and volunteers, but also the families that attended the event, were. Children of all developmental levels and abilities were welcomed, supported, and encouraged in their love of Star Wars and reading. This was done not only by the children’s own caregivers, but also by the other parents and library personnel, and the adults at the event had people who supported them among the other families attending. These families, with children with special needs, were clearly a part of the library community.

As parents and children moved throughout the basement, doing activities or breaking off from the main event to play an educational computer game or with Thomas the Tank Engine at his table, or to look for books to check out, it became clear to me that this space was one with which they were all very familiar. For its patrons, the Indiana Free Library is not just “the library,” but their library – it is a community space, and the Star Wars Reads Day was just one way they use it.

A Multiplicity of Uses

The ways in which the library is used are numerous. Simply walking in the front doors will give visitors a glimpse at the array of events and resources the library has to offer. There are posters for everything from gardening and technology seminars, knitting classes, film showings, a class about family trees, blood pressure screenings, and the intriguingly-titled, “TalkAbout: What Would You Say to Your Former Self?” These resources and events are in addition to the more traditional library resources that the library also provides – paper books, magazines, and newspapers, reference books, books on cassette tape and CD, and story-times held for preschoolers. Audio and e-books on digital download are also provided for the more technologically inclined patrons.

On any given day, visitors might find patrons using the computers on the first floor, or tutoring English language learners at the study tables on the second floor in the adult non-fiction section. They will almost certainly see the comfortably furnished teen area in use – specifically the two computers that are devoted to their use. I interviewed Ashley Youngkin, an IUP student who has been volunteering at the library since she was a freshman. In the course of her volunteering, she sees the many uses of the Indiana Free Library:

“In the middle of the reference area, there are tables to do research or homework – I think it’s mostly grad students who use that. There’s a woman who tutors two Korean students at the table in the back of the second floor, and a book club …People use the magazine and newspaper area for reading. And the computers are used for a variety of things, including the computer workshops they have. Kids are tutored [in the library]; I’ve seen three different groups. I’ve seen interviews going on, kids and parents reading in the children’s area, [and] college kids helping to tutor elementary school kids last spring [spring 2013].”

These uses speak to the variety of purposes that go beyond simply lending out books, and this versatility is part of what gives the Indiana Free Library such value in its community. From Ashley’s perspective, “They try to do more stuff to help people learn [than just providing books].” She argues that the computer classes, especially, would be difficult or impossible to provide elsewhere, because it is unlikely that a business would offer them for free and it is assumed that students know the kinds of information that are covered in the classes, so such classes are not offered at the university library.

The library also has an online catalog that patrons can browse while not at the physical library building. They can also check their accounts to see what books they have checked out, renew ones they’d like to borrow for a longer length of time, and reserve books that are currently checked out. The physical library is probably one of the few places in town where patrons can use the internet for free – without having to buy a cup of coffee to do so. 

More Uses: Mainly, as a Community Center

The perspective of my IUP student interviewee was confirmed by a discussion I had with the Indiana Free Library’s Children’s Librarian, Joanne Mast. In her words, “This is an old institution that’s so important in this country, I just can’t see it disappearing.”

Joanne reinforced the numerous ways people use the library. The most salient was attending programs.  “We see more of this in economic bad times. Everything we offer is free. [Among other things,] we have quilting programs, knitting programs,  and programs for kids to [prepare] to go to school.” The IFL also tries to keep up with patron demand for books, and if they can’t get it, they are part of an interlibrary loan system that patrons can use to get books.

Technology also was a big part of our conversation. Joanne told me, “There’s this generation that missed out on learning technology in school” so a lot of their classes are geared towards those technological skills. She gave the example of opening a Facebook account so family members can see pictures their younger relatives have posted; the program on the night I am writing this is teaching how to open email accounts. This backs up Ashley’s conjecture that the technology programs offered by the IFL probably wouldn’t be offered by IUP’s library.

We also talked about families and children, who make up one of the main groups of patrons of the library. “We also have a large [and growing] homeschool population, and this is really their library.” She gave the example of a parent with a young child having an hour to fill before picking up an older child from preschool. “They might come here and the child will play on the computer or they’ll check out books, or [the parent] will go upstairs to check out a novel for [himself or herself].” Kids will also use the library of their own volition for fun or to do homework for school. “Kids with working parents [also] come after school, and they’ll stay until someone’s home or their parents pick them up outside the library. I’ll see them with their cellphones saying [to their siblings] ‘Mom’s here!’” I was impressed the library is seen as a safe enough public space that parents feel comfortable doing this!

The main focus of our conversation was on the IFL as a community center. Joanne was very enthusiastic about this. “I think we’re very welcoming – there’s no requirement to walk in our doors, we’re open to the public and free. Some people might feel less comfortable walking to the campus library than to here … We’re a gathering place – there are some people that come every day just to read the newspapers and chat with whoever’s here.” This atmosphere combined with all of the programs and resources that the library offers position it to be the kind of community center that it currently is, and are ultimately what will allow it to continue to be valuable to the Indiana community.

The Indiana Free Library’s ability to integrate traditional library resources with 21^st century technologies and an array of community resources and events are part of what allow it to continue to serve a diverse population of patrons with diverse needs. Its role as an inclusive community space continues to evolve as the community it serves does.

If you have experiences with the IFL as a community space, please feel free to comment (respectfully) below!

Media and the 21st Century Library

"I'm one of those firm believers that we're going to be around." - Joanne Mast

It’s often claimed that with the advent of this wide, wondrous digital era in which we now find ourselves libraries will become obsolete. Children’s librarian Joanne Mast has heard this argument over the course of her 35 years as a librarian, but she has not seen it come to pass. She told me, “I used to be a law librarian in Pittsburgh, and I’ve kept in touch with people who are still law librarians, and they tell me there’s actually more of a need for librarians and library staff now.” She says this is because there is so much material now available that libraries need to increase their staff to keep up with it.

As far as digital resources go, the IFL has all the technologies I can remember using in my twenty-something years. There are audiobooks on cassette tape, and films on VHS, audiobooks on CD, music CDs, DVDs, desktop computers for public use, computers devoted to library catalog searches, e-books, and interlibrary loans available for patron use or borrowing. It provides all these things for no cost to the users, and as such becomes a more valuable resource in times of economic hardship.