Join the Adult Services Roundtable on January 16 at the Greenville Library from 2 to 4 for Supporting Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Adult services librarians are encouraged to share the ways in which they have partnered with small businesses and entrepreneurs in their communities, from becoming a Neighborhood Champion for Small Business Saturday to building relationships during their summer reading programs. Hear from each other, and leave with some resources/program models for working more closely with businesses in your community.

Register to attend.

Accelerating Promising Practices for Small Libraries (APP) is a special initiative of the National Leadership Grants for Libraries Program. The goal of this initiative is to support projects that strengthen the ability of small and rural libraries and archives to serve their communities.

IMLS invites applications that focus on the following topics:

• transforming school library practice
• community memory
• digital inclusion

IMLS will be hosting pre-application webinars, if you are interested in applying:

• Tuesday, December 18, 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Eastern
• Wednesday, January 9, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Eastern

“I do wear a cardigan every day, so that’s pretty accurate," reports Kat a librarian quoted in Buzzfeed's report of it's self-professed "unscientific" survey of librarians. The report, compiled from the 1400-ish responses they received, won't tell you anything you don't already know about being a librarian, but it is a fun read. You may want to share with folks who may not truly understand what this field is all about.

Buzzfeed also published several other library-related articles as part of their Love Your Library appreciation week in November, should you want fall into an internet rabbit hole of lists about libraries!

Public Library staff are not social workers, yet they are frequently helping to connect patrons to support services for a variety of socioeconomic problems. For help connecting people to the appropriate services, the Governor's Workforce Board works with United Way 2-1-1 and networkRI to compile the Comprehensive Support Service Directory. This resource lists service organizations across RI for childcare, family caregiver support, health care, housing, veterans' assistance and many more categories. You can print the document to have handy at your circulation and reference desks, but it is also housed online at the Governor's Workforce Board website. The document is updated quarterly, so if you notice a resource is missing, incomplete or incorrect, the document contains instructions for reporting updates.

Reading and listening to books aloud is not just for kids! Reading aloud can be good for adults too - from providing social benefits to boosting memory.

Read-aloud marathons are great potential inter-generational programs this World Read Aloud Day (February 1). Work with youth services staff to organize librarians and community members to read from the same book until it is finished (or you have to close the library!). Consider titles like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Charlotte's Web, and the Hobbit that are not too long and have broad, inter-generational appeal. Provide crafts, food and other activities to enhance the celebratory atmosphere as your readers make their way through whatever text you select.

A fun example of read-aloud for geared toward adults is the New Bedford Whaling Museum's annual Moby-Dick Marathon. The community comes together for a live read-a-thon featuring volunteers, local dignitaries & celebrities, and Melville scholars who take turns reading aloud from the classic novel. The Moby-Dick Marathon includes supplemental events, like a separate (shorter!) children's read aloud, artist demonstrations and food.

It's never too early to start thinking about Money Smart Week! In 2019 MSW is a bit earlier than you may be used to, running from March 30 - April 6. To prepare for MSW 2019, save the date: Monday, January 14, when RILA's Financial Literacy Roundtable will hold a showcase of MSW presenters at the Barrington Libary from 10 - 12 (more details to follow!). You can also watch the Get Ready for Money Smart Week 2019 webinar to learn more about MSW and get ideas for programs for all ages!

• ALA Midwinter (Seattle, WA, January 25 - 29, 2019) (including the Symposium on the Future of Libraries and News You Can Use)

• Using USCIS Resources to Support Immigrants and Refugees in the Library (Infopeople, December 11, 3:00)

• We Know Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are Important… Now What? (Infopeople, December 13, 3:00)
  

• Library Programming for Adults from Start to Finish (WebJunction, December 18, 3-4)
• Health Literacy Begins at Your Library (WebJunction, January 8, 3 - 4)
  
• Implicit Bias in the Library Workplace (Infopeople, January 15, 3:00)
• Size Doesn't Matter: Transforming Big Ideas into Small Library Environments (Programming Librarian, January 23, 2:00)
  

*Many of these events were found using the Wyoming State Library's Training Calendar, which shares upcoming free webinars for librarians, including many that are not listed here and may be of interest to you!

American Dream Literacy Initiative (December 14)

Loleta D. Fyan Grant (February 12)

Accelerating Promising Practices for Small Libraries (February 25)

Bank of America Foundation Grants (varies)

Library Pipeline: Awesome Foundation Innovation in Libraries Grant (due between the 1 - 15 each month)

December

Learn a Foreign Language Month

Write to a Friend Month

Melvil Dewey's Birthday

January

Financial Wellness Month

National Mentoring Month

National Hobby Month

National Tea Month

Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week (January 29 - February 2)

National Trivia Day

February

African American History Month

American Heart Month

Random Acts of Kindness Week

World Read Aloud Day (February 1)

Please contact me to share questions, comments or ideas for next month's newsletter!

Email: nicolette.baffoni@olis.ri.gov
Website: www.olis.ri.gov
Location: One Capitol Hill Providence RI
Phone: 401-574-9316
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/olisri/
Twitter: @olisri