{"id":35329,"date":"2024-10-31T16:47:33","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T20:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=35329"},"modified":"2024-10-31T16:47:35","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T20:47:35","slug":"library-of-things-initiative-set-to-launch-as-apl-concludes-ontario-public-libraries-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/library-of-things-initiative-set-to-launch-as-apl-concludes-ontario-public-libraries-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Library of Things initiative set to launch as APL concludes Ontario Public Libraries Month"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Aurora Public Library has been a hive of activity this October as Ontario Public Libraries Month unfolded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a College & University Fair that attracted hundreds, to activities in their maker and creative spaces, to story hours and more within the Aurora Town Square complex, there was something for everybody on the menu \u2013 but, in many respects, it was just another month for the Aurora Public Library (APL). It\u2019s always been a hive of activity and shows no signs of slowing down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhenever you go into any business training, they say the worst business model is something that tries to meet everyone\u2019s needs \u2013 but libraries do that. We find a way!\u201d says Jodi Marr, Acting CEO of the APL. \u201cIt\u2019s all those age demographics, the economic levels and that\u2019s another important thing of what we do: you can come here and be able to spend time without feeling a financial burden. If you feel economic pressures, you can still attend our programming, use our space, and those little things help push forward. Everywhere else, it\u2019s \u2018buy a coffee if you want to use our WIFI and study;\u2019 the Library is that hub of space where you can come and just connect without feeling additional pressures from everywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the APL and libraries elsewhere have evolved away from institutions typified by the image of librarians delivering a pointed \u201cShh!\u201d at the slightest sneeze or hiccup, they have occasionally faced push-back, but Marr says these are opportunities to offer perspective on what libraries, can, could and should be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Library is a great value-add to the community but other community members sometimes only see it from their perspective, of \u2018I want to study, so I need it to be quiet for me.\u2019 We have quiet options, meeting everyone\u2019s needs as best we can, but it\u2019s still important to have a story time out in the open every day at 10.30 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou want people to use your spaces. If the Library was just a quiet space, we wouldn\u2019t be meeting anyone\u2019s needs, except for one very specific demographic. Our library is active and full of people who are engaged, so the noise level is going to go up, but that\u2019s what you want. These are your tax dollars and this is your library being well-used. A well-used library is all the value and it demonstrates its value as soon as you see us full of people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next initiative the Library is stepping up to spearhead in the month ahead is a \u201cLibrary of Things\u201d which will allow patrons in the community to check out things they might need only for a short period of time, such as a tool or appliance, or simply to find out how they work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great way to borrow things you don\u2019t have the money to invest in,\u201d says Marr, adding the APL considered becoming part of The Lendery initiative in York Region, but decided to step out on their own. \u201cThere is so much stuff sitting around our houses, and our housing and spaces are getting smaller and smaller and [purchasing them outright] doesn\u2019t make sense all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Marr, building partnerships with community organizations on initiatives like these open up untold doors for libraries in being all they can be for their patrons and the community at large.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re at capacity with what we can do, but when we start with new partnerships we can expand and that\u2019s when you become a really powerful organization giving back to the Town, creating more and more engaging events,\u201d she says. \u201cI really do find that we\u2019re here for you when you need us; not everyone needs us all the time, some people are financially able to go and purchase their own books and hang onto it, but what we do really well is when you need us, we\u2019re here from you and we will support you through all those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNeed to find a job? We\u2019ve got connections to resources for that. You need to study and improve your education? We have community resources for that. Starting a new business? Come and use our study rooms and meet with clients. We\u2019re meeting you where your needs are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Aurora Public Library has been a hive of activity this October as Ontario Public Libraries Month unfolded. From a College & University Fair that attracted hundreds, to activities in their maker and creative spaces, to story hours and more within the Aurora Town Square complex, there was something for everybody on the menu \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":35330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/2024-10-31-05.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9bP","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-30 03:55:23","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}