Empowerment Zone Sign

Today I picked up a huge sign from Fast Signs in Lake Worth for the EZ. It simply says Empowerment Zone in over 5 inch letters. It came with suction cups so that I can stick it on the glass walls of the Tech Center every Monday and Thursday when the Zone is in session. I tested it out today, and you can really see it even from way over where our ref desk is. I am going to put it up tomorrow even though the EZ isn't open as I am hoping to generate some questions and get some interest. I plan on shooting some pictures on Thursday to use for my presentation at the SSLLI graduation. I will post them on here. Today I did one of my last assignments for the SSLLI, and when that is done I am considering posting it on here since it is all about the EZ.

I just added up the EZ stats for June and 36 total patrons used the EZ. This is down from 44 in May. Not bad if you consider June is a big vacation month, and we had help last month from the housing lotto. I would really like to switch one day to the afternoon in August, but since we are starting up our computer classes then, I am not sure it will be possible.

Finally, last week's PBCLA election did not go to the underdog. Me being the underdog. I was thoroughly trounced by two library directors, but did manage to get at least some votes from others outside of my library. I now have the distinction of being the first person to lose a PBCLA election, since in every other election the candidates ran unopposed. So, this is at least some notoriety, and I plan on running in the future and being more active at future meetings. I still plan on helping with the web site and I posted a few things there yesterday. Congratulations to those who won, and I will continue to help out the organization in any way I can. I think the worst thing about losing was that I was 150 miles away in Cocoa at my last SSLLI session and therefore I couldn't even vote for myself.

Palm Beach County Library Association Annual Meeting

Tomorrow is the Palm Beach County Library Association (PBCLA) Annual Meeting at The Society of the Four Arts, Gioconda and Joseph King Library. Members and guests are welcome for socializing and for the featured presentation given by author Deborah C. Pollack. The meeting starts at 2:30 for networking, the business meeting is at 3:00, and the featured speaker event is around 3:45. There will be an election for the board and I am running for a spot on the board as a representative of public libraries in Palm Beach County. If you are a member I would appreciate your vote. I will not be able to attend as I will be in Cocoa for my final Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute session. Only members of PBCLA are eligible to vote, but I believe you could join tomorrow and vote if you wanted. It is only $20 to join. The PBCLA website can be located here - http://pbcla.info/

EZ Updates

The Empowerment Zone will be used by my library director and asst. director to point out the career and eGov services our library provides to the citizens of Delray Beach, and to hopefully convince them to maintain our budget at last year's level. Today we will be taking some photos and then our asst. director will be creating a PowerPoint presentation to show to the City and to the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) for funding purposes. The fact that they are choosing to highlight my program further justifies the time and effort I have put into this project. I will try and post some of the pictures and updates when they become available.

I have also received permission from my director to purchase a large sign that simply reads Empowerment Zone that I will attach to the Technology Center windows with suction cups when the Zone is in session each Monday and Thursday. This sign will be the equivalent of an "Open Sign" and will be visible for the patrons coming upstairs and for us librarians to point people to the EZ. This increased visibility should bring more folks in, and the signage should further legitimize the EZ.

My last session of the Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute is next week and I will graduate at the end of July. If it was not for this Institute I most likely would never have been able to create the Empowerment Zone in my library. I hope that the EZ continues long after I graduate.

Empowerment Zone Stats

I started the Empowerment Zone back in March hoping that it would be successful. With much word of mouth marketing, some blurbs in the Palm Beach Post and Sun Sentinel, and articles in the Delray Forum and Atlantic Ave magazine the numbers are increasing. The first month we had 6 people, then 13 the following month, and then in May we had 44 people use the Zone! I am hoping that this keeps up because we are helping people by providing resources in tough times, and this also reflects well on our library. I am in the process of getting approval for some new signs and posters to better advertise the EZ.

Strategic Alliances

A few months ago I emailed my Empowerment Zone flyer, and a blurb about the EZ, to the Workforce Alliance of Palm Beach County. I never heard anything back, but felt that in the future I needed to call them directly to let them know about my project. I strongly feel that there is a lack of communication amongst non-profit organizations in Palm Beach County, and I don't want to be one of those responsible for it. After having so many people that have been using the EZ ask me for resume help I felt it was time to contact the Workforce Alliance directly and see if they could send an instructor to our library for a lecture. So today I made a contact over there, and even though they are unable to send anybody at this time they now know about the Zone and I emailed my updated flyer directly to my new contact. I will not give up looking for a presenter for a resume lecture, and will now focus on Florida Atlantic University and Palm Beach State College to see if they have someone who can fit the role.

I am also working on updating the EZ posters and having a large Empowerment Zone sign created with suction cups on it that I can stick on the windows of the tech center.