It has been quite some time since ink has been spilled on the Delray Beach Public Library Empowerment Zone. Things have gone routine with the EZ and with no "new" news, creativity for this blog has been stifled. But, there is now some news to report.
1st. Last summer I submitted an online application to give a workshop at the 2011 Florida Library Association Annual Conference. In November I was sent an email notifying me that my program was not selected to be presented on. No reason was stated, and I was pretty disappointed with the news. I was then encouraged by Brad at NEFLIN (one of the SSLLI Leaders) to submit an online application for a poster session at the 2011 FLA Conference. So...
2nd. Last week I filled out this online application, and am waiting to hear back to see if the EZ is at least poster session worthy.
I plan on attending the FLA Conference regardless, but being a presenter would be extra motivation for my library to send me, and would be an excellent way to network and get the word out about the EZ. While there I plan on seriously evaluating the programs that were approved for presentation to see what makes them more special than my EZ proposed program.
3rd. Starting Thursday January 6th the EZ will now be open from 1-4:30pm on Thursdays instead of 9-12pm. I have been wanting to switch one of the EZ days to afternoons since last summer, but due to the large number of afternoon classes we have been teaching this had not been possible. Monday morning has by far become the busy morning (unless it is cold, raining, or a holiday week) and switching Thursday was almost a no-brainer. Thursday afternoons the public computers are very busy, so we should be able to shift the appropriate people from the time managed computers to the EZ. This will give us the opportunity for even greater word of mouth advertising, and instead of telling people to come back Monday morning (or the following Thursday morning) as we have been doing, we can just shuttle them immediately into the EZ. I am hoping the numbers really climb with this switch. More to follow.
4th. I plan on trying to get an article published on the EZ in either American Libraries, Library Journal, Public Libraries, or the FLA publication. I would like to talk about the entire procedure of setting up the EZ, and give an overview of what has followed since opening, including statistics.
That is all for now on the Empowerment Zone. I will have more after January 6th.
Monday, December 20, 2010
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