Board of Library Trustees Meeting

July 2014

Executive Director’s Report

With news of a robust Fiscal Year 2015 budget come plans for several transformative partnerships, including one with the Department of Corrections to provide library services at the DC Jail and another with the DC Public Charter Schools to create a DCPL-owned collection within a school currently lacking one. In order to ensure the success of these projects and others, the Library is focusing on filling several crucial vacancies that now include the Director of Public Services and Chief Strategy Officer. In the meantime, we busy ourselves with ongoing projects like Summer Reading, the MLK renovation, and a host of smaller projects designed to increase both the use of the library’s resources in addition to staff’s participation in organizational decision-making.

- RRG

Contents• Summer Reading Launches ............1• Library Employee Appointed to

Presidential Committee ...................2• DCPL Goes to the Faire .....................2• West End Interim Opens ..................3• Homelessness and Public Libraries

Summitt .................................................3• WordsOut at Shaw Library ..............3• Marion Barry Author Talk .................4• Arbuthnot Lecture .............................4• Chris Colfer Author Talk ....................4

From the ExecutiveDirector:

1Document # 8.1, Board of Library Trustees Meeting, July 23, 2014

Denard Span, Washington National’s Centerfielder, is serving as an ambassador to our Summer Reading program this year. Denard graces the cover of the Summer Reading activity book and also wrote the introduction. Many thanks to the DC Public Library Foundation, Trustee Gregory McCarthy, and the Nationals for all their great work in coordinating and helping to promote this important literacy program.

Kids, teens and even adults have joined in the Summer Reading program activities related to this year’s STEM (Science,

Technology, Engineering, and Math) theme.

On Saturday, June 14, the Summer Reading Festival was hosted at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. Activities included live music and entertainment, art projects for all ages, and an appearance by the Washington Nationals Racing Presidents. The community was able to meet Washington Nationals players on Saturday, July 19 at Anacostia, Deanwood, Mt. Pleasant and Tenley-Friendship libraries.

Summer Reading Launches

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On May 17 and 18 a team of DCPL staff attended the Bay Area Maker Faire in San Mateo, California. The team scouted innovative new technologies for the expansion of the Digital Commons maker space. The Bay Area Maker Faire is the largest Maker Faire in the world, even larger than the World Maker Faire in New York City, which DCPL also sent staff to in 2013. Maker Faires are festivals showcasing American innovation, ingenuity, and creativity from the DIY (do it yourself ) tech movement. Staff were able to attend lectures, demonstrations, workshops and visit the Noisebridge Hackerspace.

On June 8, Digital Commons staff joined innovators and educators from across the DC metro area at the first ever DC Mini Maker Faire held at The Yards and Yards Park, which gave Makers at the grassroots level a chance to connect with Makers inside the Nation’s most powerful federal institutions. Digital Commons staff engaged attendees with 3D Printing demonstrations. The DC Mini Maker Faire kicked off a series of Making events in Washington, that were bookended by the White House Maker Faire. Although the DC Library did not attend the White House Maker Faire they received mention in an article recapping the event published by the Washingtonian on June 18 and were showcased on the White House Maker website.

This June, President Obama announced his intention to appoint a number of individuals to key Administration posts. Among them, DC Public Library’s Ricardo Thornton, Sr., from Collections, was named as a member of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. From the President’s press release:

Ricardo Thornton, Sr. has worked at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library in Washington, D.C. since 1978. He is a Member of Project ACTION!, a coalition of adults with disabilities. He is also a Member of the D.C. Developmental Disabilities Council, an actor with the theatre group Players Unlimited, and an international ambassador with the Special Olympics. Mr. Thornton and his wife Donna were the subjects of Profoundly Normal, a made-for-TV movie. In 1997, he was selected by The Washingtonian as a Washingtonian of the Year.

The Washington Post also featured Ricardo’s appointment in its Wednesday July 9th edition.

Ricardo Thornton, Sr. Appointed to Presidential Committee

DCPL Goes to the Faire

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West End Interim OpensAt long last, in preparation for a new building, the existing West End Library closed on Sunday, June 8. The interim library opened on Monday, June 23 in the historic Watergate building located at 2522 Virginia Avenue NW and will remain open for several years. The future library will feature welcoming spaces for children, teens and adults, two conference rooms, and several quiet study rooms. Among the library’s first visitors on opening day was Azar Nafisi, author of the bestselling Reading Lolita in Tehran.

On Monday July 14, Susan Haight, Jim Lewis, and the DCPL Foundation hosted an open-house at the interim facility attended by more than 80 people.

A 32-year resident of the Watergate said that he is

as happy as he’s ever been thanks to the opening of

the new facility.

On Thursday, June 26, the MLK Library Friends hosted a conference to discuss homelessness and public libraries. Taking place in the Carnegie Institution, the summit convened a group of community leaders, advocates for the homeless, and DCPL staff to engage in a spirited conversation around the role that libraries play (or should play) in addressing the needs of the homeless. Richard Reyes-Gavilan provided closing remarks and engaged in a short question and answer period with the sixty or so people in attendance.

Friends Host Homelessness and Public Libraries Summit

On Sunday, June 29, the Shaw Library hosted WordsOut, a literary fair and celebration of Pride month and LGBT literature. The name was chosen to honor a prominent gay men’s writing group that gathered at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in the 1980s and 1990s.

The event included ten speakers, author talks, book signings and a bibliography of titles available in the library collection. Among the attendees was Councilmember David Catania who spoke about construction of new libraries, bilingual collections in the District and the future

collaborations between DCPL and schools. Thanks to Edgardo Guerrero, Rob Schneider and Casey Danielson for their work on the event.

Earlier in the month DCPL staff participated in Captial Pride. In addition to marching in the Pride Parade on Saturday, June 7, staff had a booth at the Pride Festival on Sunday, June 8, where they signed up new users and shared materials from the collection.

WordsOut at Shaw Library

Marion Barry, Jr. joined on stage by Omar Tyree and Mocha Ochoa-Nana

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On Thursday July 10, the MLK Library welcomed four-time mayor of Washington DC and current Ward 8 Councilmember, Marion Barry, Jr., to discuss Mayor for Life, his new memoir. Joining Councilmember Barry were co-author Omar Tyree and Mocha Ochoa-Nana of The Oracle Group. The well-publicized book covers Barry’s upbringing, involvement in the Civil Rights movement, and his four decades in D.C. politics. The well-received event attracted more than 300 attendees.

On Monday, July 14, 2014, the MLK Library hosted award-winning actor and #1 New York Times best-selling author Chris Colfer. Mr. Colfer engaged the audience of more than 500 with a brief Q&A, before signing copies of his new children’s book, The Land of Stories: A Grimm Warning, the third book in his series, The Land of Stories.

Book Signing with Actor and Author Chris Colfer

Author Talk with Marion Barry & Omar Tyree at MLK Library

DCPL Wins Competition to Host ALA’s Arbuthnot LectureAt this years American Library Association conference in Las Vegas, it was announced that DCPL submitted the winning application to host the 2015 May Hill Arbuthnot Award winner, Brian Selznick. The Arbuthnot Award, named for the editor of the Dick and Jane series, is given annually to an author, illustrator, or professor who will give a lecture making “a significant contribution to the field of children’s literature.” Libraries

and universities from across the country compete to host this prestigious event. Selznick is best known for his 2008 Caldecott Award winner, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The speech and reception will take place in the spring of 2015; an interactive exhibit and related programs are being planned for the Great Hall. Congratulations to Wendy Lukehart for identifying the opportunity and putting together the application.