Programs

The Library Coffee House with Samsel & the Skirt, Wy’east Art guild reception, and Firwood Biome Art Project was a big success with 234 attending.

We held the Third annual Poetry Slam at the Sandy Library on April 16th.  65 people came to hear ten poets present their poetry.  Our winners were:  in the Under 16 Category – Logan Crichton with the Poem: Friendship; in the 16 and Over Category – Frank E. George IV with the Poem: A Life Beside the Sea; and in the Group Category – “The Books Gang” Rylee and Damian with the Poem: If Books Could…  Poems will be published on the library website shortly.

The Teen After Hours program on April 17th was a Scavenger Hunt.  The Teen Advisory Board (TAB) members created 4 different hunts for the teens to go on.  Eight people attended, and had a great time matching their wits against the TAB.

Sandy & Hoodland Library Photography Group met for the first time on the 26th of April. A group of 4 interested individuals were in attendance. There have been other inquiries. A camera outing to Meinig Park is planned for the last Sunday in May.  Photos will be shared via a Flickr account.

Marketing

LINCC Food For Fines! took place in all Clackamas County Libraries during National Library Week (April 12-18).  For each item brought in, $1 in library fines was waived.  The Sandy Library collected 450 lbs of food for the Sandy Community Action Center, and Hoodland Library collected $250 lbs of food for the Neighborhood Missions.  Combined, we waived $424.90 in fines.  People seemed to respond enthusiastically to bringing in food.

In honor of National Poetry Month, we painted the library with poetry; with a basket of poems for kids, and one for adults, as well as poetry origami displayed on shelves throughout the library.

pamphlet holders

Parenting Materials

Adult Fiction Books

In April, the Sandy Library installed pamphlet holders by the community bulletin board outside the community room, and moved new adult fiction books into the lobby area.  Our hope is that this will be a convenient impulse location for people coming in to pick up their holds.  As part of this move, an additional bookcase was moved into the Kids’ Room to house a collection of parenting materials, and the kids new non-fiction books are now found in the Kids’Room.  We have gotten very positive feedback from parents who were unable to leave their kids to get parenting materials in the past.

We started our Book Bundles program in the kids’ department.  Four books are chosen on a theme, and bundled together for parents to take home and read with their kids.  We’ve had many great comments on these!

Program Highlights

We had a fun Kids Club in March at the Sandy Library! Lego Club continues to be very popular. 13 kids and 4 adults attended and they made awesome Lego creations. For our craft program we made paper airplanes and had a competition with them. Minecraft/video games continues to be very popular also.

Our program to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday had 4 kids and two adults come. We ate cupcakes while watching the film “Horton Hears A Who.”

The Read To A Dog program has been building steam. We had several appointments this month.  Read to a Dog happens every Thursday during the school year from 3-4pm.  Call the library to make an appointment!

Monica Smith and Maureen Skinner attended the Kindergarten Roundup on Tuesday March 31st with Prudence (our “read to the dog” dog),and her owner, Chis. We made some good connections with parents and teachers. We even had a little girl read to Prudence while we were there.

We had a 187 people at our Library Coffee House on Friday March 6th to hear the livery Irish tunes of Hanz Araki & Cary Novotny for our St. Patrick’s Day Coffee House at the Sandy Public Library.

Spoken Word Poet, Hip-Hop emcee and Sandy High School alum Jesse Gardner, facilitated a workshop to empower aspiring spoken word poets to share their truth with confidence.  This workshop took place on Friday March 13th.  It was a lively evening.

To gear up for National Poetry month in April, we held an Origami Poetry Program on Sunday, March 15th.  Participants combined poetry with origami to create works of art that are placed all over the library for  the month of April.

Our Teen after hours program was a Teen Movie Night that took place on Friday, March 20th. Eleven teens came to watch Maze Runner, and hear the winners of the Teen Art Contest, which were:

Most Abstract – Erin Karl for “The Devil’s Tea Party

Most Creative – Sarah Jury for “Sunny Flowers”

Fanciest – Sary Jury for “Fairy Flowers”

Greenest – David Gomez for “A greener Oregon”

Most Useful – Matthew Jury for “Earth from Space”

Best in Show – Matthew Jury for “Penguins”

Marketing

If the number of books checked out is an indication, then we have quite a few “Armchair Travelers” in Sandy.  We had 27 books go out from our March’s adult book display… that is the highest number since we began the program over a year and a half ago.

We held our first ever March Madness for books at the Sandy Library, pitting titles head-to-head to see which one would come out on top!  After four weeks, and 132 votes, the winner was To Kill a Mockingbird.

Sandy Library Building

Miracle Clean Enterprises donated their time and materials and cleaned all the carpets in the library in two nights.  They look like they are once again brand new!

Hoodland Library Building Update

The RFP for construction was released on March 5th.  One bidder bid on the project.  We are currently in negotiations with Cherryville Construction to reduce the scope of the work of the project to come in under our necessary budget amount.  Building Permits were applied for with the county. Here are a few renderings of the inside of the building:

Program Highlights

Our February First Friday Library Coffee House had Bob Burgeni & Suzanne Callaway present  “A Jazzy Valentine”, an acoustic, romance themed evening of fun jazz tunes.  Fifty people came to sample sweets from Tollgate Inn and listen to the music.

The Hoodland Library held a Valentine’s Day crafting workshop on Wednesday, February 11th.  They made bird seed hearts, and strung chains of hearts.

On February 20th, we held a Teen Art Night after hours at the Library.  Local artists were be on hand to present their crafts.  Among the artists who will be present are two members of the Wy’East Artisan Guild.  Joan Ragan, who helped the teens make stained glass tile mosaics.  Becky Hawley, the head of the Kids Outreach Program, and Art Volunteer at Firwood, taught teens how to design a personal logo. Kathy Marawski, from Beads Down Under, was there with beads and findings for earring-making.  In addition, we had a table set up for colored pencil art, and a table set up for freehand drawing and water colors. Third Friday Teen Nights make the library your living room from 7-9:30pm. 

On Saturday, February 21st  to celebrate the month of love and friendship, the Sandy Public Library held a free wine and chocolate tasting and a viewing of a classic romantic comedy? Inconceivable!  A special thak you to Dita’s Chocolates and Wine for bringing goodies to entice, and to Clackamas County Bank for providing popcorn.  

Marketing
The special marketing items in February were “I love my library because…” valentines. It was amazing how many nice things our patrons had to say about their library.  It was heart warming, funny and cute.

Programs

Read to Prudence the dog at the Sandy Library! Reading to dogs is a great low-pressure way for your child to develop reading skills and confidence. Come see Prudence every Thursday from 3-4pm.Call the library to schedule your child’s 15 minute reading time.

Over 82 people came to the Library for our first ever comedy night!  This was a great night of fun and laughter, brought to you by local comedians and musicians!

The 1st ever Pajama Story Time and Teddy Bear Sleepover at the Hoodland Library, took place Friday, January 16th at 6pm.  Visit http://youtu.be/y0ab9FGHWIo to see datails of the event!

The first Third Friday Teen after hours program took place at the Sandy Library!  These events are planned and brought to you by the Teen Advisory Board.  This first event was a Teen Game Night.  Twenty teens came to the library to play mini-golf throughout the library, Wii games in the Community Room, and board games in the fireplace area.  Third Friday Teen Nights make the library your living room from 7-9:30pm.  Teen aged 12-17 welcome.  Visit http://youtu.be/oG5nO2aD68s to see the full video ad for the program!

Furniture

Now that the library staff has settled on the new (and improved!) spot for the Information Desk on the public floor, the Friends of the Sandy had a new desk built to our design specifictions and needs.  It’s a gorgeous addition, and functional too!  Come see it at the top of the ramp!

Technology

The Sandy Library implemented self service pay for printing and photocopying!  This new service allows people to release their print jobs and pay for their printing and photocopying in a vending device, taking staff out of the picture as middle man.

Marketing

In January the Adult book display theme was “The Weather Outside is Frightful… Yet These Books are so Delightful”.  We had a total of 14 items checked out (even though the weather actually turned out to be delightful).

The Sandy Public Library is now a bike friendly business!

Hoodland Building Project

Library Staff and architect Petter Kappertz attended the Villages at Mt Hood Town Hall on Saturday, January 24th to show a final floor plan and color swatches to area residents.  This was well received, and the project will be put out for construction bid shortly.

Programs

The Teddy Bear Tea was held at Sandy Library on January 6th from 10-11.  Kids brought a favorite cuddly with them to a special storytime, and then left them for an overnight adventure.

Sandy High School Choir – First Friday

On December 5th, First Friday Coffee House at the Sandy Library brought ensembles from the Sandy High School Band and the Sandy High School choir to the Library for a night of Holiday Music.  Two art classes from the High School presented drawings, collages, and photographs.

Cookie Exchange

Seth and Anita judge the cookies

 The Cookie Exchange brought people into the library to share their cookies and create take home containers.  We had 7 entries for the cookie contest. Seth and Anita were able to come to an agreement on who won the contest. Melissa van Housen and her shortbread butter cream sandwich cookies won most creative. Becky Weston won the most literary with her dark chocolate espresso caramel cookies. Sherri won the best in show with her oatmeal cookies.

Outreach – Vista Apartments Our Outreach to Vista Apartments continues to be extremely successful.  The kids have been enjoying weekly literacy games, and check out of materials is hugely successful!

Headbandz Word Game

Crafting – Can you read the instructions to create your craft?

Scrabble Jr.

Sandy Grade School – Children’s Librarian Monica Smith

Outreach – Sandy Grade School 300 students hear booktalks and check out books when Monica Smith visits the Sandy Grade School.  These visits bring new materials and reading excitement to Sandy Grade School with the hopes that their literacy rates will improve.

LEGO Club

LEGO Club

Saturday Afternoon Kids’ Club LEGO Club and Minecraft continue to be the most popular weeks at Kids’ Club at Sandy Library.

Coordination with the Historical Society

Library Staff attended the Board Meeting for the Historical Society to talk about partnering on some family programming over the coming months.  Look for some exciting news soon!

Hoodland Library Remodel and Move

The month of December marked the start of the design process for the new Hoodland Library which will be located at 24525 E Welches Rd in the Welches Mountain Center.  Architect Peter Kappertz was hard at work.  Through his designs, the Hoodland Library will increase to 1909sf, and will include a staff workroom, a community meeting and programming space, and comfortable seating under skylights.  The money for this project is coming from monies that Clackamas County earmarked as capital improvements funds for Hoodland Library. A survey has been available in paper and electronic formats, and will continue to be available through January.  Community Forums have been available for input, and final presentation will be made at the Villages at Mount Hood Town Hall on January 24th between 9am-12pm.

Art at Sandy Library Clackamas County Arts Alliance installed the photographs of Jerilynn Garry on the Art wall of the Sandy Library.  The show runs December 4th – March 5th.

Jerilynn Garry photographs

Jerilynn Garry Photographs

Marketing

In November our adult ‘fireside’ book display theme was “Have you read a Pulitzer Prize Winner?”. There was a good amount of interest in the brief biography of Joseph Pulitzer that was put together by staff. The first batch of books out for display were gigantic tomes and may have scared some readers. After replacing them with more manageable reads, nine items were checked out.

Programming

Saturday Afternoon Kids’ Club – Minecraft

Garland: It’s for the Birds

We had very successful Kid’s Club programs this month. For the craft program we made collage magnets. The Minecraft program attracted many more children this month, probably due to our visit to Sandy Grade School the previous day.

On 11/20 as part of our Welcoming Winter program series we hosted a snowflake design program at the Hoodland Library and an edible garland making workshop at the Sandy Library to create attractive and yummy garlands for our furry and feathered friends.

Day of the Dead celebration

The Library Coffee House on 11/7 continued with excellent attendance although Main Street has finished it’s First Friday Programs for the season.  The Library plans to continue having our Coffee House every first Friday year round. November’s event focused on Mexican cultural activities, with traditional Zapotecan weaving by Francisco Bautista and a Day of the Dead program presented by Musical Duo Nuestro Canto.  Tamales and Pan Dulce were enjoyed by all, and kids made Day of the Dead masks.

The Sandy Library has been hosting free yoga classes with Nyssa Castle – The Naturalist Yogi.  The classes have had nearly full attendance every week.  Classes ran November 4 – December 16th.

Monica Smith, Children’s Librarian at Sandy Grade School

On November 11/21 Katie Murphy and Monica Smith made our first monthly visit to Sandy Grade School.   Monica and Katie talked about the library’s monthly visit to bring and booktalk new fiction.  Each student in the school took home library card applications for parent permission and can begin checking out books on our next visit. 

The TAB (Teen Advisory Board) met on 11/7 to get organized and set priorities.     Fourteen teens attended the meeting on the 7th, and set up a regular meeting schedule. The group made the decision to meet twice a month with the outcome of a monthly program beginning in January. On 11/12, as part of the new regular meeting schedule, the teens began planning January’s game night, which will include Wii games in the Community Room, Board games in the fireplace room, and a mini-golf course throughout the library.  The mini-golf holes will be designed and constructed by the TAB members.  The teens will also work on both flier and video advertisements for their programs, which we hope to post in area schools, as well as electronically.

Community

On 11/4, Librarians from Sandy Library toured the Sandy High School.  We met with the principal and media specialists to look into how we might work together more closely to meet the student needs.

Technology

On 11/1 and 11/2 Staff and volunteers came in during closed hours to update all Public Computers at the Sandy Library to bring them onto current operating systems, and improve Internet service.

Hoodland Remodel

In November, City staff reviewed proposals and hired an architect to begin work on the remodel of the new space for the Hoodland Branch. Architect Peter Kappertz, began work immediately upon approval of the contract by City Council and has been drafting initial designs for community review and comment.

Programs 

Saturday Afternoon Kids’ Club

October was our first month hosting a weekly Kids’ Club at the Sandy Library.  Kids’ Club is appropriate for Kids age 7-12.  All events are free, no registration is required.

• Week 1 – LEGO Club

Our very first Kids’ Club event was LEGO Club.  Three kids made fantastic LEGO creations which were displayed in the Library for the remainder of the month.  After the event we had a large number of people express interest in coming to our next one. Come in to see our current months’ display of LEGO creations in the Kids’ Room of the Library.  We expect that this program will grow considerably!

Week 2 – Card and Board Games

Ten people came to our first monthly board game afternoon.  This turned out to be a great family time.  Kids have been coming in all month to talk about the games they plan to bring to the next event in November.

• Week 3 – Drop-In Craft

Kids decorated pumpkins, did leaf rubbings, and created fall inspired art at our drop in craft. Ten people had a great time!

• Week 4 – Wii and Minecraft

14 kids come to play the Minecraft. Library Staff created a Minecraft server which 6 laptop computers connect to. Standard Minecraft can be played (Survival, Creative, etc.), or Minecraft.edu which allows creation of specials “seeds” where kids must complete specific tasks. Seeds can be used as a type of lesson plan. Staff plans to create seeds for upcoming months and build a replica of the Sandy Library within the game to be used as an information literacy instructional aid. Kids were also able to play Wii games and build  paper Minecraft characters.

Trick or Treat Trail

Sandy Library participated in the Main Street event Trick or Treat Trail.  We handed out more than 600 pieces of candy to trick-or-treaters and gave each one an opportunity to win a glow stick by playing corn hole.

Minecraft characters at Trick or Treat Trail

Library Coffee House

First Friday on October 4th brought the Coffee House into the library.  Local writer Dan Bosserman signed copies of his book Images of America: Boring.  In addition, Sandy residents we serenaded by Portland’s French troubadour, Eric John Kaiser who presented a lively evening of ballads and folk songs in French and English .

NaNoWriMo

November is National Novel Writing Month!  The Sandy Library has committed to getting the community involved in this national project, and providing coffee and space for writers to write in the Library. 14 community members came to our Kick-off party on October 23rd. 

Pirate Program – in partnership with retired teachers from the Oregon Trail School District

On October 28th three classes of 6th graders, each with 38 students visited the library to learn how to do research. Questions were designed to have students learn how to use the library catalog to locate books on the shelf as well as use databases that can help them with homework. 

Sandy and Hoodland Teen Advisory Board

The Teen Advisory Board met for the first time at the end of October.  Four kids came to the first meeting.  We brainstormed ideas for teen programs to hold at the library, talked about the results of the library survey that we gave out at both library locations, ate pizza, and talked about how to advertise to get more kids to come to our next meeting in November (spolier: November’s meeting had 14 teens attend!).  The first teen program we plan to hold will be in January.

The Evening Mystery Book Club has come to an end, leaving 3 clubs left active. Library Staff are working to meet the needs of the remaining clubs by offering additional services.

Display and Marketing

Patrons checked out 13 items from our October adult book display — Things that go Bump in the Night. Stephen King, Ann Rule, and Edgar Allan Poe are quite popular in Sandy.

Additionally, the library hosted a great display about personal collections.  The display featured books about collecting, and samples of teacups, depression glass, sea shells and more.

Staff

Library Staff got into the spirit and dressed up for October 31st.  Many came as book related characters.

In October, we said goodbye to a full-time Library Assistant who moved to join her family in the Midwest.  We interviewed nine candidates and hired two permanent half-time Library Assistants.  Katie Murphy and Thea Kuziemski may look familiar to you as they have been on-call staff at the library for years.  We’re so excited to have them officially join our permanent team!

Hiring Katie and Thea left a large hole in our on-call availability, which led to the hiring of two new on-call staff that had been identified through current and previous interview pools as good Library Clerk possibilities.  We welcome Kat Aden and Julie Steeves as on-call Library Clerks!  They have been fully trained and can be seen pitching in as we need them.

Exhibits and Events

On September 4th, The Clackamas County Arts Alliance set up an exhibit of watercolor paintings by Sandy artist Leslie Cheney-Parr.  The exhibit will run through December 4th.

First Friday on September 5th brought the Coffee House into the library. Sandy residents we serenaded by the enchanting songstress Caroline Hecht.

The beautiful ceramic art of Dulcie Linsoe-Johansen of Lindsoe Clayworks in Welches was moved from storage to hang in the lobby of the library.  Previously one season at a time was hung in the children’s area of the library.  All four beautiful seasonal portrayals are now on view as one stunning display.

Staff visited the studio of Francisco Bautista, Sandy artist who creates traditional Zapotecan weavings on his standing hand loom.  Look forward to seeing him with his loom at the Library Coffee House on the first Friday in November!  We will be celebrating the donation of his beautiful weaving Tree of Life to the Sandy Library.

On September 16th, storytime schedules for the Sandy and Hoodland Libraries resumed!  Parents and their little ones flooded into the libraries to enjoy songs, rhymes, and stories.

Training

On September 10th, ten staff of the Sandy and Hoodland libraries attended the second round of pre-school storytime training in preparation to assist in the presentation of this great program.  Staff presented a sample storytime to the group and shared tips for success.

Marketing

Our  book display set up for Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read (September 21-27) turned out to draw the most comments and interest of any of the adult book displays we have done so far.  Some comments overheard:

Programming – Sandy Library

August 1st was the monthly Library Coffee House as part of Main Street’s First Friday.  We hosted singer/songwriter Caroline Hecht to the great enjoyment of approximately 150 visitors.

Summer Reading – Sandy and Hoodland Libraries

August 17th  was the last day to turn in reading log from the Summer Reading Program.  Here are our final program statistics:

Sandy Library
Signups: 581
Finishers: 103

Hoodland Library 
Signups: 79
Finishers: 12

And for the Teen programs:
Sandy Library  Signups: 186    Finishers: 41

Hoodland Library  Signups: 17   HO Finishers: 4

The grand prizes for the kids and teens raffle were iPad Minis. We also gave away Lego kits, book sets, t-shirts, and “Robot Arm” toys. Each child who finished received a new paperback book. 

A photo of our Kid’s Grand Prize Winner with their new iPad Mini!

 Community Involvement

On August 4th, Library Director Sarah McIntyre attended the Hoodland Women’s Club luncheon meeting to give a quick update on the future move of the Hoodland Library.  Sarah will speak to the group in January to gather input on the building process.

Staff Training and Planning

On August 13th seven staff members met to discuss programming at the library and create a framework for the coming year.  Many of the libraries upcoming programs can be found on pages 20-21 of the City of Sandy Recreation Guide.  Stay tuned for additional programs!

On August 20th and 27th Staff training was offered by Librarians Maureen Skinner and Monica Smith to prepare for combining the Reference Desk and the Kid’s Service Desk.  Staff learned how to answer Reference questions, and how to troubleshoot the public computers.  On Sunday August 31st staff and the Friends of the Library worked together to remove the large desk at the entrance to the Kids’ Room, and created a smaller approachable desk in the same spot.   There has been a great deal of positive feedback on the more visible and accessible aspects to the new layout.

City-wide Events

Seven library employees helped set up and serve at the Volunteer Picnic, thanking our wonderful volunteers that do so very much for us.

 Marketing

Sandy Library – In August the theme of our adult display was Let’s Get Cooking. This was to acknowledge the harvest/canning season. There were a total of 9 items checked out.

Hoodland Library – We have an Oregon Battle Of the Book (OBOB) display!

Staffing

July 1 marked the official start of the new Sandy and Hoodland Public Library Director.  Each staff member met with the Director to give input and share information about the library.  A management team was created, and planning has begun to reorganize and create efficiencies so that staff can work on creating a dynamic program plan for the coming year.

Programs

Two out of our four book clubs took a summer hiatus. The women’s book club will start up again in September and the Evening Mystery club will reconvene in October.

On July 3 & 8, Alton Chung brought stories and tales to life at the Sandy and Hoodland Libraries.  Families enjoyed hearing traditional native american tales, as well as, coming of age stories from Chung’s own childhood.

 July 15 & 17  Mad Science at Hoodland and Sandy Libraries.  Crazy experiments presented by Molly Molecule.

July 16 Teen Program – All about Henna Tattooing.  Popular and fun.  Teens learned about henna tattoos and tattooed themselves and each other.

July 22 & 24 Red Yarn Hoodland and Sandy Libraries.  Great interactive stories, games, and dancing about how to be a Naturalist.

July 29 Dragon Theater at Hoodland

July 1 & 31 We started and ended the month with Bricks for Kidz LEGO program.  Families at Hoodland and Sandy Library had lots of fun! Though attendance was limited by those the presenter, those who did attend loved it. The success of the event has inspired the start of a (soon to be announced) LEGO club at the library.

Summer Reading sign-up  numbers:  Sandy: 581 kids, 186 teens. Hoodland: 79 Kids, 17 Teens

Marketing

Twenty-one books were checked out from the July “SUMMER FUN” adult book display.

We solicited community involvement in the process of choosing books, gathering pieces, and setting up a display featuring our great arts and crafts books with projects completed from them.  There are some beautiful projects, and it’s our best display yet!  Come in and see it in August.

Library Board Meeting

The Library Advisory Board met on June 16th.  The Board had lots of energy and ideas, and is looking forward to participating in a Strategic Planning process for the Sandy and Hoodland Libraries.