Community Reads: One Town, One Title - Kent Nerburn in Pine Island
One Town One Title is Pine Island's community read. This year, we purchased and distributed 150 copies of Voices in the Stones by Kent Nerburn. This grant allowed us to bring Nerburn to Pine Island to talk about the book. We worked with Lake City Public Library, Plainview Public Library and Wabasha Public Library to make his visit more worth while. Our grant paid for both his speaker fees and our printing costs for publicity.
200 participated
Expected outcomes were:
Increase knowledge and awareness of Native American communities
Provide a positive learning experience
Increase awareness of the library as a place for cultural programming
We used a survey to measure participant feedback.
19 people returned the surveys
1 - Rate overall program: Exceeded Expectations=8, Above Average=9, Average=1, Below Average=0
2 - Program was positive experience: Strongly Agree=13, Agree=5, Neutral=1, Disagree & Strongly Disagree=0
3 - Program enhanced knowledge/understanding of topic: Strongly Agree=13, Agree=6, Neutral, Disagree & Strongly Disagree=0
4 - Library is a place for Cultural & Art Programming: Very Likely=16, Likely=2, Not Likely=0
This feedback let me know that my patrons appreciate this kind of programming and enjoyed hearing Nerburn talk about his experiences.
I believe I met these goals. Many of the comments I overheard and that were included on the survey mentioned that the speaker was very knowledgeable and his experiences with Native people were interesting and eye-opening. Only one person was neutral about this program being a positive learning experience, but even this individual agreed that the program enhanced their knowledge and understanding of the topic.
As to cultural programming, I had the following comments:
"You pick books I wouldn't necessarily find on my own."
"You are doing a great job."
"Always!" next to a circled Very Likely to answer about the library being a place for cultural/arts programming.
I am pleased that attendees are engaged in the programming choices we are making!
SELCO, Pine Island Public Library, Olde Pine Theatre, Betty Sue's Better Brew Cafe