TL;DR Advocacy – Pop Up Library

We know that you are doing amazing things in your library and community and we want to hear about it! TL;DR is a fancy way of saying “Too Long;Didn’t Read” because no one has time to read every single detail of your life.

Tell us your advocacy story in 149 words or less and we’ll put it up for the world to see. This is a great opportunity to refine your next elevator pitch, and to inspire others to step up their advocacy game.

Today’s Boots on the Ground post comes from Shawna Lomonaco. She is a Youth and Fmaily Services Library Assistant II for a small library system in Virginia. She’s passionate about early literacy, hates giving other adults hugs (except on birthdays), and has a preteen at home who takes more pictures than the paparazzi.

Shawna and her fabulous British coworker Tom at a recent Pop Up Library

Our city has a small population, but is the largest in our area in terms of land. With only three branches, this has presented a challenge in meeting all of our community’s needs.  Something wonderful we have started this year is a Pop-Up Library.

Our Pop-Up Library is exactly how it sounds. We pack a mini library and “Pop-Up” throughout the community. We stuff our van with books, tables, chairs, laptop, Ipad, and activities for children including chalk and bubbles. We set up at different scheduled locations, such as farmer’s markets, festivals, and even grocery stores.

Our target audience is anyone and everyone! This has proven to be a great way to reach our rural areas. I enjoy seeing children get excited about the library, but what I really love about our Pop-Up Library is that it reminds adults that we still exist and are as awesome as ever!