5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 … Happy New Year! Can you believe 2017 is nearly upon us? What stands out to you from 2016? We survived another political season and presidential election; a true Hoverboard still has not been invented even though “Back to the Future” promised us one in 2015; and now we can all sing (or rap?) along to the entire story of Alexander Hamilton.
At the Delaware County District Library, we also had some great strides forward in 2016.
We introduced colorings books to collection, and encouraged people to actually color in them! What beautiful works of art we saw throughout the year. Just search the hashtag #dcdlcolors on Instagram and you’ll get a glimpse at a few.
In March, the Delaware Main Library was seen around the world on TLC’s program “Long Lost Family.” The program, which helps reunite family members, was focused on a storyline in Delaware, and used our Local History Room to film the program host do research using Ancestry.com.
The Orange Branch Library introduced new, earlier hours for their drive-up window to reach the commuter population driving by in the early morning hours. Now commuters can pull up as early as 7 a.m. to pick up their holds or requests and have them for their drive.
A monumental change that occurred this year was the elimination of late fines. While fines had not been charged against patrons on overdue books since 1984, fines were still accruing on late DVDs and video games — but not anymore. We know patrons deserve the most excellent service from DCDL, and fines were a barrier in that service.
On July 3, 1991 our community Ostrander Branch Library was born, which means that in 2016 the branch celebrated their 25th anniversary. The branch celebration memorialized all things 1991, including books, pop culture, pictures and songs popular during that year. The Ostrander Branch Library even served as the grand marshal of the Fourth of July parade to honor their anniversary.
Who could forget the explosion of Pokémon GO this summer? People were walking into streets, hunting Jigglypuffs around police stations in the middle of the night, and battling for control of every PokeGym they could find. Of course, the Library could not miss out on this fun. We had Gyms and Stops at each of our DCDL locations, and for each child who stopped in to play, we had a special badge just for them.
The DCDL Audio Booths were set up in our Orange Branch and Delaware Main libraries for quite some time this year, but they were unveiled to the public and ready to use early this fall. They are the perfect setting for someone looking to record a webinar, a podcast, do audiology testing, or even record and mix some music. We have big plans for these in 2017, and we can’t wait to tell you more about them.
A fantastic way to cap the year was the Community and Family Outreach Services Department receiving the statewide honor of being named the winner of the John Philip Outreach Award, presented by the Ohio Library Council. This group of just seven DCDL staff provides nearly two dozen services to Delaware County residents, and we are so proud that their accomplishments were recognized on a state level.
Hold on to your hats, because if this is what we can accomplish in 2016, who knows what’s in store for 2017.
