I’ve been dilly-dallying about getting my next installment up on this Blog. It’s a bit of a challenge to know the exact, right thing to say each time but once I get started, it’s not quite so difficult. I suppose that’s the way it is whenever you procrastinate, right?

Great news though in terms of outreach for the Sunnyvale Library of the Future - our meetings at the Library specifically related to the Library of the Future concluded last week. However, the Library had scheduled another big event called Lakewood Family Fun Night on September 28, one week and a day after the Community Forum and it turned into another opportunity to reach community members. The Lakewood Family Fun Night event was planned as an open house at the Sunnyvale Public Library through the efforts of the Lakewood School Librarian, Valerie Torres, the Lakewood School PTA, and the Sunnyvale Library Children’s Division. Several teachers and the Principal helped manage the event.

The Friends of the Sunnyvale Public Library paid for the transportation, which turned out to be a super bus, and the PTA arranged for the food which was in large part donated by Lee’s Sandwiches. Thanks to all those efforts, there were over 170 people here in our little ole library’s program room to hear about the library’s services, check out books and other materials, and of course, enjoy the food. It was a very festive evening full of good stories, great books, camaraderie, family togetherness, and a clear message of support for education at Lakewood School.

As I was saying, it was a very special outreach opportunity as well. The big bonus of the evening was that our bilingual staff, including yours truly, had the opportunity to talk with our Family Fun Night audience about the Sunnyvale Library of the Future in Spanish and English. We asked for feedback about what barriers exist to library use, what people think they will want from their library in the future, etc. The responses were very similar to those obtained through other efforts, such as through the Library of the Future Web site and the various meetings we’ve held. What stood out was that there were far more requests for literacy training, materials to help learn English, and the return of the bookmobile.

All of the comments and data collected so far are being compiled by our consultant, Anderson Brule Architects, for the Needs Assessment part of the report we plan to deliver to Council in January. We expect to discuss this part of the report at the next Library Board of Trustees meeting on November 6. I hope you will consider dropping by to hear about it first hand and give us your feedback. One way or another, through our Web site, through this Blog or at the Library Board meeting, we would love to hear from you.