Library Service Stories

If you have a story about how the library has made a difference in your life, please share your story. Your stories help us to communicate the outcomes of library services to our community.

On the Library as the community's living room:

“What a wonderful library you have! I marvel every time I come in here!”

 –A patron’s compliment shared by Annette Steury, Library Assistant.

On placing holds in the catalog:

A patron who comes in weekly and has several children of varying ages (& orders lots of books) said how much she loves the library. She said of ordering books online: “I feel it’s like shopping online only it’s free.”

—Submitted by Annette Steury, Library Assistant.

On Zero Waste Living program:

Several attendees [at this event] learned about new environmentally friendly products that they are excited to either purchase or make themselves.

--Submitted by Crystal Garcia, Librarian II (Adult Services)

On the learning to sew at the Library:

It was great to see the kids empowered to make decisions about how they wanted to construct their horns - sewing, hot glue, or both [at the Fantasy Headbands program]. One of the volunteers was especially patient and sweet with a young girl learning to sew. He was super encouraging and never took over for her, and she was so proud of herself and kept saying things like "I did such a good job sewing, right? And this was my first time."

-–Submitted by Amanda Woods, Librarian I (Youth Services)

On the Summer Reading Program finishers display:

I heard a cute little boy in the children’s room today.  We have a bulletin board up right now with pictures of the covers of books saying “Our favorite books this summer”.  The child saw it and said “Look Mom it’s my favorite book!  Look Mom it’s Brown Bear, Brown Bear!  It’s my favorite book!”  … later heard him telling his mom that he loves it when she brings him here.

–Submitted by Heather Eldred, Library Assistant

On Library of Things:

One of our patrons checked out 4 Library of Things (LoT) items!  He was very excited because he home schools his children and loved that we had a heart and brain model available.  Also, he wanted to give a great big “Thank You” to us for having these items available.  He had been looking online and saw that other library’s LoT but didn’t necessarily want the drive to those locations. So Yay! 

--Submitted by Joy Redington, Library Assistant, On-Call

On our Book Buddies book group for Kindergarten-2nd graders:

A patron signed her child up for the waitlist for “Book Buddies”.  She said she loooves it! She feels that it is great for kids who love to read and for reluctant readers as well.  The patron has been telling all her friends about it and she is hopeful that we might start a 2nd group.  –Submitted by Kacie Holt, Library Assistant II

On our new Family Inclusive Storytime, designed for all ages and abilities:

Success story: there is one kiddo who, when he first started coming…would sit in a chair with his mom. Over the last few months he has moved gradually closer. He now occupies the front row! He still gets overwhelmed when the music portion begins, but he knows he can go to the back of the room and run and move and do what he needs to do during that section of storytime. When the music goes off, he comes right back to the front of the "class."

—Submitted by Jaime Thoreson, Youth Services Librarian II

On our popular monthly Library Trivia @ 503 Uncorked program:

A regular trivia attendee asked Deb to offer a specialty drink for the night. Deb made "The Lucky Librarian"- a vodka based cocktail. It's another touch that makes it a fun event.

–Submitted by Beth Gilbert, Adult Services Librarian I

On our Spanish-language collection:

While working at the circulation desk, three sisters came up to the desk and the oldest (who was maybe 8 years old) asked if the library had books that are in Spanish and also in English. I walked the three girls back to our Juvenile Spanish language collection and showed them our bilingual books, explaining how each book has text in both Spanish and English…The three girls left a short while later with a small stack of bilingual titles.

–Submitted by Crystal Garcia, Adult Services Librarian II

On our displays & new book collection:

[A patron] said that she loved the women’s history display and that she really appreciates all the library displays. She also said that she really enjoyed the variety in the “New Book” collection.

–Submitted by Kacie Holt, Library Assistant II.

Today, a gentleman was standing by the face-out new book display area as I was walking by. He enthusiastically told me how much more he has read since we changed the shelves to face-out. 

--Submitted by Jaime Thoreson, Youth Services Librarian II.

On the Oregon Humanities Conversation Project “Beyond Invitation: How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?”

Thirty attendees came from Sherwood and Washington County, representing government, non-profits, schools, churches, the arts, recreation, and more and networked afterward. Several attendees have requested follow-up conversations.

—Submitted by Adrienne Doman Calkins.

On community:

I helped a patron get her food handler's card. She is going to help with cooking at the Senior Center in the absence of Meals on Wheels.

 —Submitted by Beth Gilbert, Adult Services Librarian.

On school outreach:

Forty-five English Language Learners came as part of their Sherwood School District program, registered for the summer reading program and got a behind the scenes library tour!

—Submitted by Jaime Thoreson, Youth Services Librarian II.

On the guessing jar:

I love how the guessing jar program engages families. I've often seen kids and parents talk about what "estimation" is, observing the contents of the jar and talking about how many items it can hold. Kids have a chance to use their math and writing skills, as well as use their imagination.

—Submitted by Jaime Thoreson, Youth Services Librarian II.

About One-on-One Tech Help sessions:

• A woman signed up for a session in order to get an email account and apply for a job online. This is a good reminder there are still gaps in our community for confidence and access to technology.

• When we first started promoting Tech Help, a repeat patron had two (the max) appointments every month…She hasn’t had an appointment in a couple of months and when I saw her the other day she said that I had taught her enough about her computer that she is able to do things are her own. When I first started working with her, I didn’t think she was retaining the information but it turns out that all the appointments and practice paid off.  

• A patron left very pleased we found a way to make her project go smoother.

• A patron wanted to learn how to use OverDrive because she received notice that Cloud Library was being discontinued. The patron was really happy to successfully download a book.

• Helped patron set up her Gmail accounts.

• Helped patron forward emails, use wireless printing and use her iPhone calendar.

• Helped patron with iPhone, email, web-browsing and calendar.

—Submitted by Adrienne Doman Calkins, Library Manager, and Beth Gilbert, Adult Services Librarian.

On the recent Ukulele Workshop:

Wow, loved the ukulele class.  Can they return sometime?  Never had an hour fly by so fast!  They were so entertaining and instructional too. Good planning on that one.

—Shared by a patron to Crystal Garcia, Adult Services Librarian II.

On our exhibit case:

All of our parents were so pleased with the new display case!  And our students were so grateful for having a beautiful place in Sherwood to display 3-D Art masterpieces!  Thank you for this amazing opportunity!

–Submitted by Ann Brucker, Mosaic Arts Loft owner