It is a pleasure every month to highlight the events, services and collections we offer to the community.
This month, I am pleased to announce a new partnership resulting in an exciting series of events throughout the next year. The partnership, consisting of Burbank Housing, Healthcare Foundation Northern Sonoma County, Alliance Medical Center, Redwood Empire Food Bank and Sonoma County Library, is piloting a series of early literacy events at two apartment complexes in our city called “Dinner and Stories.” These events have a primary focus on early childhood literacy and providing underserved populations with the kind of resources that are more easily accessible to others.
Our first event occurred on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at the Harvest Grove Apartments on Grant Street in Healdsburg. Approximately 45 people ranging in age from babies to seniors attended. Harvest Grove is specifically designated for agricultural workers and their families. At the event, attendees of all ages were able to find out about the library and what it has on offer — fine-free borrowing, books and movies, Wi-Fi hotspots, adult, teen and children’s programming and the like — and experience some of it first-hand. Charity, our talented Children’s Librarian, offered a bilingual storytime, a puppet theater, and crafts, as well as games designed with learning in mind such as snap circuits and wooden building planks.
In addition to the children’s programming, the various partners offered a lot more at this event, including food for the evening as well as information on food resources available such as Cal Fresh. Other topics and information included advantages of reading and speaking in both English and Spanish and opportunities that can open up to bilingual job candidates; a literacy specialist speaking about brain research and language development as well as the importance of reading in one’s own language; Alliance Medical Center’s important Reach Out & Read program; and initiatives and opportunities underway through Burbank Housing.
Our second Dinner and Stories location will be the Canyon Run Apartments, also in Healdsburg, on Thursday, Oct. 3. Our pilot project will provide one event per quarter at each location for a total of eight events over the next year.
Our collective effort is not possible without funding. Part of the cost is absorbed by each participating organization. We are filled with gratitude for all of the partner organizations for helping make these events happen.
Perhaps the most important element in this effort is one of building trust and open communication lines. Public libraries are not a fixture in all parts of the world, and trust can take time and work. We are excited about this effort to reach out to underserved populations and open to hearing what would make it better and more effective. We look forward to continuing this program throughout the coming year and making connections with more of our community.
Jon Haupt is the branch manager of the Healdsburg Regional Library.
