Sunday, August 23, 2015

Examples of Libraries Parks Partnerships


Sports Objects Library Parks Partnerships


Maine Library-Maine Park
  “Our Library checks out basketballs to be used on the courts near the library.  We also have frisbees, jump ropes and hacky sacks available to borrow. The balls have been replaced many times through the years and have resulted in much good will with the kids after school. When they (the kids!) start bouncing off the walls, we suggest they bounce a basketball instead. We don’t require a card, just something of value like a backpack, instrument, cell phone, laptop. This is never a problem because the kids are only too happy to off load their stuff and let us keep an eye on it.”  link


West Torrance Library, Australia
We are lucky that we have a park right outside our windows. Staff have been known to tell a bunch of rowdy kids to take a ball, go out to the park and work off their excess energy before they come back inside and sometimes the youth staff will start or join in the game for a little while - its all part of building good relationships.


Belle Cooledge Library  Belle Cooledge Park
"...Sacramento Public Library only loans ping pong paddles, and these from one branch. One of our City Council members donated them because there’s a table in the park adjacent to the library. So far that seems to be working successfully.  " (paddles are loaned about 52 times a year)

New York Public Library  
  Shape Up NYC : NYC Parks is a NYC Parks program that offers exercise classes.  Currently it is held in several of  the Queens Public Library  Branches 



Queens Library - Langston HughesShape Up NYC: Cardio SculptWednesday5:00 p.m.-5:45 p.m.Details
Queens Library - Queens VillageShape Up NYC: Boot CampThursday6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.Details
Queens Library - RidgewoodShape Up NYC: Intro to YogaWednesday5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.Details
Queens Library - WoodsideShape Up NYC: Full Body FitnessMonday2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.Details
Queens Library - WoodsideLow-Impact AerobicsTuesday2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.Details


Print Material Library Parks Partnerships

Libraries lend books the books are read in nearby parks.
Parks have always act as defacto outdoor reading rooms for nearby libraries. And libraries have always acted as defacto "print matter parkhouses" for those same parks.

This is by far the most common library-parks partnership. It already occurs for thousands of libraries and nearby parks around the world.



 Uni Project-

  unibpl023

For the second year in a row, the Uni Project partnered with the Brooklyn Public Library, the Queens Library, and the New York Public Library to offer an open-air reading room on Governors Island. Known as Library Lawn, this library offered grass, shade, and stunning views of New York Harbor. The Uni Project provided the reading room infrastructure, while the three libraries provided staff and books. Visitors borrowed books for use on the island, registered for library cards, signed up for summer reading, and explored what’s happening in each of the three New York City public library systems. The BPL also hosted a series of Saturday programs that included storytelling, performances, and music workshops.   link


Washington Park Cincinnati Library Branch


Little Free Libraries

 Little Free Libraries Arrive in Pasco
 Avid readers on the hunt for new titles may only need to visit a Pasco County park for new literary direction.

 The county has officially kicked off a Little Free Libraries program courtesy of a collaboration between the parks and recreation department and the library system. The libraries are weatherproof bookshelf enclosures that are able to house dozens of books for anyone to borrow, a media release on the program’s launch stated....

 We are pleased to join Pasco County Parks in this national literacy movement that encourages the sharing of books and stories,” Nancy Fredericks, a member of the county’s library leadership team, stated. The hope is to expand Little Free Libraries throughout Pasco.

The program is currently available at Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park, 10500 Wilderness Park Blvd., and Key Vista Nature Park, 2700 Baillies Bluff Road. Locations will soon open at Crews Lake Wilderness Park and Withlacoochee River Park, the county said.
 link


Library and Parks Bring “Little Free Libraries” to Southside Virginia

On December 18, 2012, Danville Public Library in Southside Virginia opened the first Little Free Library along Danville Parks and Recreation’s Riverwalk trail system, highlighting collaboration between the city’s recreation and library departments. By February of 2013, nine other units were slated to open, with the majority located within parks and along the paved walking trail.

 Little Free Libraries are a great collaboration between the Libraries and Parks and Recreation and shows how matching services to community needs can be achieved,” says Parks and Recreation Director Bill Sgrinia. No stranger to collaborative efforts, Danville Public Library system has been a part of the Parks and Recreation Department for the last two years. “Parks and Recreation and Public Libraries fit well in the same department,” adds Sgrinia. “At the core, both services are rooted in people and lifelong learning.”
The Danville Public Library staff poses with the first Little Free Library in Danville, Virginia.
Library Director Shelly Janosko echoes Sgrinia’s sentiments. “The library is incredibly excited about the opportunity to share this Little Free Library project with the City of Danville,” says Janosko. “It’s a great feeling to know that we can promote the importance of literacy, share our love of reading, and carry out such a sense of community with this single project. 

In Danville, each of the 10 units have been adopted by agencies such as the Kiwanis Club, the Historical Society, and Epiphany School. Each adopting agency has vowed to maintain the collections in the library as well as the upkeep of the Little Free Library itself. Parks maintenance will install all of the units in their various locations, while the library will stock each box with its initial collection.   link


Marcellus Free  Library -Marcellus Park


Little Free Library


I talked with Robin Bolewski of the Marcellus Free Library and she said something to the effect that when she first broached the idea of a Little Free Library in the town  park, the parks dept said “No Way”. The library director then brought the idea to “their boss”, the town council who said great idea, lets do it. It has become such a success that the towns library and park are now working on other cooperative projects to benefit the community.

-A bluegrass  concert by Causual Plaid t the Marcellus Free  Library was paid for  by Marcellus Park

-Once a week, the Marcellus Parks kids play program now takes a field  trip to the Marcellus Free Library  library  to learn reading skills. 


Daly City
Daly City, Ca  has merged its libraries and parks department...

staff at all levels of the new organization will be working much more collaboratively. Opportunities are being identified across the divisions (Library, Recreation, and Senior/Neighborhood Services) to identify better ways to serve the public with the resources currently available. One example of improved service includes better access to recreation facilities and classes through coordination by staff at library facilities. Another example is sharing of expertise from one division to another, such as children’s programming.  link


Many  of these examples  are "implicit " they just happen, If libraries and nearby parks actually start  talking to each other, and have meeting where staffers (and the public too)  start asking the question  "How can parks and libraries  work together to better serve our communities physical literacy and reading literacy needs" I suspect they will find new and wonderful ways to work together, and the community will  start to get enhanced recreational opportunities that occur from these partnerships.


Friday, August 21, 2015

Public Libraries that Lend Sporting Equipment

Doing an internet search for libraries that lend sporting equipment

-Very few hits came up.

-Where libraries have been found that  do lend recreation equipment,  their operations are run independently of nearby parks.  These two organizations "do their own things" and have not been found to coordinate their offerings to better serve the community.


Public Libraries  where you can Borrow  Recreation  Equipment



The Westborough Public Library now has lawn games that are available for checkout!

Have a Labor Day cookout or party coming up? Come to the library to borrow Bocce, Horseshoes, Croquet, Bean Bag Toss, Spinners toss, or Spider-Man and Disney Frozen bowling sets.

Each game circulates for one week.  Ask for them at the main circulation desk.

Let the FUN begin!



Wilmington Memorial Library Now Has Lawn Games To Borrow

Want to play Bocce?If you are having a cookout on Memorial Day, you may want to borrow one of the library’s lawn games. Bocce, Croquet, Horseshoes and a Ring Toss are now available for checkout.  These games can be borrowed for one week.   link

link 

  Public Libraries where you can Lend Toys

there are thousands of toy libraries around the world. Europe has over 5,000. The United States only 300. Here are a few that are part of public libraries

Cuyahoga County Public Library, Ohio

 Toy Library, Rochester NY



Special Needs Recreation Equipment


At Assistive Technology of Ohio, we have established a program that will give children access to these special toys. The program will also allow parents the opportunity to “try out” these toys, to find out which ones best suit their child. In partnership with local county libraries, we have made a selection and checkout of these toys available, much like you would check out a book. This allows parents the opportunity to see how their child reacts to the toys and, if appropriate, make a more informed purchase decision if they decide to buy.  link



Beaman Memorial Public Library has an exciting new project going in the Lankton Children's Room. We are going to be the only library in Central Massachusetts, and one of three in the state, that will host a "toy" library.
We are going to offer, for library loan, a variety of kits that provide special needs children an opportunity to try adaptive toys and other products that may be of benefit to their particular need. For example, we will have a Gross Motor Kit. This kit will contain products to help strengthen a child's gross motor abilities, including movement music CDs, games, balance discs, activity books for the parents to use, etc. Kits would be available for check out to patrons with an active library card and allow a family to explore its contents and try before buying   link



Noah’s Ark Toy Library for Children with Special Needs Inc. (NATL) – provides a service for children with special needs and their families in Sydney’s northern suburbs. The library has its base at Artarmon and visits locations in Baulkham Hills, Ryde, Thornleigh and Wahroonga twice a month during school term.  link



Parks and Fun

I talked to a youth at Union Square Park in NYC who told me, “there's benches for the seniors and a playground for the little kids but nothing for us.”


The tradition [of opening fire hydrants] stems from the fact that there are limited options for summertime fun in the borough, according to Rodriguez and other Bronx community board heads AM NY

Most fixed equipment parks do not offer a large


Usage Statistics of Sports Equipment  4/2/2015 Ann Arbor District Library

                                                        Number          In User   % In use
Tumbler Tower                                   4                     4             100%
Marble Bowl                                       5                     5             100%
Giant Checkers                                    2                     2             100%
Mini Ping Pong                                    5                     4               80%
Kubb                                                     5                     0              0%
Skittles                                                  5                     4               80%   
Rollors                                                   4                    2               50%
Two way radios                                      3                    3              100%
Metal Detector                                       4                    4              100%
Giant Dominoes                                     4                     4             100%

Thoughts on a Simple Branch Library Acquisition and Lending System for Sports Equipment



Our Library checks out basketballs to be used on the courts near the library.  We also have Frisbees, jump ropes and hacky sacks available to borrow. The balls have been replaced many times through the years and have resulted in much good will with the kids after school. When they (the kids!) start bouncing off the walls, we suggest they bounce a basketball instead. We don’t require a card, just something of value like a backpack, instrument, cell phone, laptop. This is never a problem because the kids are only too happy to off load their stuff and let us keep an eye on it.”  link


 
0-get people from the parks department and people from the library in the same room talking to each other. The topic, "How can we partner together to better increase Physical Literacy and Reading Literacy in our city". 
  In NYC, a community board parks committee meeting would be a great place to start.


1-If well funded go to 2. Cautious? Low on funds? Offer a small initial group of low cost sports items, skip to 5.
 
2-Place a suggestion box at libraries and/or online 
suggestion form for additional items (Snowshoes anyone?!)
3-The suggestion form might have a check box to signify if item is being requested for special needs
4-Based upon patron suggestions and actual usage, additional items and copies can be purchased
5- If you are short on funds, items are for day loan only. If you have enough funding for multiple copies of items, some copies would be be for day loan only, some copies for longer period loans also. 
 
6-Where security is a concern , rather then store items in open stacks, display laminated placards with pictures of items, to represent items are available, and store library cards as “security”, attached to the placard when an item is borrowed (the Maine idea of having them leave their laptop as security is great too!)
 
7-These placards might also contain a liability waiver statements if allowed under state law. 
 
8- For speedy on-demand acquisition, items could be purchased at the branch level and not cataloged. If ordered via Amazon Prime, they can be delivered in 2 days . Items will only be returnable at the branch that loaned them. 
 
9-Fun signage at both library and nearby parks will co market Library and parks offerings and attract more attendance at each.
10-This was cobbled together with helpful ideas from libraries around the world, modify to suit your needs







We Are All Special Needs


How would you define disability?

Something that limits you due to x, y or z.  Everyone has a disability of some sort.  No one's perfect.  Everyone has a flaw of some type.  In terms of ADA, we should all be treated the same, because we are all disabled.  -Christopher Noel, NYC Parks ADA Accessibility Coordinator


Many “special needs” items need not be special, they just need to be available . For example Scrabble and books for wheelchair bound, puppets for autism, a hula hoop for the blind. FatBrain toys offers ideas like these for many disabilities. Items not only need to be available, people must also know the items are available, hence the parks banner below


The higher cost of "inclusive" playgrounds means many local governments can't afford them.”-NPR

Unstaffed Parks

For over four decades the parks have suffered from the competition for resources with services that were seen as more urgent. Police and fire services, of course, deal with issues of life and death. Education, health and welfare programs were considered essential to survival while libraries and parks were often seen as frills. When I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn in the late 1950's and early 1960's, most parks had a "parkee" staffing a building to lend you equipment and make sure the place was under control. With the fiscal crises of the mid 1970's, these folks disappeared and parks became unstaffed places rather than facilities”.- link

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Play Library-Canadian Sports for Life


Free physical activity equipment kits are available to borrow. Learn fun activities to play at home using a kit of age-appropriate equipment – all for free!



Kits contain various sports equipment are given to various organizations such as early childhood centers and military centers

Family Kit

Physical Literacy Starter Kit, includes 20 page instruction book




I talked with Canadian Sports for Life an organization that created sports  kits filled with items  like basketballs, volley vballs  hula hoops  and... Rubber Chickens (yah!!!!)  that were donated to organizations to lend to people in the community. Asking why none of the organizations lending the equipment were libraries I was told:

 Inventory:
- the kits contained an awful lot of items and the library worried they wouldn't all be returned.
Good point. I suggested a solution to this was, rather then a library lending a bag filled with dozens of sporting items, to lend each item separately.



Storage:
The bags are rather large. 
Solution: rather then a large  bag with dozens of items,  individual items are are rather small and often no larger then a book or notebook computer. 

How to deal with Overdue Items:
 Other libraries that loan "objects" deal with overdue objects in the same way as they do with an overdue book.


-That the items needed to be cleaned.
Toy libraries lending items for small children, have a problem with cleaning items to deal with germ issues. I can see the libraries concerns here.  When it comes to items for older people such as basketballs and hula hoops, I think a different solution is appropriate.  I open doors all the time that may have germs on them, bowling balls at bowlin lanes have similar issues, I borrow bikes from the Citybike Bike share service and sit on a seat that may be filled with the germs of others. Books that a library loans also have this issue of germs left on their surface , I don't see libraries sterilizing  them after every use. 

So here's the solution 

Little childen are liable to place play objects in their mouth.  So don't lend play objects for little kids.
Adults are not going to place basketballs, hula hoops, or books in their mouths so the level of worry is no different for any of these objects.


Work with Parks Department
Pittsburg lib in park
Cleaning
Soccery rugby
break apart kits

Central
 Kingscourt
Wolfe island
Pittsburg
harrington
Sydenjam


 



Wednesday, August 19, 2015

The Soda Can and the Hulu Hoop: Why Distance is an Important Factor in Recreation Equipment Lending




 



Today  I  was talking to a Recreation Center supervisor about the idea of loaning Hula Hoops  at a library for use in the park adjacent to the library. She said to me a Hula Hoop cost little more than a dollar, why not just bring your own to the park.

Here's why...


This park has   food conveniently offered  at this well staffed  Shake Shack, a heck of a lot of people are enjoying the convenience of having eating and outdoor seats adjacent to each other

               

                                          Total Number of Participants in eating= A LOT

Adjacent to this eatery is a play area, you have to bring your own equipment to play here. Mostly the area is vacant

                     "Bring  Your Own Bottle" Active Recreation area in Madison Square Park
 Total participants active recreation =2


You don't have to bring your own fork to a restaurant.
You do have to bring your own recreation equipment to a park

 



Many conservancy parks and BID Plazas  these days have food concessions. You want a can of soda, you simply go to the food concession and purchase it,. On justifying adding more food concessions the Hudson River Park in NYC said...

 

We want to make sure that we have enough variety in the park so that people don't need to leave in the middle of their activity to grab something to eat or drink," a Trust spokeswoman said Wednesday. "This is about making the Hudson River Park experience even better for our visitors."
-link


A person may live many blocks away from a park, so Hudson River Park as part of "making the HRP experience even better"  has made it as easy as possible to get a can of soda. They do not ask you to go to bring it from your house. They do ask you to bring a Hula Hoop(or other active recreation equipment)  from your home.

Drinking a can of soda  is not a healthy recreation activity*, yet in many parks and BID Plazas it is made as easy as possible to get it anytime you want .

Hula Hooping   is a healthy recreation activity , but you currently have to bring it from your house if you want to use it in a public space.

So the unhealthy activity is made as easy as possible to do in the park anytime you want , and to participate in the healthy activity at the park you can only do so if you bring equipment from your home.


 And that's why it's important to have active recreation equipment available as close as possible to a park, as the food recreation people have ascertained-convenience  matters in creating a pleasurable park  experience.

It's also the reason why when a city agency allows a  park, plaza  or other public space to  offer "Food as Recreation" the agency should stipulate that "Healthy Recreation" activities must also be offered in that public space. And these activities must be as convenient as the food recreation offering.

Recently I talked to a parks  designer about food recreation and the lack of alternatives in the space he was designing. He then pointed out to me a playing field behind the eatery he was proposing.   No this is not an equivalent item.  It is a Soda- Hula Hoop situation. The eatery allows you to buy and eat while on the premise, a very convenient situation. To use the playing field you have to bring your own recreation equipment to the premise and then use the equipment , a very inconvenient situation.





* "Physical activity is important and certainly helps, experts say. But studies show that exercise increases appetite, causing people to consume more calories. Exercise also expends far fewer calories than most people think. A 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola, for example, contains 140 calories and roughly 10 teaspoons of sugar. “It takes three miles of walking to offset that one can of Coke,” Dr. Popkin said"  .  link

 Did you know that M&Ms are really football fields? To find out what this means, take a small bag of M&Ms and go to the back of the end zone at your local football field. Open the bag, take out one M&M and eat it. Now start walking to the other end of the football field and into the far end zone. You’ve just walked 120 yards and burned off one M&M link












from fitCity 7


But while obesity may not be the Black Death, it is a severe public health crisis. Experts agree that as more and more obese children become obese adults, the diseases associated with obesity, such as heart disease, cancer, and especially diabetes will surge. That will mean a lot of sick people.”

  A new report reveals staggering statistics about the extent to which the obesity epidemic is robbing Americans of their health and longevity. Columbia University and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation examined the real impact of obesity on death rates.1

The study found that nearly one in five US deaths is associated with obesity, which is more than three times higher than previous estimates.   link
 


Active park users were less likely to be overweight than those who had longer park visits and either used the park for passive activities or did not use the park at all “ link


 see also Fun Without Food



Friday, August 7, 2015

Book circulation



...they found that almost 65% had been checked out at least once, but books that did notcirculate within the first few years of purchase were unlikely to circulate at all. link


 During a four-month study period each print book circulated 1.4 times on average. Thirty percent of e-booktitles were accessedat least once, while 10 percent of print titles circulated.  link

Funding of Sports Equipment Libraries


Sports collections do exist in  a large proportion of the[130] public libraries and were initially established through government funding via a 'Be Active' grant some years ago. Many individual councils have continued to fund the collections for their community. -West Torrens Australia

Survey of Libraries that lend Sporting Equipment

Survey Participants:
Jeff Carbral Director Mac Arthur Library, Biddleford Maine 
Mary Jane Gordon, Public Health Nurse, Kingston Sports for Life
Rivakh Hass: Director Sacramento Library, California 
Eli Neiburger, Deputy Director Ann Arbor District Library, Ann Arbor Michigan 
 Anne Pascoe, Librarian,  City of West Torrens,Library,  Australia

  Jeff Carbral Biddleford Library

" A few introductory comments first: Our recreation collection is relatively new. We are a private non-profit public library, and our City does have a very active Recreation department with good equipment. Having said that, we may be able to work closer with them in the future. Your paper is very interesting. We primarily established our rec collection to encourage new users, promote physical health and community wellness, and challenge the traditional norms with our current patrons of what a library loans, thereby asking them to use our services in new and different ways."

Anne Pascoe. City of West Torrens

"Sports collections do exist in  a large proportion of the[130] public libraries and were initially established through government funding via a 'Be Active' grant some years ago. Many individual councils have continued to fund the collections for their community."


Rivakh Hass: Director Sancramento Library
 

"I love your idea. It’s a natural because we should have been doing it for decades so perhaps its time has come.

Sadly Sacramento Public Library only loans ping pong paddles, and these from one branch. One of our City Council members donated them because there’s a table in the park adjacent to the library. So far that seems to be working successfully.

We have a “Library of Things” and encouraged the community nominate items that they wanted us to acquire. They then voted but alas, sports equipment was not a choice. We have hope, though, that in a future round we will be able to add some.

I don’t know about libraries in the U.S., but I was privileged to visit the Salisbury Libraries in South Australia a few years ago and was so excited to see that the lending of recreation equipment was very popular. I just took a peek at their catalog and noticed that equipment is still being loaned. Here’s a link:

Rivka let me know that  the Sacramento Public Library had a branch that loaned ping pong paddles to the adjacent park. I called the branch, spoke to a librarian,  and their answers are in the survey.



How much usage does your recreation  equipment get ?


Jeff Carbral Biddleford Library:Our snowshoes have been very popular. Our lawn games and more spring/summer items (fishing pole, a variety of lawn games, etc) need to be promoted more but do get borrowed from time to time. We also have binoculars and a telescope that are popular.

 Eli Neiburger, Ann Arbor District Library:Tons! Especially in summer.  They're some of our most popular tools.

 Ann Arbor Usage Statistics of Sports Equipment Snapshot taken on 4/2/2015

                                                        Number          In User   % In use
Tumbler Tower                                   4                     4             100%
Marble Bowl                                       5                     5             100%
Giant Checkers                                    2                     2             100%
Mini Ping Pong                                    5                     4               80%
Kubb                                                     5                     0              0%
Skittles                                                  5                     4               80%   
Rollors                                                   4                    2               50%
Two way radios                                      3                    3              100%
Metal Detector                                       4                    4              100%
Giant Dominoes                                     4                     4             100%

(Parks311: Looking at Ann Arbors catalog I gleaned the above lending data)



 Anne Pascoe. City of West Torrens: Our sports collection is well used. We have a range of items from kettle balls, Zumba items, yoga mats, boxing gloves through to hockey & lacrosse sticks, bats and balls. The rate of usage is seasonal as the weather is better for outdoor summer sports such as cricket, tennis and pool toys, flippers and goggles and so the summer loans will usually be more than the winter loans. The most popular items are the balls - netballs, volleyballs, footy (AFL), soccer and rugby. These are also the most stolen item types but overall our loss rate is low.


Sacramento Public Library: Ping pong paddles and balls are borrowed about 52 times a year.

Tompkins Square Library lends a chess set for use in the library, this set is used over 200 times a year.



Do you lose much equipment ?

Jeff Carbral Biddleford Library: We have actually only had two items not returned to use and we did bill for it. This was our portable DVD player and also our portable GPS (not true recreational items but we thought it would be great for families who were travellling - obviously, it was and someone drove away with both of them for good!)

  Eli Neiburger, Ann Arbor District Library:Sure, but not really any more than any other circulating collection.


 Sacramento Public Library: No loss

How do you deal with people who don't return equipment?


 Jeff Carbral Biddleford Library:Depending on varying circulation periods, we do have fine notices that will go out, then eventually (much with other library items) if people owe us over a certain amount, we utilize a collection agency.

 

  Eli Neiburger, Ann Arbor District Library:It's no different than any other library materials. Patrons are responsible for the items they've checked out and will be fined, then billed, for overdue items.  Patrons with a fine balance above $10 cannot check out materials, and accounts over $40 and 120 days overdue are sent to a collection agency.
  

Anne Pascoe. City of West Torrens:Our sports collection is treated as part of our general library collection. We also have a toy library aimed at the under 5s with dress up costumes, puzzles, blocks, dolls houses, puppets, toddler kick a long cars and so on. You need a library card to borrow, membership to the library is free but if you lose or damage an item you have to pay the replacement value. If you do not return or pay for an item you are unable to borrow from any library or use the computers until your outstanding account is cleared. The benefit of our system is that the one card works in every SA library but the downside is  it will also not work in anySA library if you owe  AUD$30 or more - which means no borrowing or pc access. Currently West Torrens charges fines for overdue items (to a max of $5 per item) but many libraries do not.

How do you store your recreation equipment ?
 Jeff Carbral Biddleford Library:We purchased most of our equipment with cases or bags, and it is stored in staff areas of the library. We have laminated placards on a display with pics of the equipment in a public area so patrons are aware of it.  


  Eli Neiburger, Ann Arbor District Library:In the bags and cases they circulate in, on simple shelving carts in our lobby.  You can see the collection in this video made by a local musician:




Anne Pascoe. City of West Torrens I can't answer for all the libraries here in SA because we all have different storage solutions to suit our buildings. At West Torrens the sporting equipment is stored on open shelving near the service desk. Customers choose what they would like to borrow and we check it out to them on the Library Management System..

 Sacramento Public Library: To check out equipment we have a clipboard, we take their name and phone number and put it on the board.    If they havn't returned the paddles as closing time comes near we give them a call.

Do you do any promotion of your recreation equipment loan in  nearby parks?


 Jeff Carbral Biddleford Librayr:We have not done this but it's a great idea. We do need to promote our collection more often and through a variety of means.
   Eli Neiburger, Ann Arbor District Library:A little. We had a big event planned in a park this summer but it didn't quite come together and we'll try again next summer.

  Jeff Carbral Biddleford Library: our City does have a very active Recreation department with good equipment. Having said that, we may be able to work closer with them in the future

Sacramento Public Library:No they are another city department.   There are a couple of signs in the library, that let people know we have the equipment.

Anne Pascoe. City of West TorrensWe are lucky that we have a park right outside our windows. Staff have been known to tell a bunch of rowdy kids to take a ball, go out to the park and work off their excess energy before they come back inside and sometimes the youth staff will start or join in the game for a little while - its all part of building good relationships.


Do you do joint activities with your nearby parks?
 


Jeff Carbral Biddleford Library We do not at this time.  

  Eli Neiburger, Ann Arbor District Library:Not really.  Like many others, we have a hard time partnering with parks & rec as they're stretched pretty thin.    
 

Anne Pascoe. City of West Torrens:The library holds joint activities with the Obesity Prevention And Lifestyle team (OPAL) around active play and nature play in various parks and playgrounds around our Council area. OPAL have created nature kits for loan from the Toy Library aimed at different age groups with equipment like bug catchers, magnifying glasses, a picnic rug and insect books for identification. We also occasionally hold events like volleyball tournaments or frisbee catching in the park as a school holiday activity.