OWWL Library System

“Thank you!” to all the Directors and Trustees who joined us for the OWWL Library System’s Open House and 2024 Annual Meeting this evening.

Plenty of OWWL representation at New York Library Association’s Annual Conference in Syracuse. Ready for a full three days of learning and sharing!

Yesterday the OWWL Library System, Palmyra Community Library, and Macedon Public Library partnered with Palmyra-Macedon Middle School to provide each student with a new book to add to their at-home library. It was a great day creating book access, strengthening school and public library connections, and supporting communtiy literacy! ??

This year OWWL Library System partnered with twenty libraries to help develop their bilingual collections and support the Spanish-speaking community members in our four-county area. In total, each partner library received 42 bilingual books—24 Easy Readers, 10 board books, and the 8 picture books below which will soon be available for families to borrow and share.

It was an amazing morning partnering with Palmyra Community Library, Williamson Public Library, and Walworth-Seely Public Library at the Wayne County Community Schools 8th Grade Career Carnival!

News Release: OWWL Libraries Helping to Give Back This Fall (Friday, September 20, 2024) Canandaigua, NY — This fall OWWL Libraries will once again take part in The Great Give Back, an annual opportunity for patrons to engage in meaningful, service-oriented experiences. What began as a local initiative on Long Island in 2017, The Great Give Back has expanded across New York State with over 300 libraries expected to participate in 2024. According to the National Diaper Bank Network, 1 in 2 families in the United States struggles to afford diapers. To address this critical need, twenty-six libraries across Ontario, Wayne, Wyoming, and Livingston Counties have elected to host diaper drives for this year’s Great Give Back project. Collections begin Saturday, September 23 and conclude on Saturday, October 19. Donated items should be new and can include disposable diapers, reusable and cloth diapers, pull-ups, training pants, wipes, and diaper creams. The Livonia Public Library has participated in The Great Give Back for several years and is particularly excited about this year’s project. According to library director Shamika Fusco, “We understand the importance of serving our community and providing opportunities for those facing life’s challenges to get ahead. This year‘s focus on diapering supplies is particularly heartwarming, and we are thrilled to join together to make a meaningful difference!” Marion Public Library director Tracy Whitney agrees. “This year we will be collecting donations of new diapers and diapering supplies to help area families in need. While efforts are always on serving our community and building relationships, the exciting thing about this initiative is that it invites our patrons to help us make a difference with kindness and generosity, strengthening our caring community spirit.” Each library will choose a local organization to give the donated items to, such as food banks, shelters, child care centers, or health clinics to best support local families in need. For more information, visit owwl.org/tggb.

News Release – New Communication Boards Implemented in Libraries (Thursday, July 11, 2024) Canandaigua, NY — This summer seventeen libraries across Ontario, Wayne, Wyoming, and Livingston Counties will be adding Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Boards to help library staff communicate effectively and efficiently with all patrons. The double-sided AAC Boards (pictured below at the Mount Morris Library) feature pictures of commonly used words labeled both in English and Spanish, the Latin Alphabet, the American Sign Language (ASL) Alphabet, and numbers 0 - 9. Users point to the pictures, letters, and symbols to ask questions, share information, and converse. The boards are meant to facilitate communication for patrons who are non-speaking, have difficulties speaking, or speak a language other than English. Adding these boards increases access to library services, programs, and spaces for patrons of all abilities, needs, and languages. Roxanne Roscup, Director of the Sodus Community Library, said, "We are excited to have an AAC Board at the library. We know that people communicate in a variety of ways, and we hope to be able to serve our patrons better by providing greater access to information through the use of these boards." The Clifton Springs Library is also looking forward to implementing the AAC boards. Becky Sloane, Youth Curriculum Coordinator, said, “Not only will these boards help staff communicate with our diverse community of adults and youth, but we will also incorporate the boards into the library’s early learning programs to expand our toddlers' language understanding and teach the different ways people communicate in the world around them.” The AAC Boards will roll out this month at the following libraries: Clifton Springs Library Cordelia Greene Library Geneva Public Library Honeoye Public Library Lyons Public Library, NY Mount Morris Library Naples Library Newark Public Library Palmyra Community Library Perry Public Library Red Creek Free Library Red Jacket Community Library Rose Free Library Sodus Community Library Stevens Memorial Community Library Walworth-Seely Public Library Wood Library Staff at the seventeen libraries received training on the purpose and implementation of AAC Boards, which included two interactive webinars and a tour of the Golisano Autism Center Rochester. In addition to the boards, each library received ten books to add to their children’s and teen collections that feature non-speaking characters and/or the use of AAC tools. This project was funded by an American Library Association (ALA) Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities grant, in partnership with the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL), and is administered locally by the OWWL Library System. Visit ala.org to learn more.

On Sunday OWWL Library System’s Coordinated Outreach Services was joined by Kate, Children’s Specialist at the Williamson Public Library, to support Nazareth University and Mid-West RBERN’s Vecinos Unidos Family Literacy program. We connected families with new books to add to their shelves at home and issued library cards. And everyone had fun making Minifigure Parachutes at the OWWL STEM station!! #Outreach #FamilyLiteracy #BookAccess

This morning System and member library staff toured the Golisano Autism Center to learn about making our programs, services, and spaces more inclusive and accessible to all community members. Thank you to Director Andrew Ferreira for welcoming us and to all the teachers, providers, and mentors who took the time to share their expertise and experience.

OWWL Library System’s Coordinated Outreach Services partnered with Library & Media Specialist Amanda Johnson and Rose Free Library Director Deanna Davis-Wiltsie to provide North Rose-Wolcott High School students each with a new book to keep. Students also had the opportunity to sign up for a library card and learn about the resources available through owwl.org. In total, 248 books were connected with readers! #Outreach #Literacy #BookAccess