About Atlanta senior life. (Sandy Springs, GA) 2016-2023 | View Entire Issue (July 31, 2020)
TAKING IT TO THE SCREENS: LIBRARY PROGRAMS GO ONLINE Sprint a DeKalb Coun... About Photos See AH ' Videos Home Videos Monday - Dekalb c L DeKalb County * Public Library April 13 Get to know your DCPL librarians at home with Shelf Isolation. Librarians will pick out some of their books that are available in the DCPL digital collection to recommend. In this video, meet David Russell and see what's on his bookshelf. He also reads a Mary Oliver poem for National By Donna Williams Lewis You might never need to know how to tie a bow tie, but there’s something soothing during a global pandemic about watching a little Facebook video of Decatur librarian David Russell teaching the technique. Posted a few weeks before COVID-19 shut libraries down, it was Russell’s first foray into producing video for the masses. What the reference librarian didn’t know then was that video production was about to become a big part of his life. For years, library systems have been offering their members digital products such as ebooks, audiobooks, movies and music on services such as Libby and Hoopla. But as the coronavirus quarantine took hold this year, metro area librarians immersed themselves in new ways to connect with their communities through homegrown, online programming. Zooming through technical learning curves, librarians have become video producers. They’re doing everything from live-streaming book club meetings and mindfulness meditation sessions to posting story times for kids and adults. They offer virtual gardening, cooking and yoga classes and hosting online game and trivia nights. And it’s all free. No library card required. to get people into our doors,” Chappel said. Now, the library is using social media to reach online audiences of unlimited proportions. Meanwhile, social media is helping the library raise its profile as people add library sites to the mix of Facebook, YouTube and Instagram pages they follow, Chappel said. “Where before the library may have been an afterthought ... now, I think everyday that they use their social media we’re on offer them something that will help them in their life some type of way or give them some type of respite from their current worries.” Libraries typically offer instruction on navigating the digital resources they employ That’s a good thing in a time when people of all ages have been forced into the virtual life. Story times that routinely drew 30 to 40 people to the Decatur Library are drawing hundreds of views online. ‘We’re on their feed’ Until quarantine, social media was primarily used by DeKalb County libraries to inform people about programs they could attend at library branches, said Myguail Chappel, manager of DeKalb County Public Library’s Take-Out Services. “We were using it as a way Music 4 days ago-&K vi^ See All their feed. So they’re always thinking about us as : a resource,” said Chappel, who produced a video on allergy relief for the library “Hopefully, through following us, we will o* £> Elisabeth Harris, youth services librarian at the Tucker Library, has enjoyed the challenge of learning how to upload, download and edit her videos into “something publishable.” A speaker of four languages, she performs the song “Bingo” in JULY 2020 ATLANTASENIORLIFE.COM FACEBOOK.COM/ATLANTASENIORLIFE
