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A weekly show from the folks at East Lansing Info breaking down all the news and happenings in East Lansing, Michigan.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of East Lansing Insider. I'm East Lansing Info's deputy editor, Anna Liz Nichols. And this week, we're talking to Gabby who runs communications for the East Lansing Public Library. We're going to be talking about some of the programming and resources that you might not know about that are accessible to East Lansing residents as well as getting a bit of the four one one on recent happenings at the library. Thank you, Gabby, for joining me this week.
Anna Liz Nichols:I know it's also library card sign up month, September, and there have been quite a few social media posts from the library engaging the public to come in and sign up or renew their library card. One of the things I know you guys are doing is a raffle because I spotted dungeon crawler Carl in the raffle, which is a really popular sci fi fantasy book series making the rounds right now. So, Gabby, can you tell us a little bit about what's going into library card sign up month?
Gabby Kindig:I'd love to. Thank you for having us. So library card sign up month is the month of September, and we're really, really excited. There's a lot of things going on. So the first part is if you come into the library, you can show, renew, or sign up for your library card, and you'll be able to get a prize from our treasure chest.
Gabby Kindig:And then you'll also be able to enter that raffle that you mentioned. And so we have gotten prizes generously donated by Schuler Books, Tasty Twist, and the Hannah Community Center. And so you can enter to win one of four book raffles. So each ref each book bundle comes with two books and a tasty dress coupon. So we've got an against the odds bundle.
Gabby Kindig:We've got a family ties bundle. We've got that fantasy bundle with dungeon crawler carl. And then we've got perils of the sea bundle, which is like danger in water. And then we've also got a community center bundle where you can win four single visit passes to the East Lane Sanghana community center. So there's a lot of really exciting stuff going on this month, and we're excited to get people signed up for cards.
Anna Liz Nichols:You know, we've had some recent reporting on the library's interest in in fostering sustainability and, you know, community equity and and in engagement. We talked previously about the recent revamp of the empathy and equity box?
Gabby Kindig:Yeah. So we're really excited. We have this kind of, like, take what you need, leave what you can kind of pantry, and it's our empathy and equity box. And we recently had a local Eagle Scout rebuild it as his service project. And so Judah Merriman was our Eagle Scout, and he rebuilt it.
Gabby Kindig:So it's a bigger box. It has more space for food and hygiene items that we can give out for free. We now have a nice resource list. So if you're looking for additional resources in the community, you can find it. And then it's also, like, better weatherproofing, and so there's a nice roof, and it should be more solid for the future.
Gabby Kindig:But, yeah, so the design is a really good one, and it should be able to withstand the weather and withstand the years and be a resource for the community for years to come.
Anna Liz Nichols:Yeah. What was the name of the
Gabby Kindig:boy scout again? Judah Merriman.
Anna Liz Nichols:I was wondering, are there programs or or resources that you feel like maybe even in this back to school season, the fall, that are worth showcasing at the library that you'd like listeners to know about?
Gabby Kindig:Yeah. So back to school time, there's definitely a lot of stuff that is helpful. One thing that I think maybe doesn't get as much people knowing about it is some of our online resources. So Mhmm. We have a subscription to tutor.com, so it's free online tutoring help for whatever.
Gabby Kindig:We have some really helpful resources for students. And so we've got tutor.com, which is on demand online tutoring assistance. We've got Mango Language. So if you want a free alternative to say, like, Duolingo, that's a language learning, and it's got over 70 languages to help if you're, you know, taking your Spanish classes or other classes. We've got Learning Express, which can help with a bunch of different school topics and different tests, including college admissions tests.
Gabby Kindig:You can kind of get practice for that, or you can get support for earning, like, a high school equivalency credential. And so we've got a lot of ways to support students that people might not know about. So if you go to elpl.org/resource, that's everything that we've got, and there's a lot of cool stuff there. And then so getting back into the swing of things, if you're looking for something more social and fun too, we have a lot of great programs. So we've got our story time starting back up for families.
Gabby Kindig:We recently revamped our a thousand books before kindergarten program, which is really exciting. So we have some new prizes for that, and it's now easier to track your reading. So the idea is that you're helping your kid build some, like, preliteracy skills, and so they'll be ready to start kindergarten and have, you know, expanded vocabulary, have background knowledge, and really kinda give them that advantage going into kindergarten. And so we just read
Anna Liz Nichols:goal of reading a thousand books with your child before they enter kindergarten? What is that?
Gabby Kindig:Yeah. Yeah. So this is a really cool program. It's a nationwide initiative, and so it's promoting reading to your newborns, infants, toddlers. So anyone can start you know, even if it's a brand new baby, you can still be reading to them and building those preliteracy skills.
Gabby Kindig:And so the idea is it's helping the kid kind of develop a love for reading from very young. And so a thousand books sounds like a ton of books. But, actually, if you're reading just one book a day together, you'll meet your goal in less than three years.
Anna Liz Nichols:Oh.
Gabby Kindig:And if you're reading three books a day, you would reach your goal in under a year. So it's a really fun, a free, easy way to get your child started on the path to reading. And every 100 books you get, you get a sticker to encourage them and mark the progress. At five hundred book or, yeah, at 500 books, they'll get a little stuffed reading buddy. It's like a little stuffed dog.
Gabby Kindig:And so that can help encourage them. And then at a thousand books, each reader is going to receive a backpack with crayons, markers, activity sheets, and a book so they have everything they need to start the school year.
Anna Liz Nichols:You guys, there's a been a a push for sustainability in the library system. The East Lansing Public Library is working towards an environmental certification from the sustainable libraries initiative. We did some reporting on this. I think some of the focuses have been, staff engagement with the community, community partnerships, and reducing consumption and then, you know, reduce, reuse, recycle. And I know that there's programs, engaging the public at the library that kind of, you know, match those those values.
Anna Liz Nichols:Would you be willing to tell us a little bit about some of the programs or practices that the library has been implementing, you know, in the interest of community engagement and and sustainability?
Gabby Kindig:Yeah. So one of the cool kinds of programs that we've been leaning into more are these kind of swaps. And so instead of trying to, like, buy something new, you can just swap it with a fellow community member, get the give your things a second life. And so we've had craft swaps. We've had clothing swaps, and that's a really fun way to, you know, get some fun things.
Gabby Kindig:And, also, you know, prices are rising everywhere right now. It's nice to be able to kind of come together and have things for free or cheap too because clothing is expensive. You know? Craft supplies are expensive. And so that's a really cool way that we've been able to kind of engage and bring people together and do that.
Gabby Kindig:We've also had some kind of DIY workshops, and so we had, like, a DIY greener cleaners program that was pretty cool. In terms of the reducing waste, we've recently partnered with the city to have a new compost bin at the library where you can drop off your compost scraps, which is super cool. And then we've also been improving our recycling around the library. And then also just, like it's less for the public, but as a as a staff member, I've definitely noticed kind of a quality of life improvement in the library, you know, replacing plastic silverware with, like, nice ones and, like, you know, having plants around the library. And, like, the committee has just done a lot of really good work to, like, make things better for both the patrons and for the people working here, and I think it's it's nice to see the library lean into that more.
Anna Liz Nichols:In terms of programming that's available at the library, just today when we're we're talking, which is Thursday, there's family playtime, which is in the children's area. There's teen knit and crochet club, which is in I imagine, the teen area, and Lego and Lego Thursday, which I think engages participants of all ages. In terms of the scope of programming that's available and that's just in one day.
Gabby Kindig:Yeah.
Anna Liz Nichols:How much programming, and what is the the range of programming available at East Lansing Public Library?
Gabby Kindig:That's a great question. We do an unusually large amount of programming, actually. We have a great dedicated team. So we have a children's library and a librarian who does both children's and teens. We've got a teen librarian, an adult librarian, and a STEAM education specialist.
Gabby Kindig:And so all of them are individually creating programs to offer to the public. And so it really spans all ages, all interest levels. We usually have at least one program a day, often up to, like, you know, three or four or five per day, and we kind of have a a rotating schedule. And so, you know, thinking just in September, we have some book clubs. We have a birding club.
Gabby Kindig:We've got a dance party to celebrate that thousand books before kindergarten program that I mentioned. We've got some movie days. We've got homeownership education classes. We've got a teen cooking lab where they can, like, taste test different foods and, like, try out recipes and stuff.
Anna Liz Nichols:At the library?
Gabby Kindig:At the library. Nice. Library's got it all. And we've got, you know, writing groups and some art programs. And so there it's really quite a lot of different things happening every day.
Anna Liz Nichols:I was wondering, does East Lansing Public Library have some I feel like it's, and correct me if I'm wrong, kind of a a modern endeavor by libraries to have things like seed libraries and, like, a library of things. Like, what are some of the maybe new inventions East Lansing Public Library is is providing maybe even from input from the public of, like, we want a seed library or something like that?
Gabby Kindig:That's a good question. I think, you know, it's definitely kind of a newer trend where libraries are offering more and more things.
Anna Liz Nichols:Is East Lansing Public Library adapting to, like, different wants and needs from the community? Like, what's how is, you know, the the definition of library expanding maybe in East Lansing?
Gabby Kindig:Yeah. So a couple years ago, we developed a new strategic plan, and so that was an opportunity to really ask the community what they wanted from us. And so we put out surveys. We had focus groups, and we're able to kind of directly talk with the people in our community, both people who had library cards and people who don't, to be like, what do you want from your library? And try and figure out, you know, how can we meet the wants and needs of our community.
Gabby Kindig:And so we've been able to use that data to kind of guide the kinds of programs we're offering. And so we can look at that. We can also look at that and be like, hey. What are some of the resources that we have that people don't know about? And that can also inform the way that we're trying to get the word out to people and be like, hey.
Gabby Kindig:Did you know we have a maker studio, and you can, like, use our three d printer or a laser cutter? Did you know that we have a library of things? The library of things has, like, power tools, but it also has, like, ukuleles and telescopes and stuff like that. Or we have our seed library, which is always super popular. And so that's you know, every season, you can take up to five packets of seeds and grow, and it's a chance to grow your own food and also kind of, like, get in touch with the process of, you know, plants and growing and that kind of thing.
Gabby Kindig:And so I think definitely libraries are adapting more and more to meet the needs that we're seeing in our community, and especially because libraries are one of the last free spaces outside of work and home where you can kind of go and hang out, and there's not an expectation that you need to spend a lot of money. And so, definitely, it's it's an important space, and so people, I think, recognize that. And we wanna try and find as many ways as possible as we can to provide the the services that our community needs. So
Anna Liz Nichols:Mhmm. Yeah. There's a conversation even on a government level in East Lansing about, you know, there not being a lot of, like, third spaces. And in addition, because we're in a college town, they're not being a lot of businesses or programming or just a a want for there to be more businesses and programming for younger residents, for families. In terms of how the library has maybe, you know, heard those requests and those wants, where do you feel like the library maybe fills a bit of that role?
Gabby Kindig:Well, I think, you know, the the the main ethos of libraries is that we're for everyone. And so we wanna be able to be a place for everyone who can come in. And so we wanna welcome the kids and the families. We wanna welcome the teens. We wanna welcome the adults.
Gabby Kindig:And everyone who is coming in, we want there to be a place for that. And so I think just trying to to keep a welcoming and open attitude towards the public and try and provide things that we think people will like. So.
Anna Liz Nichols:Yeah. Gabby, how long have you been with the library?
Gabby Kindig:I've been here about four and a half years. Oh, that's a bit of time.
Anna Liz Nichols:Have there been moments where, for you, you've seen maybe some of the more unique opportunities there are at the library for things you know, creating community, creating more awareness and connection in our community.
Gabby Kindig:Yeah. So I think one of the first things that comes to mind is our breeding club. This was started by our wonderful doctor b. And when he started, he didn't consider himself an expert on breeding, but he saw that people were interested. He was like, yeah.
Gabby Kindig:I can facilitate this. Why not? Let's try it. And it turned out to be one of our most wildly successful programs. People love birds.
Gabby Kindig:And not only that, but it's been a really cool intergenerational program. And so the way the program is set up is when you start, originally, everyone would kind of introduce themselves. Lately, we've been getting, like, 40 to 60 people at each meeting, and so there's not really time for that anymore. In Malaga? Yeah.
Gabby Kindig:For birds. It's incredible. And so now we'll be like, alright. Turn to your table mate and introduce yourself. And then we'll have people send in photos throughout the month of different birds they've seen, and then we'll share those photos and so you can kind of share the creativity of the community.
Gabby Kindig:And then doctor b will ask the participants, alright. Who can ID this bird? And everyone will kind of take turns figuring out who it is. And one of the really cool things is we do have some kids who come to the birding club, and they're, like, really into birding. And so the adults will kind of hang back and let the kids ID the bird.
Gabby Kindig:And so it's really cool to, like, build their confidence in, like, IDing a bird and, like, supporting them when they get it right. And so it's a great way to kind of learn together, and it's really cool to see how everyone from the kids to the older adults can kind of come together around birds. And then at the end of the after the photos, we'll usually have some kind of bit of news from, like, the birding world or, like, a special or, like, a special topic to learn about. And, doctor b has been bringing in some, like, guest speakers from MSU, and so we're able to connect with the MSU community that way and kind of share the knowledge there. And so it's been a really, really cool program.
Gabby Kindig:It's bringing a lot of different kinds of people together to learn about a lot of different different things, and that's been really cool. So that's kind of my personal favorite of community building within the library because, you know, there were all these people who are maybe desperately interested, and then they came together and they met people who they might not have met otherwise. And that's been really cool. Another thing that I think about, a few years back when I started, I did a patron perspectives video series. And so I was kind of asking people, in your own words, what do you love about the library?
Gabby Kindig:And there were some really cool responses. You know? There was someone who still had her original library card from when she was a kid, and, you know, she was an adult now, and she's been coming for so many years and, like, packed a book set in each place she was going on her honeymoon, and she brought them on the honeymoon and read. That was really cool. We've had some people come in and share projects that they've done in their maker studio.
Gabby Kindig:I think there's a pottery group who meets at the East Lansing Hinnock Community Center, and they were three d printing, like, stamps so they can, like, put their initials in their pottery creations. There was someone who needed, like, a really specific part to repair, like, the awning in their r RV, and so they were able to come and do that. There was someone who was restoring, like, a 100 year old camera with our maker studio. And so there's a lot of different ways. You know, people had some interesting things that brought them to the library, and maybe they were, like, very specific niche needs.
Gabby Kindig:But it was cool to see how they were able to, like, create with the library and do that. And it's cool to see the ways that different parts of the community can all interact and find a place here. So
Anna Liz Nichols:Is there anything else about the East Lansing Public Library, what you all are doing there, and and, you know, what's going on there that you feel like might be worth showcasing for for listeners?
Gabby Kindig:Well, speaking of community building, you know, there's a lot that we're doing in East Lansing to build community. But even beyond East Lansing, you know, we're making connections with in Lansing. We're making connections with MSU across the Grand River. And one really cool program that is coming up well, it's kind of happening right now, is one grand read. And so this is our second year doing it, and it's kind of like it replaced the old one book, one community program.
Gabby Kindig:And so the idea is everyone reads the same book, and then we'll have programs kind of exploring the themes throughout the month and then have the author give a keynote speech at the end. And so this is a program with ELPL, cattle, MSU libraries, and just MSU kind of generally. And so this year's selection is there's always this year on basketball and ascension, and it's by, and he's coming to to the Kellogg Conference Center on Sunday, September 27. And so we'll be able to hear directly from the author, and that's really cool too. So that's kind of a cool partnership between a few different local book loving folks to make it happen.
Anna Liz Nichols:What was the name of the program, and what was the name of the book title again?
Gabby Kindig:Yeah. So the program is 1 grand read. This is our second year doing it. And then this year's book is There's Always This Year on Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib.
Anna Liz Nichols:In our in our modern age where so much information is available online, I was wondering how you feel maybe the library plays into or maybe has even been left out of, you know, personal education and and personal development. Like, how's the library playing into our our modern landscape of information finding?
Gabby Kindig:I think, you know, there is so much misinformation and disinformation out there. And as a communications professional, that's kind of scary to me. And so I think now more than ever, having reliable, information is more important than ever. And so the library is a really important place because, you know, we have we have high standards for the kind of things that we have in our collection. And so whenever we're adding a book to our collection, we're vetting it for, you know, is this reliable?
Gabby Kindig:You know, what do the critics say? Does it have relevance to our community? And, you know, I think people maybe don't realize how much training that librarians have in being able to find and vet information, but they are really, really well trained, and they are able to help you find the information that is true, that is reliable, that is helpful to you in a way that, you know, it's it's hard to find reliable information on your own. It's incredibly difficult, and especially as, you know, the algorithms and AI change the way that search engines are run. Like, it's difficult for your average person to to figure out what is going on, I think.
Gabby Kindig:And so being able to have a resource that is dedicated to helping you find reliable information is really important. And we do you know, we can help you find information on a variety of topics. That's part of what librarians have always done. But, also, we do have some programs. We've had a few programs talking about AI, talking about, you know, what is it, what are the benefits, what are the disadvantages, helping you make an informed choice.
Gabby Kindig:Because, really, libraries aren't here to tell you what you should believe. We're not here to tell you what you should do. We want to give you the information so you can make an informed choice.
Anna Liz Nichols:Thank you so much for for taking some of these questions, Gabby. I so appreciate your time.
Gabby Kindig:Course.