Loudoun County Public Library: Try Poetry 2010

Abstract

n 2009, the Loudoun County Public Library adopted a five-year strategic plan that included a goal of building community to be developed through programming at the libraries and other locations. Given this mandate, the library looked for opportunities to bring citizens of all ages together through public programs of varying themes and formats that would reach out and appeal to a wide audience base. These offerings have been presented by both staff and professional presenters in library branches and venues in the community. The strategic plan also called for an enhancement of the educational partnership between the libraries and school system. While in the past library programming had been offered in many of the schools, a more consistent focus on reaching high school students and Juvenile Detention Center detainees was now regarded as a challenging priority. Given these directives, the library brainstormed to identify the one programming theme that could run throughout the year and would have the potential to accomplish many of the goals of the strategic plan. In 2010, the library system elected to commit their major programming efforts to providing new ways for the community to “bump” into poetry. This would be the first time the library sustained a single theme throughout the year. The deciding factors in selecting poetry as the main vehicle for programming were: • The possibility of sparking borderless conversations within the diverse community through the use of poetry and poets. • The opportunity to dismantle the often self-imposed barriers to poetry and show the reader/ listener that, within a few short lines, poetry can evoke in each of us the emotions to laugh, smile, think, and feel. Critical to the focus of the Try Poetry 2010 project was the facilitation of mini-workshops and Linda Holtslander is the division manager for programming, community relations, and development for the Loudoun County Public Library. She was a Fulbright Scholar to the Helsinki City Library in Finland from 2008–2009. While there, she participated in the Next Library initiative, whose main purpose is to share and build knowledge together. Try Poetry was the 2011 winner of the John Cotton Dana Award, the most prestigious award given for public relations. The award is sponsored by the American Library Association’s Library Leadership and Management Association and the H. W. Wilson Company. Loudoun County Public Library: Try Poetry 2010