I came across an article today on Mashable Startups about a new site called Ownshelf, which let’s people share ebooks with friends.
The terms of use of Ownshelf imply that the book must be in public domain in order be shared.
It will be interesting to see if people cross the line and share books regardless of copyright.
Have you tried it? What do you think?
I recently received a “Like” from the awesome folks at the Soulsby Farm blog! If you’re looking for solid gardening/farming knowledge that you can pass on to patrons or just use at home, you should visit their blog!
In the first five seconds of reading I learned that worms love Cheerios! Mind. Blown. So, I had to share. I plan on reading for way more than five seconds! Lots of great stuff there!
you can promote that your library has a public restroom. I mean, there are worse things to be known for. So, y’know, if other awesome aspects of your library (free entertainment! charming staff! untold treasure troves of knowledge!) don’t boost the door count, consider listing your library’s restrooms!
Check out Sit or Squat. They even have an app! Yes! There is an app for that!
Interested in the seed library concept? Start by understanding more about seeds and what it takes to preserve seeds. Check out this great free webinar happening on March 20 at 7 PM CDT!
Pima County Public Library is one of many libraries in on the seed exchange concept! Consider for your library.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged food education, gardening, gardening education, libraries, seed e, seed exchange, seed libraries
Hey library land! I get that you love Pinterest, I really do. It’s a cool site. But check out Instagram! The statistics for Instagram are pretty impressive – it is growing exponentially and I believe it may have already surpassed FourSquare in membership! (If not, it will soon.)
I recently hosted a webinar for work with over 100 participants – when I took a poll of social media usage, not one said their library was using Instagram.
What’s impressive is that it’s only available on iPhone right now and it’s reached surpassed FourSquare. It’s in beta for Android now, so I can only imagine what participation will be like when that rolls out.
Mobile social networks are where the world is headed and Instagram is quickly becoming the new leader.
It’s been an insane few weeks preparing for the Public Library Association Annual Conference! I have a lot more I’d like to share, but time has gotten away from me. So here are a few ideas to get started for urban food education!
If you’re in an urban library, you can still teach patrons quite a bit about gardening, even if you don’t have a lot of green space.
For instance, you can grow lettuce, herbs and microgreens near a window. There are a ton of great tutorials out there to check out!
If you have just a small bit of dirt running along a wall, consider growing peas. Peas are easy to start now, and they’ll grow up a small trellis or string along the side of your building!
If you have some space ( a few feet ) to place a container, consider potatoes! Using a collapsing pot let’s you grow potatoes during the season, then remove the dirt and the pot easily in the fall!
And don’t forget window boxes. With a window box you can grow dwarf varieties of snap/sugar peas, edible flowers, herbs and more!
Posted in food education
Tagged food education, gardening, growing food, libraries, teaching gardening
Yes, that’s a real thing. You can write a grant that helps you cover the expenses of a garden at your library! WOW! Okay, we’re running out of time…so let’s get crackin’ on those applications…
Here are two coming up soon (found through kidsgardening.org – a fantastic website!)
March 1 – 2012 Mantis Award (to receive a Mantis tiller/cultivator)
April 1 – 2012 Midwest Garden Grant (for those living in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin)
Regional/Local Grants
This is the time when grant applications are about to be due. I found an astonishing amount of regional and local gardening and food education grants across the country. Try search terms like your city/region/state name and ‘gardening grants 2012’.
Many local branches of Master Gardeners offer local grants! Reach out to your local group if you don’t already have a working relationship with them!
Posted in food education, grants, Library Programming, Projects
Tagged children, food education, gardening, growing food, libraries
