SPL in Second Life

As if having only one life to live isn't enough, I've been playing around in Second Life recently. I answered a request from a UCLA faculty member seeking someone from a public library to complete a panel addressing her library school class. The topic: information literacy instruction.

Information literacy instruction, or ILI, is a fancy way of saying "teaching people to find information and know whether it is appropriate or correct for their purposes." The instructor wanted a variety of viewpoints, so there were representatives from college and community college libraries, private and public schools, an art institute and a hospital library. And a public library - Sacramento Public Library! That's me in the picture, in my Second Life persona, Annot8 Greatrex. (Los Angeles Public Library was represented by a poster in the display area.)

I talked to the 21 students about our diverse users (compared to the relatively homogeneous users at schools and colleges), our web site, research guides, computer classes and other programs, and one-on-one instruction. I also mentioned that we host class visits and talk to community groups, and that the Wonder Wagon bookmobile visits community events like the recent Pacific Rim Festival. Afterwards, we gathered on the lawn next to the "open air auditorium" for the poster session.

The other seven presenters were from Florida, New Jersey, Oregon, Alaska, Minnesota, and California. There was a poster from a library in Chile. We all were able to talk to each other in real time in Second Life. Hmmm ... think of the possibilities ...

Community Outreach Services: The World Music & Dance Festival

"Wow!! ... I didn't know that the library had a bookmobile!" or "When I was a little girl, we used to wait week after week for our bookmobile to visit us!" was another remark that many made as they made their way into Sacramento Public Library's one of three bookmobiles that regularly make visits to some of Sacramento County's more remote areas and assisted -care facilities.

One of bookmobiles is called the "Wonderwagon" many of you who regularly visit the blog have seen it spotlighted before making cameo appearances at many of SPL's outreach events. This time it made its presence known at the "Sacramento World Music & Dance Festival" held at the historic Old Sacramento riverfront adjacent to the old train depot. The event brought musicians and dancers from some of Sacramento's rich cultural communities stretching as far away as Viet Nam, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Spain, Poland, the Ukraine and Ghana to name a few.

A hearty thanks goes out to those volunteers who dedicate themselves to enriching Sacramento's local cultures and for showing what Sacramento Public Library is doing to promote cultural awareness, education and peaceful cooperation.