Creatively connected at Braden River Library

Christine Culp, the youth services librarian at the Braden River Library, took families on a virtual field trip to the butterfly garden in Summerfield Park in November.

In a recorded video published on the Braden River Library website, Culp, along with Lois Panner, taught families about butterflies at the garden before Culp read “Waiting for Wings” by Lois Ehlert. 

The trip to the butterfly garden and reading a book related to butterflies were part of a new virtual segment at the library called Reading in Our Town.

“I always loved ‘Reading Rainbow’ when my kids were growing up, so that’s what I wanted to do with the Reading in Our Town story times,” Culp said.

Before the pandemic, Culp was doing story times twice per week in person, but to still connect with families and provide educational entertainment for children, she started recording story times for families to view from home.

The pandemic gave the library system an opportunity to focus on developing virtual programming, and as a result, staff moved some in-person programs to virtual and created others.

Whether it’s book discussions, craft demonstrations, training programs, or coding or writing workshops, the libraries’ staff members are thinking of new ways they can fill a need in a community while providing services, said Elizabeth Partridge, the library services manager for Manatee County Libraries.

“We have been able to reimagine our programs, so they work in the virtual environment and still provide a great opportunity to learn or explore for the community,” Partridge said. “We have been able to experiment and try new things, many of which are great additions we hope to keep after we are able to begin in-person programming.”

For example, the libraries conducted craft demonstrations in person before the pandemic but easily moved those to virtual. The libraries are able to provide the materials for the demonstrations to participants.

The library system received a $30,400 grant from the Bradenton COVID-19 Response Fund and has decided to use the funds to purchase 30 hot spots for checkout as well as create a space at the downtown Bradenton library to record audio and video content and the technology needed to create the content.

Partridge said the public will be able to use the space and equipment to develop programs, tools and marketing for their local businesses.

Partridge said she’s giddy over the opportunities the library system could have in the future with developing more virtual programming.

Cooking videos, in which chefs around Manatee County provide demonstrations on how to prepare a meal, are in the works.

Once the libraries are able to return to in-person programming, Partridge said that some of the virtual programs, such as the craft demonstrations, will be transitioned back to in-person because it’s easier to do, but staff can still record the sessions for online viewers.

“The potential to be able to incorporate both virtual and in-person programming is amazing,” Partridge said. “I don’t want to say the sky’s the limit, but that’s how it feels. We’ll be able to reach the community in the way they need to be reached.”

Library databases, catalogs and tutoring websites were always available online, but the libraries didn’t offer virtual programming. When the pandemic hit, Partridge said the transition to virtual was instant.

“You don’t have a choice,” Partridge said. “You want the community to be connected, and the only way we had to get them connected was virtually. We didn’t even hesitate.”

Culp said the transition to virtual was difficult. She didn’t have the kids’ energy to feed off while reading, but being able to connect with families in a time when everyone is separated was worth it.

She would give her viewers an imagination challenge, such as making a collage, and the families would take photos of the artwork and send them to Culp via email. Culp would then hang the artwork in the Braden River Library.