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G2S Project Code:
2015-NV-76225
State:
Nevada
Fiscal Year:
2015
Grantee
Henderson District Public Libraries
Project Director
Director Name:
Gayle Hornaday
Director Phone:
702-492-6582
Director Email:
gmhornaday@hdpl.org
General Information
Title:
Around the World in 30 Days International Festival
State Project Code:
15-12
Start Date:
03/01/2015
End Date:
06/30/2016
Abstract:
The Around the World in 30 Days International Festival kicked off on Mar. 23, 2016, with performances at two Henderson libraries by the Crystal Trio, a group from Siberia that performs music on harmonic glass instruments. Then for the primary part of the Festival, Henderson Libraries worked with sixteen local cultural organizations to present performances and information at all Henderson Library locations during the month of April 2016. On each Saturday of the month, the International Festival took place at a different library in Henderson, with six festival events scheduled throughout the day.
Visitors were very excited to see the libraries come alive with music, dancing, colorful costumes, and ethnic food tasting. Along with these activities, displays of related library materials connected visitors with the many resources the library offers on multi-cultural subjects. $20,000 in grant funds were used to purchase a variety of new materials on world cultures that were available for check-out at the festival events and during the project year. In addition to these resources, the library developed a list of high-quality free online language learning tools that can be accessed from the library's web site. Three classes were taught to familiarize public users with these resources. The cultural areas that were featured at the library for this series included Norway, Japan, Mexico, India, Hawaii, Native Americans, Malaysia, China, Thailand, Russia, South America, and Argentina. The vibrant experience that these groups brought to our audience illustrated the presence and impact of the numerous ethnicities and heritages that combine to make up our local community.
State Goal:
Goal III: Nevada libraries will provide responsive learning environments for Nevada residents.
Budget Information
LSTA
MATCH-State
MATCH-Other
Total
$
34,400.00
$
0.00
$
17,143.27
$
51,543.27
Intent(s)
Improve users’ ability to participate in their community.
Arts, Culture & Humanities
Activities
Activity Details
Title:
Cultural Programs
Narrative:
Library staff made contact with over 120 cultural and ethnic organizations to learn about what they have to offer and identify those who could participate in the April International Festival. They met with various organization officials, attended meetings and performances, and negotiated contracts with sixteen groups who performed in our project. Each of our four libraries hosted a festival day on one Saturday in April and these groups gave performances throughout the day. Some performed at all libraries, others at only one or two. Visitors to the libraries on those days enjoyed a unique learning experience watching and taking part in these demonstrations of cultural practices from around the world.
Chef Pon Jumat provided a Malaysian food demo at each library in one of the most popular and highly praised programs of the International Festival. There were many requests for recipes and additional food tasting programs. We had originally planned to have food trucks at each library, offering ethnic food related to the various performances. Unfortunately, one of our libraries has a
privately run coffee shop on the premises, and the owner took offense at having this competition on site; therefore this element was abandoned.
As an added fun activity, especially for chi;dren, we offered Passports that could be stamped for each event attended. A number of people seemed to enjoy these, but we did not keep records about their use. They featured our new library logo, which had just been introduced in March, and were a great way to highlight it.
In addition to our in house marketing, we purchased paid advertising through KNPR. "Around the World in 30 Days" was advertised with 50 broadcast announcements, 6 articles in KNPR's weekly ENews blasts, and one print ad in KNPR's magazine "Desert Companion." The International Festival at Heritage Park Senior Center Library was included in the spring edition of "Henderson Happenings," a publication of city events delivered to every household in the city.
Thirty performances were presented at four library locations. A total of 1610 people attended festival events, greatly exceeding our original estimate of 600 attendees.
Intent:
Improve users’ ability to participate in their community.
Activity:
Instruction
Mode:
Presentation/performance
Format:
In-person
Quantity
Presentation/performance length (minutes):
30
Number of presentations/performances administered:
30
Average number in attendance per session:
54
Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries:
No
Historical Societies or Organizations:
No
Museums:
No
Archives:
No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type:
No
Preschools:
No
Schools:
No
Adult Education:
No
Human Service Organizations:
No
Other:
No
Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government:
No
State Government:
No
Local Government (excluding school districts):
No
School District:
No
Non-Profit:
No
Private Sector:
No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization:
No
Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce:
No
For a targeted group or for the general population:
General
Locale
Is the activity state-wide:
No
Specific Locations:
Yes
Name: City of Henderson, Heritage Park Senior Center
Address: 300 S Racetrack Rd
City: Henderson
State: NV
Zip: 89015
Name: HENDERSON DISTRICT PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Address: 280 S. GREEN VALLEY PKWY.
City: HENDERSON
State: NV
Zip: 89012
Activity Details
Title:
Cultural Collection Materials
Narrative:
The Project Manager selected 698 books and DVDs, both fiction and nonfiction for all ages, about various aspects of world cultures using Baker & Taylor's TS360 database. Subjects included history, religion, travel, clothing, cooking, art, manners and customes, folklore and more. These were ordered, processed, and made available for display at each of the libraries on its festival day. In addition fifty-eight ebook titles on similar cultural subjects were purchased to become part of the library's ebook collection.
Intent:
Improve users’ ability to participate in their community.
Activity:
Content
Mode:
Acquisition
Format:
Combined physical & digital
Quantity
Number of hardware acquired:
0
Number of software acquired:
0
Number of licensed databases acquired:
0
Number of print materials (books & government documents) acquired:
518
Number of electronic materials acquired:
58
Number of audio/visual units (audio discs, talking books, other recordings) acquired:
180
Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries:
No
Historical Societies or Organizations:
No
Museums:
No
Archives:
No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type:
No
Preschools:
No
Schools:
No
Adult Education:
No
Human Service Organizations:
No
Other:
No
Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government:
No
State Government:
No
Local Government (excluding school districts):
No
School District:
No
Non-Profit:
No
Private Sector:
No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization:
No
Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce:
No
For a targeted group or for the general population:
General
Locale
Is the activity state-wide:
No
Specific Locations:
Yes
Name: HENDERSON DISTRICT PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Address: 280 S. GREEN VALLEY PKWY.
City: HENDERSON
State: NV
Zip: 89012
Activity Details
Title:
Language Database Classes
Narrative:
Three classes (one at each of three libraries) were offered to introduce patrons to free language learning resources available on the Internet and linked through our website. Attendance was very low, so it was decided not to offer additional classes. We continue to provide linkssto these language learning resources on our web site, including Duolingo, Lang-8, Memrise, Foriegn Services Institute, Annenberg Learner, WordReference.com, Google Translate, and Verbix.
Intent:
Improve users’ ability to participate in their community.
Activity:
Instruction
Mode:
Program
Format:
In-person
Quantity
Session length (minutes):
60
Number of sessions in program:
1
Average number in attendance per session:
5
Number of times program administered:
3
Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries:
No
Historical Societies or Organizations:
No
Museums:
No
Archives:
No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type:
No
Preschools:
No
Schools:
No
Adult Education:
No
Human Service Organizations:
No
Other:
No
Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government:
No
State Government:
No
Local Government (excluding school districts):
No
School District:
No
Non-Profit:
No
Private Sector:
No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization:
No
Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce:
No
For a targeted group or for the general population:
General
Locale
Is the activity state-wide:
No
Specific Locations:
Yes
Name: HENDERSON DISTRICT PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Address: 280 S. GREEN VALLEY PKWY.
City: HENDERSON
State: NV
Zip: 89012
Project Outcomes
Project Outcomes
List any important findings or outcomes from your project:
In our serach for partners and performers for our International Festival, we learned that there are numerous cultural groups throughout the Las Vegas and Henderson area keeping their particular ethnic identities alive and well. We identified 128 groups as potential partners for our project, and we are currently discovering even more. There is certainly no lack of resources for bringing this type of event to the public. Our new branding campaign had just launched on Mar. 1, so the month of performances in April at each library location was an ideal opportunity to display our new branding. "Passports" bearing the new logo and listing the various events were distributed, and attendees could have them stamped, also with our new logo, to make a souvenir record of their experience at the various events. Though we didn't keep statistics on this aspect of participation, many people seemed to have fun with it.
Please briefly describe importance of findings:
The International Festival events did not seem to affect circulation or library card registration, but it did draw many people into the library, and provide an enjoyable experience for all who attended. There was little interest in learning about foreign language resources, some interest in checking out multicultural materials, but a great deal of interest in learning through participation and experience. Since some performances were placed in open areas of the libraries, rather than in enclosed program rooms, they attracted a lot of attention from visitors. This high level of activity created a different impression of the library than visitors would normally see. On festival days visitors saw a bustling, colorful scene accompanied by the sounds of music, conversation and applause from the audience, as well as the aroma of exotic spices from the cooking demonstrations. We hope that this experience conveyed the message that the library can be a different world at different times, and may be much more than you expect!
What methods did you use to determine your findings? Check all that apply:
Survey
Participant Observation
Based on outputs, outcomes and/or other results, explain any significant lessons learned from these findings for either the SLAA or others in the LIS field:
Do you anticipate continuing this project after the current reporting period ends:
Yes
Do you anticipate any change in level of effort:
No
Do you anticipate any change in the project's scope:
Yes: Library staff are contacting multicultural groups for participation in a 2017 International Festival. Some groups who performed in the 2016 festival have already volunteered to be part of future events, such as Sons of Norway, Chef Pon Jumat, and Tendo Baikoki Japanese Dance. Our committee is making new contacts to draw in an even wider variety of cultures. Commitments for participation have already been made by the German American Social Club, Las Vegas Hula, Lohan School of Shaolin, and the Polish American Social Club. Also, Henderson's Heritage Days (an annual historical celebration) planning committee is interested in supporting the next International Festival.
Do you anticipate any other changes in the project:
Yes: Some respondents to the surveys given after each event suggested that there be future events of this type, adding other elements to the performances, such as booths, crafts, more food, and more information to take away after the events. We are planning to have another multicultural series in 2017 incorporating more types of activities with performances. Several groups have committed to participating. We are especially looking forward to seeing what Clark County's Genealogical Society and the City of Henderson's Heritage Days planning committee will be able to contribute.We are in the process of applying for a Nevada Arts Council grant to support the new and expanded 2017 International Festival.
Exemplary:
Yes
Exemplary Narrative
The Henderson libraries, through this project, invested in fostering human connection on common ground. As such, they invested in the good health of Henderson's civic future. Through the specific goals of the project, connections were improved in a true and honest way. A hallmark of great programs is sustainability and the seeds planted here suggest this is certain. First year partners and new partners are enthusiastic about the coming year.
Project Tags:
connections, community, engagement
