Pokémon Go turns branches into virtual worlds

A newsletter for friends and employees of Georgia’s public libraries volume 14, issue 1 � August 2016

Pokémon Go turns branches into virtual worlds

See Pokémon, page 4

In the parking lot of Marietta’s EastCobb Library, a fierce battle ragedone recent July day. It was an all-or-nothing melee, with Teams Red,Yellow and Blue in an epicthrowdown. Team Yellow prevailed,but the dust never truly settled, andthe team’s hold on its vital parcel ofterritory remained tenuous at best.

This battle — and many morelike it — are being waged regularlyat libraries around Georgia, as well asan exhaustive list of locationsnationwide, as Pokémon Go sweepsthe country.

“We’ve been having a lot of funwith Pokémon Go here in Cobb,”said Shannon Tyner, virtual librarianfor the Cobb County Public LibrarySystem.

Pokémon Go is a free, location-based game that is downloadable to

mobile devices through digitaldistribution platforms such asGoogle Play and the App Store. It isan augmented-realitygame in which one’s viewof the real world isaltered through theaddition of sounds,graphics and other forms ofdata. Pokémon Go uses amobile device’s camera and GPSto achieve this virtual world.

Like many Pokémon gamesbefore it, such as those forNintendo’s line of Game Boys, Gocreates a world where players, calledTrainers, explore their surroundingsto catch wild Pokémon (short forpocket monsters) using Pokéballs —red-and-white balls that also housecreatures with names such as Pidgey,Slowpoke, Bulbasaur and Pikachu,the ever-popular mascot of thePokémon franchise.

Once caught, Trainers tendto their Pokémon using in-game items hoping they willrise in power and evolveinto strongerversions of theoriginal

creature. They are then used inbattle against other players, mostoften to take control of a gym fortheir team, as with the skirmish atEast Cobb Library. A gym is a placewhere teams can train, battle eachother, and use as a sort of base.

A ‘wild library’ appears

ASCLA honors innovative programat Marshes of Glynn Libraries

See ASCLA, page 3

From left: Brunswick-Glynn County Library Manager Lori Hull, Marshesof Glynn Programming Coordinator Karen Larrick and Mullis accept theaward from ASCLA President Rhonda Gould.

Courtesy of A

SCLA The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library

Agencies (ASCLA) has named the Brunswick-basedMarshes of Glynn Libraries (MOGL) as the winner of its2016 ASCLA Exceptional Service Award. The awardrecognizes outstanding achievement in the libraryprofession by librarians and libraries for significantachievements, program development and leadership inthe profession.

MOGL earned the award through its implementationof the American Library Association’s (ALA) Every ChildReady to Read (ECRR) program at the local jail. This

Georgia Public Library Service News August 20162

Georgia Center for the Book announces annual listsThe Georgia Center for the Book (GCB) has selected theworks of 24 prize-winning authors and illustrators withGeorgia connections for the 2016 lists of the “Books AllGeorgians Should Read” and “Books All YoungGeorgians Should Read.” The authors and illustrators willbe honored Aug. 18 at a free, public event at7:30 p.m. in the Decatur Library Auditorium.

The lists are compiled annually fromnominations received throughout the year bythe writers, educators,librarians, mediarepresentatives and otherindividuals who comprise theGeorgia Center for the BookAdvisory Council. This year’sceremony will mark theseventh edition of “Books AllGeorgians Should Read” andthe fourth “Books All YoungGeorgians Should Read.”

“For the Georgia Centerfor the Book, the ‘Books AllGeorgians Should Read’ andthe ‘Books All YoungGeorgians Should Read’ listsare a wonderful way to honorthe extraordinary talent wehave right here in Georgia,”said Joe Davich, executivedirector of the GCB. “We areextremely proud of the 2016lists. They are valuable assetsfor parents, teachers, librariansand readers of all ages acrossthe state. We believe theselists can help guide readers tosome of the finest writingavailable.”

The new list of “Books All Georgians ShouldRead” includes three works of fiction, six of non-fiction, and a collection of poetry. The list of“Books All Young Georgians Should Read” includes threepicture books, three books for middle school readers,three books for young adults and one graphic novel.

The 2016 lists are the result of months of discussionsby the Advisory Council, which considered more than125 books by Georgians or about Georgia, Davich said.

2016 Books All Georgians Should Read� The Class Of ’65: A Student, a Divided Town and the

Long Road to Forgiveness by Jim Auchmutey� Fallen Land by Taylor Brown

� Southern Tufts: The Regional Origins andNational Craze for Chenille Fashion by AshleyCallahan� Twain’s End by Lynn Cullen

� Memories of the Mansion:The Story of Georgia’sGovernor’s Mansion bySandra D. Deal, Jennifer W.Dickey and Catherine M.Lewis� Where We Want to Live:Reclaiming Infrastructure for aNew Generation of Cities byRyan Gravel� How I Shed My Skin:Unlearning the Racist Lessonsof a Southern Childhood byJim Grimsley� Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beautyby Charles Leerhsen� Bull Mountain by BrianPanowich� Blue Laws: Selected andUncollected Poems, 1995-2015 by Kevin Young

2016 Books AllYoung GeorgiansShould Read� Simon vs. the HomoSapiens Agenda by BeckyAlbertalli� The Star-Touched Queen by

Roshani Chokshi� More-igami by Dori Kleber� Written In the Stars by Aisha Saeed� The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk by Kabir Sehgal

and Surishtha Sehgal� Thor Speaks! by Vicky Alvear Shecter� Swan: The Life and Death of Anna Pavlova by Laurel

Snyder� The Meaning Of Maggie by Megan Jean Sovern� Last In A Long Line Of Rebels by Lisa Lewis Tyre �

August 2016 Georgia Public Library Service News3

Niche Academy, an Orem, Utah-based company that provides patrontraining for the many electronicresources provided by publiclibraries, began providing its onlineinstructional tools for use in all ofGeorgia’s public libraries on Aug. 1.

GPLS, through funding providedby the Institute of Museum andLibrary Services under the LibraryServices and Technology Act, isworking with each public librarysystem in Georgia to launch NicheAcademy’s suite of services, whichincludes online courses for patrons,video introductions, staff trainingresources and social media tools.

“Niche Academy’s mission ofproviding tutorials for our valuableelectronic resources is just onereason that we’re looking forward toworking with them,” said JuliaHuprich, director of training and

continuingeducation forGPLS. “We knowthat their serviceswill highlight andpositively impactthe great workthat’s being donein Georgia’slibraries. Weanticipate that

our public libraries will see anincreased growth in the usage oftheir resources as a result of patronsand employees having access tothese professional, in-depth trainingmodules.”

For more information on the fullsuite of tools and services beingprovided by Niche Academy, visitwww.nicheacademy.com. �

Niche Academyto enhance patrontraining, access toelectronic resources

ASCLAContinued from page 1

Park avenuesJust in time to help you celebrate the National Park Service (NPS) Centennial on Aug. 25, each ofGeorgia’s 63 public library systems will soon be receiving a reference shelf of books about ourstate’s NPS units. In addition, all 400+ branches in the state will receive copies of “America’sNational Parks: A Photographic Journey Through Nearly 400 National Treasures” and “HappyBirthday to America’s National Parks.” Many libraries will also be offering children’s craft sessionsthis month to make birthday cards for the NPS, which GPLS will send to the local parks fordisplay. In September, seven Georgia NPS units are set to participate in National Library CardSign-Up Month.

Huprich

innovative project teaches incarcer-ated parents and other caregivershow to support the early literacydevelopment of their children. Theselection committee cited the projectas an exceptional example of howlibraries can transform lives and asan excellent example of a programthat can be replicated in otherlibraries around the country.

“We are grateful for theopportunities afforded the inmatesin our facility through the ECRRprogram,” said Ronald Corbett,undersheriff for Glynn County. “Ibelieve it has helped the incarceratedparents think more seriously abouttheir children and to see a positiveway they could influence andcontribute to their child’s future.

“When the parents get out of

jail, they will have opportunities tobuild stronger family bonds throughECRR. There are so many benefits tobe gained from this program, butnone seem more powerful thanbuilding strong family bonds.”

Geri Mullis, MOGL director;Lori Hull, Brunswick-Glynn CountyLibrary manager; and Karen Larrick,MOGL programming coordinatoraccepted the award at a ceremonyheld June 25 at the ALA AnnualConference in Orlando.

“We took ECRR to the GlynnCounty Detention Center in supportof Georgia’s B4 initiative,” explainedMullis. ”This is a short-term facility,where inmates are most often therewaiting for trial or are doing shortstints in detention. Karen and Loripresented ECRR to multiple men and

See ASCLA, page 6


Notably, gyms are actual publicplaces chosen by game developersdue to being socially popular oractive, such as public libraries.

All 16 branches in the Cobbsystem are gyms, as are thebranches in ChattahoocheeValley Libraries, MiddleGeorgia Regional Library(MGRL), OkefenokeeRegional Library and SequoyahRegional Library (whereaccording to staff members, thebranches are bursting withPokémon). All of these systemshost activities and eagerlywelcome players to duke it out orgo on the hunt. To keep the moodlively, MGRL’s WashingtonMemorial Library in Macon postsregular updates of what team isin control of its gym.

Nola Brantley MemorialLibrary, the central branch ofHouston County Public Libraries,is another gym that is open andfriendly to local players, evengoing so far as to draw chalkPokéballs in the parking lot,reserving a space for players whocan only pop in for a short time.

If a Georgia public library isnot a gym, there is a good chanceit is a PokéStop. A Stop is a real-world location where Trainers canresupply themselves with extraPokéballs and possibly find rare orspecial items, such as LureModules and Razz Berries, torespectively attract and feed wildPokémon. PokéStops include centersfor art, monuments and historicalmarkers like the Site of Sam Jones’Tabernacle marker outside theBartow County Library System’sCartersville Main Street Library.

Pokémon Go is not just popular

with patrons, but also with libraryemployees — when they aren’t onthe job, of course.

This has opened up a freshdynamic in the customer serviceexperience at many branches,including the Statesboro-BullochCounty Library. “A patron who had

a fine to pay joked with me abouthow it was too bad she couldn’ttrade me one of her extraCharmanders to pay it off,” laughedMarion Kuehne, circulationassistant with the system.

Nancy Guinn Memorial Library inthe Conyers-Rockdale Library Systemhas two PokéStops directly in front

PokémonContinued from page 1

of the library, and employees partakein gameplay during their breaks — adynamic that cascades to all ageranges. “The kids we’ve encoun-tered are really cool and happy andamazed we have the app down-loaded and are playing ourselves,”said Director Stacy Brown.

Kuehne noticed the same thing:“The younger players really get

a kick out of the factsome of the staff plays,”

she said.

One overlooked aspectto Go is that, unlike with

most video games, players often getphysical exercise as they play. AtPokéStops, it is possible for a playerto stumble upon a Pokémon still inits egg, and the only way to hatch

the pocket monster is to log thespecific number of stepsdisplayed under the egg.

This game feature opens evenmore possibilities for libraries towork with some of GPLS’s partnerorganizations, such as GeorgiaState Parks and Historic Sites,which encourage Georgia Trainersto use the nature trails spreadacross 44 parks to hatch rarespecimens. Fort Yargo State Park,General Coffee State Park, HighFalls State Park, Lake BlackshearResort and Golf Club and othershave events scheduled forbudding hikers, naturalists andxenobiologists.

Pokémon Go provideslibraries yet another opportunity

where they can reach out andconnect with patrons in a positiveand inventive way, said WendyCornelisen, assistant state librarianfor library innovation andcollaboration.

Branches, such as the PowderSprings Library in Cobb County and

See Pokémon, page 5

Ashley Pearson, youth services assistant at Nancy GuinnMemorial Library, takes a break to battle patron C.J. Hunt.

Staff


On July 1, the Georgia Libraries forAccessible Statewide Services(GLASS) network made more than425,000 accessible e-books availablefor free to patrons who cannot readtraditional print books due toblindness, low vision, dyslexia andother print disabilities. The onlinelibrary is made possible byBookshare, a Benetech globalliteracy initiative. Bookshare is theworld’s largest online library ofaccessible e-books for people withprint disabilities.

Every Georgian with an eligibleprint disability now has free accessto Bookshare’s vast online libraryincluding best-sellers, literature,nonfiction, picture books,educational texts, career guides andmuch more as GLASS patrons.

Currently, all U.S. students withqualifying disabilities can accessBookshare’s library for free under anaward from the Department ofEducation, Office of SpecialEducation Programs. This newpartnership serves eligible Georgiapatrons of all ages, whether they arestudents or not.

GLASS to offer library of 425,000 accessible e-books

the Washington Memorial Library,have people who may never havevisited before coming through theirdoors asking about Go or lookingfor other Pokémon materials.

Acting in true library fashion,Angelica Torres, young adultspecialist at Washington Memorial,uses this opportunity to engage newpatrons by inviting them to libraryevents and programming with thegoal of fostering lifelong learnerswho will find more reasons than theability to capture a sleeping Snorlaxto visit their local public library. �

PokémonContinued from page 4

“Georgia is only the secondstate to offer this program to itseligible readers,” explained GLASSDirector Pat Herndon, noting thatthe first such program was begun bythe New York Public Library inNovember 2015.

“Bookshare will be a wonderfulcomplement to our materials fromthe free national library programadministered by the Library ofCongress and the National LibraryService for the Blind & PhysicallyHandicapped,” she said. “We arethrilled to make this valuable newresource available to Georgians withcertified print impairments.”

With Bookshare e-books, GLASSpatrons can customize their reading

Fair territoryJonathan McKeown (second from left), associate director of branch services for the Cobb CountyPublic Library System, welcomed Katie Gazda, executive director of the GFB Foundation forAgriculture; Debbie Payne, office manager of the Cobb County Farm Bureau (CCFB); and CCFBPresident Stan Kirk to Marietta’s Switzer Public Library on July 27. In support of GPLS’spartnership with the Georgia National Fair this summer, Georgia Farm Bureau employees aroundthe state are working with local libraries to offer agricultural-related programming for youth.They’re also donating copies of Brandon Wade’s children’s book Hi, I’m Billy Blueberry: This Is MyStory to every public library in the state.

experience in ways that work bestfor their individual needs.

They can choose to listen towords read aloud with high-qualitytext-to-speech voices; read withenlarged fonts; see and hear aswords are highlighted; read inbraille; and more. They can also readBookshare e-books on a wide varietyof devices, including tablets, smartphones, computers, assistivetechnology devices and on MP3players using a variety of free andpurchased apps.

Bookshare offers free apps,including Bookshare Web Reader —which can be used on any computerand laptop — and Go Read forAndroid. �

Staff


N E W S I N B R I E F ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

The Library of Congresscontinues its annual celebration ofauthors and readers, the NationalBook Festival, for its 16th year onSaturday, Sept. 24, at the Walter E.Washington Convention Center inWashington, D.C., from 10 a.m. to10 p.m. The festival will featuremore than 100 distinguished authors— led by Stephen King, JoyceCarol Oates and Bob Woodward— across many fields and in allgenres of writing, with audiencesranging from young readers toadults. GPLS will once againrepresent Georgia in the Pavilion ofStates. All programs are free.

Sue Plaksinhas joined theGPLS InformationTechnology teamas networkprogram manager.She will managethe broadbandnetwork projectfor librariesacross the state,including E-rate, vendor andcontract support and reimburse-ments. Plaksin previously served as ITservices manager/reference librarianfor the Athens Regional Library

Cutting crewOn June 30, staff members of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System, the library board oftrustees and the Fulton County Board of Commissioners welcomed hundreds of residents to thenew 15,000-square-foot Southeast Atlanta Library.

Puppet manLee “That Puppet Guy” Bryan poses with theBoardman family — 4-year-old Lukas, 6-year-old Liam and 8-year-old Logan — ofCovington at one of the many SummerReading Program events held this summer atthe Conyers-Rockdale Library System’s NancyGuinn Memorial Library.

Staff

women over the course of severaldays.

“One thing we loved about itwas that, after every program, allthe participants got to pick out abook for their child. After makingtheir selection, the book went homewith them, giving them a reminderof what they learned — and apresent to give to their child whenthey arrived.” �

ASCLAContinued from page 3

Plaksin

Teston

System and as project directorfor the Social Sciences ResearchInstitute at the University ofTennessee (UT) in Knoxville. Sheholds master’s degrees in library andinformation science and in sociologyfrom UT.

David Testonis the new PINESsystemadministrator forGPLS. Testonearned aBachelor ofScience degree incomputer sciencefrom GeorgiaCollege and aleadership certificate from theImpact 360 Institute in PineMountain.

State Librarian Julie Walker hasbeen re-elected to serve a secondthree-year term on the LYRASISboard of directors. The Atlanta-based nonprofit organizationpartners with member libraries,archives and museums to create,access and manage information withan emphasis on digital content,while enhancing library collaboration,operations and technology. �

Staff


Signing off with a smileOn June 14, a crowd of about 60 people attended the retirement partyfor GPLS’s Stella Cone (center) at the Georgia Library for AccessibleStatewide Services (GLASS) in downtown Atlanta. Stephen Prine (left),assistant chief of the NLS Network Division, flew in from Washington,D.C., for the day to award Cone with a plaque of appreciation fromthe National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicappedfor her 25-plus years of work on behalf of those with visualimpairments. Cone served Georgia for more than a decade, most ofthat as GLASS director. State Librarian Julie Walker (right) was amongseveral representatives of Georgia organizations who spoke at theevent and thanked Cone for her tireless efforts and presented her withgifts of appreciation.

In the wake of the Sports Authority closing all its storesand distribution centers, including one in McDonough,Henry County Library Director Carolyn Fuller andAssistant Director Kathy Pillatzki spent a day in Juneteaching former Sports Authority employees how to useLearning Express Library, a free online service offeredthrough GALILEO, to write resumes and cover letters,search for jobs and submit online applications.

“When we heard all those employees would be losingtheir jobs, we called the company and offered to workwith those who needed help applying for work in theelectronic age,” Fuller explained. “Many of the employeeshad worked at Sports Authority for more than 20 yearsand had no experience in applying for jobs online.”

The library system also allowed them to come in toany of the branches and, if they presented their SportsAuthority identification cards, print as many copies ofresumes, letters and other job-search-related pages asthey needed. When Natalie Marshall, executive directorof the nearby Flint River Regional Library System (FRRLS),based in Griffin, learned of the project and the plight ofthose who lost their jobs, FRRLS extended the same offerof help and printing for former Sports Authorityemployees. �

StaffLibrary systems offer online job helpto displaced Sports Authority workers

Aim

ee Copeland

Homer’s a hitMuch fun was had at the Vinings branch library on June 30, as Homerthe mascot and other guests joined dozens of Cobb County children tocelebrate this year’s Home Run Readers program and play “H-O-M-E-R”bingo games.Home Run Readers runs through the end of August.

In celebration of this year’s National Library Week thisspring, GPLS and the Georgia Library Association’sProfessional and Continuing Education Interest Groupco-sponsored the state’s first Virtual Staff DevelopmentDay for library professionals.

Nearly 1,400 people attended at least one of the fivewebinars that formed the heart of the event, accordingto Julia Huprich, director of continuing education forGPLS. “I counted attendees from 40 different librarysystems, nine academic libraries, and one municipallibrary,” she said with a smile, “but I might have missedone or two.”

Attendees earned continuing education credits foreach session, all of which have also been archived forfuture viewing. “I really got a lot out of every session,”said Stephen Kight, assistant director for public serviceswith the Forsyth County Public Library. “It was a fantasticday.” Huprich said that plans already are in the works fora 2017 edition of the event. �

Virtual event draws big audience

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1800 Century Place, Suite 150Atlanta, GA 30345-4304

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C O N T A C T U S

Georgia Public Library Service1800 Century Place, Suite 150Atlanta, GA 30345-4304404.235.7200404.235.7201 faxwww.georgialibraries.org

Julie Walker, state librarianDavid Baker, editorDustin Landrum, assistant

Georgia Public Library Service News (ISSN 1546-511X) ispublished bimonthly by the Georgia Public Library Service,the state agency that supports public libraries and workswith them to improve the quality and variety of libraryservices available to Georgia citizens of all ages.

This publication is made possible by a grant from the U.S.Institute of Museum and Library Services to the GeorgiaPublic Library Service under the provisions of the LibraryServices and Technology Act.

Information presented in this newsletter will be provided inalternative formats on request. For more information aboutGeorgia’s libraries and literary events, or to post an event,visit our online calendar at www.georgialibraries.org

Staff

Words of encouragementState School Superintendent Richard Woods reads to children and their caregivers at theDalton-Whitfield County Library’s Summer Reading Program kickoff event on June 15.He later joined State Librarian Julie Walker and volunteers from the Superintendent’sStudent Advisory Council, a group of 120 middle and high school students from acrossthe state, to hand out free books to the dozens of families who attended. “Literacy is atop priority for my administration and a core focus in our agency’s strategic plan,”Woods said. “Summer reading is critically important for maintaining and growingreading abilities, so we strongly urge every Georgia student to read this summer.”

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Pokémon Go turns branches into virtual worlds