Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Hello, I'm Callie.
And I'm Sara.
And this is Community Spotlight.
We are students in the College and Career
Studies program at UK.
This radio segment
will spotlight
different things in the local community
each week.
Thanks for listening.
(00:30):
My name's Will Lyon.
I've been volunteering at the library
this semester.
Today I'm interviewing Eden Wilder,
the volunteer coordinator
at Lexington Public Library,
we will be talking about the importance
of public libraries
and how people can get involved
in supporting their libraries.
Hello Eden, how are you doing?
I am doing great.
(00:50):
And I'm really looking forward
to talking with you today.
How long [have you been]
the volunteer coordinator of Lexington
Public Library?
So, I started in January of 2020,
as the volunteer coordinator,
so just a couple of months
before the pandemic onset.
(01:10):
So, it was a brand new position
at that time as well.
So, there was a learning curve already
plus an added challenge
with the kind of changing times.
And I have been doing that role,
since then, and have grown
our volunteer presence in the library.
(01:34):
Really, since the fall of 2021.
What are
some of the most
enjoyable parts
of recruiting volunteers at the library?
So, I love supporting the work
we do at the library.
And supporting our staff especially.
So, part of what is really rewarding
for me
(01:54):
is matching up
community members volunteers, with their
either requirements
for school or their desire
to get involved, and matching that with
the current needs
that we have going on in the library.
That's a really great feeling
to make that connection
and connect members of our community
(02:17):
with our staff to fulfill
the library's mission.
Why did you decide to be librarian?
And what other jobs
have you taken in the library?
So, what's great about the library
and library systems
is not everyone who works at the library
and other systems are librarians
technically.
(02:37):
But it's kind of funny.
My husband is actually a librarian
at another library at UK.
So, libraries are all around me.
But yeah, so I first started at LPL
in July of 2018,
as an outreach library associate,
(02:59):
so I did story times and
programs for preschools
and daycares out in the community.
So that was my first role there.
And what kind of
helped me decide that as I was getting my
master's degree in
(03:20):
education, policy
and evaluation, and I had a real passion
for literacy and nonprofits specifically.
So, while I was studying,
I found a part time job here
that kind of aligned
with what I was looking for
not knowing
if it would turn into a career or not.
(03:40):
And very fortunately,
it has have been able
to have an opportunity
to continue my passion for literacy
and supporting a nonprofit mission
in this role
when it was
created in at the end of 2019.
What is the easiest job as a volunteer?
And what's the most difficult
(04:00):
job volunteer job?
Very good.
So, our roles have a variety
of easy tasks and difficult tasks.
So that was a good question.
Because that's not something
I had considered before.
There's,
you know,
a lot of elements to different roles,
(04:23):
but I think that our
transcription project,
which is available to do online,
so there's an ease of access
to where you don't have
to physically come into a library
to do that.
It's there's not like a time
constraint either.
So, you can work on it as little
or as much as you'd like.
And I think the hardest part of that was
(04:45):
of course,
you have to be able to read cursive.
It's older text.
So, there is a challenge there.
But I'd say in terms of ease
of accessing getting started.
That's probably the easiest one
but as are the most difficult I would
They probably the volunteer role
in our Makerspace at Eastside.
So, there we have staff and volunteers
(05:08):
help patrons with 3d printing,
large printing, like on vinyl.
They have heat.
Like for jewelry,
I can't think of the name of it now.
But they will fire like a mini firing
kiln.
I think for small things not like a pod,
but you know, jewelry
and things like that.
(05:29):
And there's
a lot of technology involved in
that as well
helping people on their computers
to get their design formatted correctly,
and then put into practice.
So, I think that takes
a little bit of technical skill
and a lot of patience.
So, I think that would
probably be the most difficult one.
(05:51):
What are the different types of things
that a volunteer might do at the library?
So, we have quite a few roles
that we have going on right now.
We have more that get added throughout
the year.
But some of the regular ones
that we have is shelving library helper,
which is you know, helping with
(06:12):
tasks around the library
helping with our day to day activities.
We have English as a Second Language
classes and conversation groups.
So, volunteers
helping with facilitating those classes
and assisting
participants in the conversation group.
We have a program
(06:32):
called LPL after school.
So, the two locations where volunteers
come and help kids with homework
or frequently
just hang out with them
and do activities with them.
There, they rush to get their homework
done.
So, they can do some fun things
at the library.
So, we have a lot of volunteers
help with that as well.
(06:53):
And like the makerspace,
like I mentioned, as well,
as well as a pop up programs
throughout the year.
So especially over summer,
some major programs
where we know
we're going to have a lot of people come
we might put out a call for
extra volunteers as well.
What are some of the most important
missions of the public library?
So, our mission is to connect
(07:16):
people inspire ideas and transform lives,
we do our best to make that apparent
in everything
we do from volunteering to the programs
we offer, to the resources
that we connect people with.
We want everyone
to feel welcome and accepted
(07:37):
and to fulfill whatever needs
that they're looking for
when they come to the library.
We all know libraries are places
where people would check out books
and information
but it is also used for other purposes.
How have you seen
the library change in recent years?
So, there have been a lot of changes,
you know, we’re in 2024.
(07:58):
Now.
So, we're a couple of years past
at least the onset of the pandemic.
So in beyond that, though,
we've had a lot of new developments
and changes
just in the past couple of years.
So especially I would like to mention
our experiential learning department
(08:19):
and our education department.
So, they offer our spaces
like the Makerspace.
City side,
we also now have a makerspace
at the new location Marksberry.
We have a digital studio at Northside
and our steam lab here at Central.
So those spaces are
(08:41):
some are newer than others,
but the programs within them
and the direction that we're going
is definitely a new direction.
Here to
support the experiences of young people
have business owners of
you know, people just wanting to learn
new skills with Photoshop, computers,
(09:02):
things like that.
And so,
I think that growth,
there has been a pretty significant
change the past couple of years,
as well as our workforce
development initiatives.
So, we have staff members who are
fully in support of connecting patrons
with internal
and external resources
(09:23):
for their job hunting,
for resume building for job fairs.
There’s currently a job fair
that just happened today
at the Marksbury location
and connecting community members
with resources, whether we offer them
or there's other organizations
that we partner
with to offer for them as well.
(09:46):
What are some of the biggest challenges
facing the library?
So that is a great question.
I might not be the most knowledgeable
staff member to answer it.
But I can definitely talk
about some of the challenges
that I see or have experienced. So,
it really can be difficult to
anticipate the needs of our community
(10:07):
ahead of time.
So, we are constantly striving
to meet the needs
of our community members,
whether that be collection
development, so
gaining materials, books, DVDs, movies,
that reflect our community members
and what they're interested in,
and as well as meeting rooms.
(10:30):
So that's something that maybe libraries
weren't known to provide in the past,
you know, it's just strictly
books and study spaces.
But, you know,
we've
expanded a lot of our meeting rooms to
allow people to host
meetings for their small businesses, or,
you know, conduct their own programs
(10:52):
within our spaces
for free with their library card.
And it's also, you know,
kind of a challenge to know,
if what we're doing is correct
if we're are really moving in the right
direction, and meeting
those needs of our community members.
So, we're looking at ways
to always improve
(11:13):
and always get that feedback as well.
Librarians are
often portrayed
as quiet and mousy
always being strict or serious.
In reality,
librarians have different types
of personality
traits and characteristics.
How do you feel about stereotypes
about library workers?
That is a great question.
I personally don't feel offended at all.
(11:36):
I know that there are several
folks here,
of my colleagues, who feel similarly.
Like any organization,
it takes a
lot of different types of people to run,
you know, the best way you can.
There's a lot of different types
of people, different walks
of life, different personalities,
(11:58):
to meet the needs of your customers.
So, we might be a little bit
more introverted,
some of us more than others.
But you know, what,
maybe we have more in common than that
is that we care
very deeply
about the patrons that we have,
the staff members
we have the partnerships we have,
(12:19):
and helping them however we can.
Is there anything else you
would like to talk about that
we haven't had a chance to talk about?
I think we've covered
a lot of wonderful ground,
talking about our library system
and volunteering with us.
And I really appreciate the opportunity
(12:40):
that you have provided me
in being able
to have a platform to talk about it.
What's the best way for people
to find information
about volunteering at the library?
So that would be on our website,
lexpublib.org/volunteer.
So, the first three letters of Lexington
Public and “library .
(13:01):
org / volunteer” Thank you, Eden.
This has been
a great conversation with you.
Thank you so much.
I’ve had a great time.
This has been Community Spotlight.
Thanks for listening.
Hello, I'm Callie.
And I'm Sara.
And this is Community Spotlight.
We are students in the College and Career
Studies program at UK.
This radio segment
will spotlight
different things in the local community
each week.
Thanks for listening.
(00:30):
My name's Will Lyon.
I've been volunteering at the library
this semester.
Today I'm interviewing Eden Wilder,
the volunteer coordinator
at Lexington Public Library,
we will be talking about the importance
of public libraries
and how people can get involved
in supporting their libraries.
Hello Eden, how are you doing?
I am doing great.
(00:50):
And I'm really looking forward
to talking with you today.
How long [have you been]
the volunteer coordinator of Lexington
Public Library?
So, I started in January of 2020,
as the volunteer coordinator,
so just a couple of months
before the pandemic onset.
(01:10):
So, it was a brand new position
at that time as well.
So, there was a learning curve already
plus an added challenge
with the kind of changing times.
And I have been doing that role,
since then, and have grown
our volunteer presence in the library.
(01:34):
Really, since the fall of 2021.
What are
some of the most
enjoyable parts
of recruiting volunteers at the library?
So, I love supporting the work
we do at the library.
And supporting our staff especially.
So, part of what is really rewarding
for me
(01:54):
is matching up
community members volunteers, with their
either requirements
for school or their desire
to get involved, and matching that with
the current needs
that we have going on in the library.
That's a really great feeling
to make that connection
and connect members of our community
(02:17):
with our staff to fulfill
the library's mission.
Why did you decide to be librarian?
And what other jobs
have you taken in the library?
So, what's great about the library
and library systems
is not everyone who works at the library
and other systems are librarians
technically.
(02:37):
But it's kind of funny.
My husband is actually a librarian
at another library at UK.
So, libraries are all around me.
But yeah, so I first started at LPL
in July of 2018,
as an outreach library associate,
(02:59):
so I did story times and
programs for preschools
and daycares out in the community.
So that was my first role there.
And what kind of
helped me decide that as I was getting my
master's degree in
(03:20):
education, policy
and evaluation, and I had a real passion
for literacy and nonprofits specifically.
So, while I was studying,
I found a part time job here
that kind of aligned
with what I was looking for
not knowing
if it would turn into a career or not.
(03:40):
And very fortunately,
it has have been able
to have an opportunity
to continue my passion for literacy
and supporting a nonprofit mission
in this role
when it was
created in at the end of 2019.
What is the easiest job as a volunteer?
And what's the most difficult
(04:00):
job volunteer job?
Very good.
So, our roles have a variety
of easy tasks and difficult tasks.
So that was a good question.
Because that's not something
I had considered before.
There's,
you know,
a lot of elements to different roles,
(04:23):
but I think that our
transcription project,
which is available to do online,
so there's an ease of access
to where you don't have
to physically come into a library
to do that.
It's there's not like a time
constraint either.
So, you can work on it as little
or as much as you'd like.
And I think the hardest part of that was
(04:45):
of course,
you have to be able to read cursive.
It's older text.
So, there is a challenge there.
But I'd say in terms of ease
of accessing getting started.
That's probably the easiest one
but as are the most difficult I would
They probably the volunteer role
in our Makerspace at Eastside.
So, there we have staff and volunteers
(05:08):
help patrons with 3d printing,
large printing, like on vinyl.
They have heat.
Like for jewelry,
I can't think of the name of it now.
But they will fire like a mini firing
kiln.
I think for small things not like a pod,
but you know, jewelry
and things like that.
(05:29):
And there's
a lot of technology involved in
that as well
helping people on their computers
to get their design formatted correctly,
and then put into practice.
So, I think that takes
a little bit of technical skill
and a lot of patience.
So, I think that would
probably be the most difficult one.
(05:51):
What are the different types of things
that a volunteer might do at the library?
So, we have quite a few roles
that we have going on right now.
We have more that get added throughout
the year.
But some of the regular ones
that we have is shelving library helper,
which is you know, helping with
(06:12):
tasks around the library
helping with our day to day activities.
We have English as a Second Language
classes and conversation groups.
So, volunteers
helping with facilitating those classes
and assisting
participants in the conversation group.
We have a program
(06:32):
called LPL after school.
So, the two locations where volunteers
come and help kids with homework
or frequently
just hang out with them
and do activities with them.
There, they rush to get their homework
done.
So, they can do some fun things
at the library.
So, we have a lot of volunteers
help with that as well.
(06:53):
And like the makerspace,
like I mentioned, as well,
as well as a pop up programs
throughout the year.
So especially over summer,
some major programs
where we know
we're going to have a lot of people come
we might put out a call for
extra volunteers as well.
What are some of the most important
missions of the public library?
So, our mission is to connect
(07:16):
people inspire ideas and transform lives,
we do our best to make that apparent
in everything
we do from volunteering to the programs
we offer, to the resources
that we connect people with.
We want everyone
to feel welcome and accepted
(07:37):
and to fulfill whatever needs
that they're looking for
when they come to the library.
We all know libraries are places
where people would check out books
and information
but it is also used for other purposes.
How have you seen
the library change in recent years?
So, there have been a lot of changes,
you know, we’re in 2024.
(07:58):
Now.
So, we're a couple of years past
at least the onset of the pandemic.
So in beyond that, though,
we've had a lot of new developments
and changes
just in the past couple of years.
So especially I would like to mention
our experiential learning department
(08:19):
and our education department.
So, they offer our spaces
like the Makerspace.
City side,
we also now have a makerspace
at the new location Marksberry.
We have a digital studio at Northside
and our steam lab here at Central.
So those spaces are
(08:41):
some are newer than others,
but the programs within them
and the direction that we're going
is definitely a new direction.
Here to
support the experiences of young people
have business owners of
you know, people just wanting to learn
new skills with Photoshop, computers,
(09:02):
things like that.
And so,
I think that growth,
there has been a pretty significant
change the past couple of years,
as well as our workforce
development initiatives.
So, we have staff members who are
fully in support of connecting patrons
with internal
and external resources
(09:23):
for their job hunting,
for resume building for job fairs.
There’s currently a job fair
that just happened today
at the Marksbury location
and connecting community members
with resources, whether we offer them
or there's other organizations
that we partner
with to offer for them as well.
(09:46):
What are some of the biggest challenges
facing the library?
So that is a great question.
I might not be the most knowledgeable
staff member to answer it.
But I can definitely talk
about some of the challenges
that I see or have experienced. So,
it really can be difficult to
anticipate the needs of our community
(10:07):
ahead of time.
So, we are constantly striving
to meet the needs
of our community members,
whether that be collection
development, so
gaining materials, books, DVDs, movies,
that reflect our community members
and what they're interested in,
and as well as meeting rooms.
(10:30):
So that's something that maybe libraries
weren't known to provide in the past,
you know, it's just strictly
books and study spaces.
But, you know,
we've
expanded a lot of our meeting rooms to
allow people to host
meetings for their small businesses, or,
you know, conduct their own programs
(10:52):
within our spaces
for free with their library card.
And it's also, you know,
kind of a challenge to know,
if what we're doing is correct
if we're are really moving in the right
direction, and meeting
those needs of our community members.
So, we're looking at ways
to always improve
(11:13):
and always get that feedback as well.
Librarians are
often portrayed
as quiet and mousy
always being strict or serious.
In reality,
librarians have different types
of personality
traits and characteristics.
How do you feel about stereotypes
about library workers?
That is a great question.
I personally don't feel offended at all.
(11:36):
I know that there are several
folks here,
of my colleagues, who feel similarly.
Like any organization,
it takes a
lot of different types of people to run,
you know, the best way you can.
There's a lot of different types
of people, different walks
of life, different personalities,
(11:58):
to meet the needs of your customers.
So, we might be a little bit
more introverted,
some of us more than others.
But you know, what,
maybe we have more in common than that
is that we care
very deeply
about the patrons that we have,
the staff members
we have the partnerships we have,
(12:19):
and helping them however we can.
Is there anything else you
would like to talk about that
we haven't had a chance to talk about?
I think we've covered
a lot of wonderful ground,
talking about our library system
and volunteering with us.
And I really appreciate the opportunity
(12:40):
that you have provided me
in being able
to have a platform to talk about it.
What's the best way for people
to find information
about volunteering at the library?
So that would be on our website,
lexpublib.org/volunteer.
So, the first three letters of Lexington
Public and “library .
(13:01):
org / volunteer” Thank you, Eden.
This has been
a great conversation with you.
Thank you so much.
I’ve had a great time.
This has been Community Spotlight.
Thanks for listening.
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