Stitching Service Gaps Through Innovative Programming

Authors

  • Suad Mohamed Multnomah County Library
  • Lisa M Taylor Happy Valley Library

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7710/1093-7374.1990

Keywords:

Oregon, Oregon libraries, academic library, libraries, librarians, northwest, information science, information literacy, social media, writing, library trends, books, donors, library funding, Oregon library association, quarterly, Oregon library association quarterly, American library association, ala, ola, reading, library success, success, evolving roles, OSU, Oregon state, University, web services, public, new discipline, changes in libraries, career, careers, library careers, library career, professional journal, scholarly, academic, circulation, Portland, Multnomah County Library, innovative, inventive, solution, oregon librarians, librarian, political, politics, political action, association, civics, civic education, inspiring, engagement, role, participation, skills, create, creating, resources, develop, source, evaluate, evaluation, evaluating, University of Oregon, UO, learn, learned, watzek, lewis & clark college, access, barriers, membership, story, inmates, storytime, record, equity, diversity, inclusion, african, american, conference, fellow, dei, edi, project lit, sewing, somali, immigrants, refugees, micro, action, elaine hirsch, intersection, age, body type, disabilities, disability, race, skin, color, physical, mental, religious, geography, ethnicity, sexual orientation, sex, gender, olaq, machine, immigrant, refugee, community, underserved, mcl sewing project, speaking, curiosity kick, outreach, guidelines, for, populations, free geek, outcome, initiative, innovate, portland

Abstract

The Sewing Project was a pilot program to offer Somali language sewing classes at Multnomah County Library (MCL). It was funded for one year through an internal innovation grant, Curiosity Kick! This article describes some of the challenges and lessons learned from this project, focusing on issues that are relevant to serving immigrant communities and reducing barriers to equitable library services.

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Author Biographies

Suad Mohamed, Multnomah County Library

Suad Mohamed is currently in the role of Time Partner with Multnomah County Library’s Human Resources. Prior to that she specialized in project management, qualitative research, programming, content creation, collection management and served on committees tasked to bridge service gaps. She is the first OLA-Leadership Development Scholarship recipient. One of the most rewarding aspects of her job is being able to move communities she’s a part of forward.

Lisa M Taylor, Happy Valley Library

Lisa M. Taylor is delighted to be starting a new chapter in her library career as a youth librarian for Happy Valley Library. She worked for Multnomah County Library for five years, including most recently as a member of the Central Library Information Services team, and as youth librarian for the Albina branch. In addition to co-leading the MCL Sewing Project, she served on MCL’s Intellectual Freedom Committee. She earned a B.A. cum laude from Pomona College, and her MLIS from Emporia State University. She serves on the Board of the Oregon Library Association Children’s Services Division.

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Published

2019-10-28

How to Cite

Mohamed, S., & Taylor, L. M. (2019). Stitching Service Gaps Through Innovative Programming. OLA Quarterly, 25(2), 34–39. https://doi.org/10.7710/1093-7374.1990

Issue

Vol. 25 No. 2 (2019): Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Section

Articles