Visit this Library’s Virtual Branch in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

With coronavirus continuing to spread, in-person gatherings are off the table-but one librarian in South Carolina is using video games to bring her community together virtually.

Tina Chenoweth, Young Adult Services Manager at the Baxter-Patrick James Island branch of Charleston County Public Library, has been recreating her library in the popular new video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons. In the game, players move to a deserted island, construct buildings and infrastructure, and make their own furniture and decorations. Players across the world can use an online code to visit each other’s islands to explore, exchange resources, or just socialize.

“Even if there weren’t a pandemic happening, I absolutely would have incorporated Animal Crossing into our regular programming because I see it as a great way to get people working together toward a common goal,” Tina told I Love Libraries. “Then the pandemic happened and added that extra layer of interacting with people of all ages we can’t see in person and really made the whole idea that much more meaningful.”

In Animal Crossing, players are given a plot of land on their island where they can build their house; Tina has repurposed hers as a library, complete with a children’s area in a separate room. The island also features an outdoor creative studio with a crafting table that players can use to create their own tools and decorative objects, as well as a bulletin board where players can leave messages for other visitors.

A screenshot from the video game Animal Crossing featuring a library with bookshelves, a telescope, and a globe

BPJI patrons have been loving visiting the library’s island-many have even created virtual items to “donate” to the space. “Patrons and visitors have been super supportive. In fact, almost all the bookcases, the library wallpaper, and a good portion of the decorations in the library were supplied by patrons,” Tina shared. “One visitor kept flying back and forth between BPJI’s island and his own island in order to ferry supplies. It’s so heartwarming!”

The virtual library is one of many offerings Tina’s library has created or expanded in light of COVID-19. “CCPL has rolled out an impressive virtual programming lineup that includes regular storytimes along with exercise, journaling, poetry, cooking, craft programs, and more,” Tina said. “Our patrons still have access to Wi-Fi in our parking lots, as well as access to our digital resources, and we recently began offering a new remote telephone service as well.”

Looking ahead, Tina hopes to continue building the library’s island to be even more fun and engaging for visitors, and to more closely resemble its in-person counterpart; one future project she’s considering  is to add a learning lab/PC room like the one at the brick-and-mortar BPJI branch. She might also start stocking the virtual branch with in-game “DIY recipes” (items that let players create new furniture or decorations) for patrons to use in their own gameplay-sharing free information and resources with her community just as real-life libraries do every day.

Animal Crossing players can visit the BPJI island using the library’s Nintendo Switch friend code, 0912-2261-5044. For more stories about innovative and creative libraries, subscribe to the I Love Libraries newsletter.

Experience Hogwarts with This Virtual Library Escape Room

Libraries across the country are closing their doors to slow the spread of COVID-19, but that doesn’t mean they’ve stopped serving their communities. One library in McMurray, Pennsylvania created an online Harry Potter escape room to keep local teens entertained at home.

Peters Township Public Library’s digital escape room includes a variety of magic-themed puzzles, set during your first year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You can complete it alone or in a group—or even compete with friends to see who gets the fastest time.

Sydney Krawiec, Youth Services Librarian at PTPL, designed the virtual escape room after Pennsylvania’s public libraries closed in March. She had designed several in-person escape rooms in the past (including two with a Harry Potter theme), so she decided to try creating one online. “As my colleagues and I started brainstorming ways to share resources and do digital storytimes, I kept wishing we could provide something that would bring a family together in a more interactive way than just watching a screen,” she told I Love Libraries. “I wanted to start a conversation.”

In addition to the escape room, PTPL staff are working hard to keep Peters Township residents connected, informed, and entertained. “We are doing our best to issue library cards via email and share out additional resources to our community during this time,” Sydney said. “Staff members have done virtual storytimes and we are working on bringing more programming to our patrons.”

To hear about how libraries are serving their communities amid the coronavirus pandemic, subscribe to the I Love Libraries newsletter.

Make Your Own READ® Poster with This Free Tool

Since the 1980s, celebrities from David Bowie to Oprah have posed with their favorite books for the American Library Association’s READ® poster series. Now anyone can join the fun with this free tool from ALA Graphics, which lets you add your own photo to a customizable READ® poster background.

Download the template file and add your favorite photo of yourself, your friends, or even your pet; you can move around the text balloons and add extra confetti to make your poster extra festive. You can use any photo editing program that can open PSD files (including free Photoshop alternatives like GIMP).

For the best results, start by taking a photo against a solid-colored backdrop with plenty of contrast to make it easy to erase the background. Need help getting started? Check out this video tutorial for step-by-step instructions. 

Once you’ve completed your masterpiece, post it on Twitter using the hashtag #CelebrateReading and tag @ALA_Graphics. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Check out the ALA Store’s current selection of READ® posters, which feature Gal Gadot, Daveed Diggs, John Cena, and more.

Unlike Leslie Knope, Amy Poehler Loves Libraries

As Parks and Recreation fans know, the usually-upbeat government official Leslie Knope (played by Amy Poehler) has one big sore spot: libraries. As she explains in one episode, library workers are “mean, conniving, rude, and extremely well-read, which makes them very dangerous.” We have to disagree-and apparently, Poehler does too.

“Libraries were a big deal growing up,” Poehler shared in a recent appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show. “We have to support our libraries.”

During the same interview, Clarkson surprised Poehler with a live video chat with a librarian from Bexley Public Library in Columbus, Ohio. BPL was nominated for a 2018 Leslie Knope Award, which honors exceptional public spaces across the country, including libraries-despite its namesake’s vendetta against librarians.

“We have a big bone to pick with Leslie Knope about her opinion about libraries,” joked Bexley librarian Leann, a Parks and Rec superfan. “But no, for real…thank you so much for all the support for libraries and local government and education.”

We’re so glad to know the star behind Leslie Knope loves libraries after all! Watch the full clip now:

In case you missed it, Poehler’s Parks and Rec costar Nick Offerman recently also shared the library love with this awesome video from the Reaching Across Illinois Library System-check it out now.

Nick Offerman Explains Why Libraries are More Important Than Ever

In a new promotional video from the Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS), actor Nick Offerman stars as the Wizard of the World Wide Web, convening an emergency meeting of the “elders of the internet.”

In the video, avatars representing pop-up ads, social media, and other fixtures of online life have assembled at a “secret internet headquarters” to discuss a grave matter: humans have realized that libraries are even more powerful than the web.

Offerman explains: “Libraries have real people. They get to know you and offer reading recommendations more personalized than any algorithm. They can even tell the difference between real and fake news.” He continues, “Libraries have all the information that anyone could ever need, plus real spaces, fun educational programs, meet-up groups…you can even get a flu shot at the library.”

Love libraries? Find out how you can support library funding by subscribing to the American Library Association’s advocacy alerts.

‘Empathy Centers’: Chanel Miller on Libraries

Chanel Miller, author of Know My Name, joined library workers from across the country at the American Library Association’s 2020 Midwinter Meeting, where she spoke about activism, literature, and her love of libraries, which she described as “places of unquestioned peace.”

In addition to sharing inspiring remarks with attendees, she also created a comic about her hometown public library and the power of librarians just for the occasion.

Read on to see Chanel’s illustated ode to libraries:

Welcome fellow bookworms. I loved libraries growing up! I remember seeing the librarian slipping the index card out of the back pocket of the book, pressing the stamp with the little numbers into the ink pad and stamping the due date. Old people will remember these times. I loved libraries growing up! I remember seeing the librarian slipping the index card out of the back pocket of the book, pressing the stamp with the little numbers into the ink pad and stamping the due date. Old people will remember these times. I loved the agency and adulthood that came with owning my own library card. A young Chanel Miller puts her card on the desk and says, ring it up on my card; my car is waiting. But most of all, I loved the window at the end of the cookbook aisle. A yellow window sits between two bookshelves. The window that looked out on the boys little league baseball team. Through the window, four boys play baseball. I had this fantasy that one day on of the boys would look over and say...'who is that beautiful girl reading in the window? A boy in a baseball uniform looks over to see young Chanel sitting with a book in the library. I imagine he'd be so in love he'd be too distracted to play until his friends would sit him down and say, 'your heart's not in the game anymore. You know where your heart is & you must follow it! The boy continues to gaze at Chanel through the window, then sits sadly while two other baseball players attempt to reason with him. But that never happened. Probably because I was only 10. Chanel walks along with a thought bubble depicting her and a baseball player dressed as bride and groom. Still, the library remained my sanctuary. Other appropriate names for 'library' would be 'empathy center,' 'brain feeder,' 'heart shelter.' I believe that books heal & books save. Which means I've always known librarians to be the healers and savers. Librarians are the leaders. The community builders. The welcomers, to people of all backgrounds. They keep our minds ripe and help us find what we need. They make the vulnerable feel safe and the young ones feel wise. Three librarians wear golden crowns. And I know librarians have a reputation for keeping things quiet & peaceful......Librarians at a desk and behind a bookshelf say "shhh." But I secretly hope that when the kids go home, and the doors are locked up...Walking feet and a padlock are shown. You all are secretly wild and crazy. Librarians dance and hold drinks under a disco ball in the library. And if you're not partying, you should be-knowing that the world has been made kinder, safer, and brighter because of the work that you do. Thank you. The end. Young Chanel holds up a book at the library. And I know librarians have a reputation for keeping things quiet & peaceful......Librarians at a desk and behind a bookshelf say "shhh." But I secretly hope that when the kids go home, and the doors are locked up...Walking feet and a padlock are shown. You all are secretly wild and crazy. Librarians dance and hold drinks under a disco ball in the library. And if you're not partying, you should be-knowing that the world has been made kinder, safer, and brighter because of the work that you do. Thank you. The end. Young Chanel holds up a book at the library.