Peer-to-peer voter educators increase online participation
Adult students at California’s library literacy programs have long been some of our most valued co-creators and collaborators in designing accessible nonpartisan election information, such as the Easy Voter Guide. Last year, the California State Library supported a refresh of the Key to Community Voter Engagement Project. Adult learner leaders from around the state came to Sacramento to be trained [...]
Creating community in the time of COVID
As a mother of three daughters, ages 10 to 15, for many years Monica Cañas has been an active volunteer in Larkspur-Corte Madera School District’s Cove Elementary School and Hall Middle School in Marin County. Her sustained efforts led to her being appointed to serve on the school board in 2018. In addition to those official duties, Monica continues to [...]
Library teams share lessons learned about disaster response and ambitious next steps
As California marks the end to yet another record-breaking fire season and enters a challenging next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, libraries across northern California are working together to improve their capacity to prepare and respond to disasters. Libraries have been innovating and reflecting on the important role they play in building community resilience and their work together can be [...]
Libraries come together to increase disaster preparedness
“It’s not if, but when, the next disaster strikes.” Back in January 2020, these were the words from more than one library director at the NorthNet Library System (NLS) regional meeting. The NorthNet Library System brings together 41 member libraries in Northern California across 29 counties, many of whom have faced record-breaking wildfires, earthquakes, floods and more. At the beginning [...]
Prepare for the Nov. 3 election with the Easy Voter Guide
With California voters already beginning to receive their ballots by mail, many people have questions about this year’s election. The Easy Voter Guide is here to help. Designed for busy voters as well as new voters, the guide is a nonpartisan starting point to get oriented about changes in how to vote in the Nov. 3 election, along with easy-to-read [...]
What do community members want to know about housing?
When it comes to providing information on complex issues, such as housing, it can be hard to know where to begin. Some people seem to know a lot, some not very much and confusion feels prevalent. Click the image above to see a larger version of Half Moon Bay's housing background handout. For the past four years, Common [...]