Daily Library Life Captured in a Snapshot

Books provide one of the best ways to document a moment in time, memorializing day-to-day life as well as historic events.

Beginning Monday, visitors to the Naperville Public Library’s three libraries will be able to document their experiences, sharing all that is helpful, useful and fun about the library.

The is participating for the second year in a row in “Library Snapshot Day,” a statewide effort to capture daily library activity. 

While “Library Snapshot Day” is technically held on Wednesday, Naperville’s libraries have so many things happening all the time, that the library decided to make it a week-long event, which will run from April 11-17, said Susan Greenwood, community relations coordinator for the library.

At a time when libraries are struggling for funding, the event will help put a spotlight on all of the benefits libraries provide to residents and the value they provide in day-to-day life, according to a news release from the library.

The library will gather “snapshots” from patrons in a number of ways:

• Taking pictures at programs.
• Filming library users.
• Asking library users to fill out a survey in the buildings and online describing how they used the library from April 11 through April 17.
• Collecting statistics about the many things people do at the Library.

Library employees will be wearing cameras and video cameras to capture all that takes place at the library. A courtesy rule is always in place at the three libraries, so patrons will be asked before employees take photos or videos, Greenwood said.

Library patrons can also participate online sharing their experiences and taking a survey, she said.

Last year was the first year for the event, Greenwood said. She was one of the employees capturing patrons’ experiences. She said a mother and her children expressed how they had recently returned from Sea World in Florida and how they saw dolphins. They were at the library looking for dolphin-related material to follow up and learn more.

The information that is gathered will be used statewide, according to the library.

“We know how important it is to listen to our community and we're looking forward to sharing our users' stories with our elected officials at the state level,” Julie Rothenfluh, Naperville Public Library deputy director said in a news release.

Over a 12 month period, more than 1.5 million people visit one of the three Naperville Public Library facilities and its website hosts 2.4 million user visits, according to the library.

“Lawmakers have reduced state funding that is vital to help libraries like ours provide new programs and services, purchase new materials, and support the delivery of materials from other libraries,” Rothenfluh said in a release. “We hope this ‘snapshot’ drives home the point to lawmakers that their constituents, our Library users, rely on us for critical services, and we can’t afford any more cuts in funding to libraries.” 

For more information about Snapshot Day! visit the library’s website, www.naperville-lib.info. For those who prefer to speak with a person, contact Peggy Barry at 630-961-4100, ext. 2234.