BPL’s Howe, Baker Learning Commons win regional awards

By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

Two Baldwinsville libraries brought home honors in the Central New York Library Resources Council’s 2017 Library Award Winners. Nancy Howe, outreach/public relations librarian for the Baldwinsville Public Library, was named Public Library Staff All-Star, and the Baker High School Learning Commons was crowned School Library of the Year. The winners accepted their awards Oct. 19 at CLRC’s 50th Anniversary Membership Meeting and Conference.

Howe said she was pleasantly surprised to learn she was to receive an award, but she almost missed the notification from CLRC.

“Actually when I got the email I almost deleted it,” she said. “We get all kinds of emails from them about tech tips. But when I saw ‘Hi, Nancy,’ I thought, ‘Maybe I should really read this.”

“Our judges were impressed with her outreach and community partnership efforts, as well as her grant work in addition to her other job duties. They also found Nancy to be a leader both in her library and in her community,” reads a release on the CLRC website about Howe’s recognition.

Outside her position at BPL, Howe is president of the Greater Baldwinsville Chamber of Commerce, a Rotarian and a member of the village tree lighting committee. “People just see me running around a lot doing a lot of stuff,” she said.

While she was glad to be recognized, Howe said she is just one of many BPL staffers who work to advance the mission of the library.

“Like everybody else, you just go around doing your job,” she said. “The award was given for community outreach, which is one of the three goals that the board of trustees has set for the library.”

In addition to Howe being named an All-Star, the Baker Learning Commons took home School Library of the Year.

“Our judges were impressed with the engaging and creative activities offered at this library. Their innovative learning commons, created by Teacher Librarian Leslie Cartier, include a Genius Bar run by students, a stop-motion animation studio and learning zone,” the CLRC website reads. “One nomination noted that the usage of library resources, databases and digital media has ‘exploded’ in the past two years to positively affect student learning.”

The Genius Bar program began when Cartier arrived at Baker in the 2015-16 academic year. The program has 19 students who offer tech support to students and teachers at the high school.

The Genius Bar students have overhauled the library’s research databases under Cartier’s watch as well.

“They have an advisory role in terms of what advances should the learning commons make to help the student body in media,” she said.

Cartier’s other contributions to the Baker Learning Commons include a video studio with a full green screen, a stop-motion animation studio, an online booking system for computer equipment and labs, and a collaboration pod, which allows a group of students to work simultaneously on a project with a 50-inch display.

“It’s just such a big honor to have that title,” Cartier said of the School Library of the Year award. “It speaks to the quality of the services the students have here and the variety of services they have access to.”

Howe said the CLRC honors show that Baldwinsville values its local libraries.

“It shows our libraries must be pretty vibrant if we’re both getting recognized because we’re in competition across the four counties,” she said.

CLRC serves libraries in Herkimer, Madison, Oneida and Onondaga counties.

“It’s nice to be recognized and it’s deeply appreciated,” Howe said. “We try to be a partner to the Baldwinsville community.”