Salt Lake City Public Library Director's Report
July 22, 2019
Salt Lake City Public Library Director's Report - July 22, 2019 UPCOMING PROGRAMS AND EVENTS OF NOTE (Complete schedule: https://events.slcpl.org/events) Reported by Liesl Jacobson, Assistant Director of Community Engagement ●
ADVENTURES IN SPACE Marmalade Branch - Multi-Purpose Room, Tuesday, July 23: 2:30pm - 3:30pm. Hands-on space fun at the Library! Build a film canister rocket, make your own space slime, and imagine yourself as an astronaut in our Galactic Photo Booth.
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AUTHOR IN THE HOUSE Sweet Branch - Meeting Room, Thursday, July 25: 7:00pm 8:00pm. An evening of conversation and refreshments, with a reading by an emerging or established local author. SHANAN BALLAM Shanan Ballam earned an MFA in poetry writing from the University of Nebraska, Omaha and is the author of the poetry chapbook The Red Riding Hood Papers (Finishing Line 2010) and two full-length poetry collections Pretty Marrow (Negative Capability 2013) and Inside the Animal: The Collected Red Riding Hood Poems (Main Street Rag Publishing 2019). She is a Senior Lecturer and teaches poetry writing, fiction writing, and composition for Utah State University. She was named the 2014 Lecturer of the Year for the College of Humanities & Social Sciences, served on the Utah Arts Council Board of Directors from 2013-2017, and was recently named Logan City Poet Laureate, with her Laureate duties beginning in August 2019.
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PARKER SOLAR PROBE - WITH THE NASA JPL AMBASSADORS, Glendale Branch Activity Room, Tuesday, July 30: 1:00pm - 3:00pm. Join the NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassadors to experience the science of our Sun at three activity stations: Aurora Borealis in a bowl, magnetic fields, and a Sunny Memory Game with space prizes!
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PARADE OF RAPTORS - WITH HAWKWATCH INTERNATIONAL, Legacy Village - Offsite: Legacy Village: Fairmont Room (Level 5), Wednesday, July 31: 2:30pm 3:30pm. Meet Hawkwatch International's birds: a hawk, a falcon, and an owl. Learn their stories and how we can help these species through conservation actions. This program is part of the ZAP Summer Passport program.
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CREATE FARM FRESH - SALSA, Day-Riverside Branch - Meeting Room, Thursday, August 01: 7:00pm - 8:00pm. Learn to turn farm and garden fresh ingredients into delicious family meals. Gain skills to eat seasonally on a budget, and take home free recipes and small kitchen gadgets each week. Taught by nutrition educators with Utah's
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Salt Lake City Public Library Director's Report - July 22, 2019 Food $ense (SNAP-Ed) program from Utah State University Extension. ●
MATCH: IGNITING CREATIVITY THROUGH ART & LITERATURE, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Wednesday, August 07: 7:00pm - 8:00pm. Ignite your creativity through Match, a new monthly series art adventures at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. Each month, activities and discussion are based around a different book. Wednesday, August 7 · Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II by Liza Mundy. Recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than ten thousand women served as codebreakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of code-breaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. For complete schedule see: events.slcpl.org/slcpl/event/1621646
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FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT - OCTOBER SKY, Anderson-Foothill Branch - Outdoor Amphitheater, Saturday, August 10: 7:00pm - 10:00pm. Celebrate the end of the Super Summer Challenge with an outdoor screening of the historic drama October Sky. You can also make and launch your own rockets!
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SUSHI MAKING WITH BENIHANA, Main Library - Craft Room, Tuesday, August 13: 2:00pm - 3:00pm. Kids can try their hand at making sushi! Learn how to make a real California Roll and "candy sushi" with instruction and ingredients provided by Benihana. For ages 8–12 only; registration required.
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Salt Lake City Public Library Director's Report - July 22, 2019 ●
SUPER SMASH BROTHERS TOURNAMENT, Chapman Branch - Children's Area, Tuesday, August 13: 3:00pm - 4:30pm. Pick your favorite character and battle with your friends! We'll have our Nintendo Switch set up for a Super Smash Brothers tournament for teens and tweens.
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EVERYBODY WRITES OPEN MIC, Main Library - Fireplace Level 2, Wednesday, August 14: 7:00pm - 8:00pm. Share your own writing or listen to other local writers read from their works at this Community Writing Center open mic night.
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AN EVENING OF EXQUISITE OPERA MUSIC - CLARA HURTADO LEE, ISAAC HURTADO, AND JARED OAKES, Main Library Auditorium, Thursday, August 15: 6:00pm - 9:00pm. An evening of opera arias, duets, and art songs performed by two of Utah's most accomplished singers, Clara Hurtado Lee and Isaac Hurtado, accompanied by pianist Jared Oakes.
PROGRAMS, PARTNERSHIPS, AND OUTREACH EVENTS OF NOTE Curated by Liesl Jacobson, Assistant Director of Community Engagement
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Foothill Patrons Embracing our Super Summer Challenge Anderson-Foothill Branch has had a very busy June with many patrons coming to sign up for the Super Summer Challenge, attend special programs; even Foothill’s regular programs have seen increased numbers! In fact, as the end of the fourth week of the SSC Foothill has signed up 2551 patrons across all age groups! In comparing against the branch to this same time last year Foothill is up 840 sign ups. It is exciting to know the staff are bringing many members of the community to the Library this summer. (submitted by Lindsey Watts)
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Chapman Staff Offering STEM outreach at the Neighborhood House Daycare This Summer Technology Access Manager Gwen Page and Chapman Branch Children's Librarian Gracie Mora have teamed up to offer the Neighborhood House kids a variety of different STEM programs . The classes are every Wednesday and they started June 12 and will be ending August 14th.. The kids are divided into two classes, Grades 1-3 and grades 4-6. So far the kids have signed up for the summer reading program, learned about Aerodynamics by making paper airplanes with different kinds of paper, Engineering/Architecture by making a Geodesic Dome and have done an Ozobot
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Salt Lake City Public Library Director's Report - July 22, 2019 activity which teaches them about Robotics and coding. The kids have enjoyed every activity and the next six classes will involve creating a budget for each activity on Excel, Design a button, Word Basics, Power Point, and Internet/Social Media Safety. At the final session Super Summer Challenge prizes will be distributed. This interesting and fun program helps kids to expand their learning through Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Art. (Submitted by Gracie Mora) ●
Learning Bicycle Repair at Day-Riverside Staff at Day-Riverside Branch hosted the second of four bicycle maintenance workshops – taught by instructors from the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective. This month the instructor focused on basic bike maintenance – the types of small repairs and care that will keep a bicycle riding smoothly. The turnout was great – some participants were beginner cyclists who want to cut back on their car usage, others were more experienced and were looking for tips on their high-performance bicycles. It was an engaging program that encouraged participation and connects to the Library’s Healthy Together strategic area of focus. (Submitted by Brennan Barfus)
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Space Camp -- A Fun Way to Learn Science at the Main Library As part of our Super Summer Challenge Theme, "A Universe of Stories", Children's Librarian Robyn Green and Associate Librarian Tressie Rollins conducted a Space Camp daily during the week of June 10-14. Every day participants explored space through different space themed activities. One day they learned about jet propulsion and asteroids. The children had a lot of fun creating and then launching paper rockets. They explored the different moon phases using oreos and rice crispy treats and made constellations with pretzels and marshmallows. Activities included an obstacle course where kids walked on bucket stilts to mimic what it might be like walking on the moon, and an egg drop out on the children’s patio to demonstrate the principles of gravity.
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Salt Lake City Public Library Director's Report - July 22, 2019 The children looked forward to coming back to the library every day and exploring space. Their excitement was palpable when they arrived and afterward they wanted to share what they learned with family and other librarians. It was fun for children who may not normally have the opportunity to attend summer camps. (Submitted by Hannah Henriksen)
Teen Intern Focusing on Services to LGBTQ+ Community Library Awarded Competitive Grant to Support Inclusive Programming This month, The City Library hired a new teen intern, Cade Langsdon. The Library was able to fund Cade's employment through a Public Library Association Inclusive Internship Initiative grant. Cade is working with Teen Librarian, Rebecca West, at the Main Library as part of a nationwide initiative to create more diversity in the library workforce. Cade and Rebecca went to Chicago, June 13-15, to the kick-off event PLA hosted to meet the other interns and mentors from around the country. Rebecca was one of 9 librarians selected to present a Master Class. She presented on the Library's LGBTQ+ group, Alphabet Soup, and how our library values inclusion and belonging. Since returning to the library, Cade has started working on his project which is to document LGBTQ+ oral histories from local community members in Salt Lake City. He will be creating a documentary and zine to be premiered at an event in September. By giving teens the opportunity to have meaningful, community-facing, paid internships at the library, we are proving their value and giving them a voice in our community. Rebecca is excited to be working with Cade and loves seeing him empowered through his work here at The City Library.
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Salt Lake City Public Library Director's Report - July 22, 2019 ●
First Generation High School Graduation at Marmalade For the third consecutive year, Marmalade Branch partnered with Casa Quetzalcoatl (Casa Q, for short) to host the "First Generation Xipetotec Graduation Ceremony". On June 1, 2019 the ceremony celebrated the achievements of about 76 West High School students who are the first in their families to graduate from High School. Yoli Perez, Teen Librarian at Marmalade Branch helped to organize this event and purchased gifts for each student to show library support. Danza y Color performed during the ceremony. It is also especially important to note that several of the students received scholarships through Casa Q. The Casa Quetzalcoatl holds a scholarship workshop on Wednesdays at Marmalade Branch during the school year. Some of the students are DACA recipients so this is especially important for them as they will not be eligible for other types of scholarships. Many Library staff were on hand to celebrate with the students including Marilee Moon, Assistant Director, Safi Safiullah, Marmalade Branch Manager, Christina Walsh, Teen Services Coordinator, and Nate Salazar, Adult Services Coordinator. Jorge Fierro, owner of Rico Brand served delicious food at the event. Nunu Rehan and Melanie Rodriguez, Library Assistants helped run a photo booth at the lunch. served in the plaza after the ceremony. The Library's continued partnership and support for First Generation Xipetotec Graduation Ceremony is an expression of our core values and focus on inclusion and belonging to first generation Americans, and all City residents. (submitted by Joli Perez)
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Exploring Virtual Reality in Sugar House Library staff offered Sprague patrons Virtual Reality: Universe Sandbox program, bringing the show offsite to our partners at Legacy Village. Alan Ly and Michael Birkbeck from the Creative Lab at the Main Library brought our Technology-to-go Virtual Reality programming kit which provided everything needed
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Salt Lake City Public Library Director's Report - July 22, 2019 for two hours of fun for all ages! They quickly got the two stations up and running, and they were fantastically patient with the young, excited participants. One resident of Legacy Village even took a turn at a station after many children had their turns first. He said he couldn’t resist after hearing Sprague Children's Librarian Merideth Zobell’s elevator pitch (literally in the elevator!) when she arrived beforehand to help set up. A mother of four children remarked as she was leaving that she was amazed her children happily stuck around more than an hour waiting for their turns and were entertained the entire time. The members of the last family to arrive were rewarded for their patience with an extra turn for each child since everyone else had left. A virtual reality program like this would be a hit again outside of the summer months. (submitted by Meredith Zobell) ●
Bringing the Joy of Books and Reading to Teens at the Girls Transition Center For the last several years, Teen Services Coordinator Christina Walsh has been visiting a residential treatment facility for teen girls. This year, she was accompanied by Teen Librarian Becca West. They will return in July for a second visit. Christina and Becca explained the Super Summer Challenge program, signed the girls up, book-talked about ten titles, and gave away free books. The girls had an opportunity to participate in the Stellar Book Review Project and to discuss reading and libraries generally. Christina and Becca received some really great thank you notes, including: ○ “Thank you for the interesting books to read. The library here is small so I am very grateful. I love reading and it helped me pass the time and escape to another place from here.” ○ “I learned that I actually love to read” ○ “I liked that you guys encouraged us to read” ○ “I’m so excited to get to see you guys again, you have such an uplifting personality and I love it.” (submitted by Christina Walsh)
STORIES OF IMPACT, SURPRISE, AND DELIGHT Selected and shared by Marilee Moon, Assistant Director of Customer Experience Day-Riverside Branch ●
Volleyball and Sno-cones on a Hot Day - Creating Experiences that Surprise and Delight. On the last day of school staff members Nancy Funes and Stephanie Costa set up volleyball on the front lawn and served sno-cones to folks exiting the library. People of all ages were thrilled to be offered a cool, unexpected treat on such a hot day. Kids played volleyball with a beachball and staff stayed cool serving under the tent with the help of a water mister. Patrons faces lit up with smiles as they were asked which of six
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Salt Lake City Public Library Director's Report - July 22, 2019 flavors they wanted. Sometimes a pleasant surprise goes a long way to make someone's day! ●
Removing Barriers to Service: New Smaller Service Points at Day-Riverside. On June 25th a new service desk was installed. After using the new desk for about two weeks Branch Manager Erin Mendoza is pleased that the transition has been relatively smooth. Staff have adjusted very well to our new desk, schedule, and philosophy for service. Erin writes, "Anecdotally, I think we are more responsive to patrons needs and are better at prioritizing service to patrons over other duties like tending to our materials sorting. I also think that more people are using the self-check machines now that we don’t have one directly in front of us."
Main - Nonfiction/AV ●
Connecting Artists With Artists Leads to New Creative Partnerships. This is a story about a community connection made possible by the 12 Minutes Max program: In 2015, the band 3hattrio from Southern Utah performed a set at the 12 Minutes Max event at the Library, on the same program with Ryan Perkins of Salt Lake City, who presented his animated films. Ryan and the band, who had never met or seen one another’s work, saw a similarity there, and were mutually eager to work together. By 2016, we hosted the band again, this time accompanied by a film that Ryan had made for one of their songs, which they played live. The collaboration had really worked! In the audience that day was Nick Blaylock, a local dancer who came to see friends perform a dance piece (he brought his own choreography to 12MM in 2017). Nick had never seen the work of anyone else on the program, and was particularly impressed with the band’s performance. He has since moved to Cedar City to teach in the Dance Department at Southern Utah University, and recently contacted 3hat about collaborating on a dance piece. 3hat contacted us in June 2019 to see if we would be interested in hosting the resulting work, and of course we said “yes”! Submitted by Paul Reynolds NF/AV
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Helping Seniors Be Fiscally Secure in Retirement: Adult Services Librarian Barbara Chavira, hosted “Financially Aging Well, Dotting your i’s and Crossing your t’s” which is the first in a series, "SeniorsBlueBook University." The program was well-attended, with eighteen attendees -- a good number of them were business professionals from the community. The presentations and information from the five panelists were important not only for seniors, but also for their caregivers but for family members as well.
Anderson-Foothill Branch ●
Teen Squad Volunteering Helps Teens Develop Basic Job Skills Volunteering on the Library's "Teen Squad" may be a teen’s first interaction with “life-skills” and responsibilities outside of school and home. Before summer had even begun one of our regular teens was proving to be a struggle for some of the staff and was requiring extra
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Salt Lake City Public Library Director's Report - July 22, 2019 supervision and “friendly reminders” on how to behave in the library. This teen badly wanted to volunteer for Teen Squad so Foothill’s teen librarian, Claire Doctorman, sat down with her and reviewed the job skills sheet which was created by Teen Services specifically for use by the Teen Squad. The teen was reminded that it was an “adult skill” and her responsibility to bring her own snack, not ask the staff for food, sit at the reference desk unless it was during her shift, and use the staff kitchen unless she was on break. After this coaching discussion, the teen agreed to respect the staff’s time and work spaces. Fast forward a few weeks and this particular teen has shown marked improvements in her behavior on Teen Squad. She has been quick to alert staff when she is on break or will be using the staff room, and has proudly brought in her own snack from home. She has been more respectful of staff time and attention and is beginning to develop important job skills which will serve her well later in life.
Mary's Day at the Main Library Mary, a tween, and Charlene her mom are library super users... They began their day at Crafty Kid Tuesdays. It was here that Mary told Main Children's Librarian Lisa Grant about her busy schedule of fun and learning. ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
10:00 Crafty Kid Tuesdays (Children’s Library) 11:00 Yoga with Lizzie Luna (4th floor) 12:00 Free lunch! (main floor) 1:00 Space Camp (Children’s Library) 2:00 Book Binding for Teens and Tweens (2nd floor) 3:00 A break, whew! Read with Mom 4:00 Minecraft Club (The Tinker Lab)
Charlene says, "Mary doesn’t need to go to summer camp because the library offers all of these wonderful programs and they’re free!" ●
Partnering to Offer Affordable Healthcare at Glendale: On June 26th, Glendale Branch staff partnered with Utah Partners for Health to host a Mobile Medical Clinic and a Mobile Vision Clinic. The event started at 9 am and finished around 3 pm. During that time, eleven people went home with glasses and another thirteen people saw medical staff that they would otherwise not have been able to afford. The staff at the clinic were grateful for the publicity the Library did for the event and told staff that every available appointment was booked in the days before the event.
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Salt Lake City Public Library Director's Report - July 22, 2019 Paint-Along Programming at Sweet Brings the Community Together for Fun and Artistic Creation. The new Paint-Along program is underway with the debut of The Starry Night Paint-Along this month. It was a big success. We had a full class signed up, and the participants really enjoyed creating their own masterpiece. A couple of participants said they enjoyed this paint-along better than our Bob Ross paint-alongs, and a number of aspiring painters have already signed up to come back. Reported by Jennifer Scott
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FACILITIES and IT UPDATES Reported by Gordon Bradberry, Assistant Director of Facilities and IT ●
Information Technology Updates
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The Library has posted the Network Systems Engineer Position. While we continue to contract with the City's Information Management Services (IMS) Department for IT support, we are bringing this position in house to help better align our network and security practices with public library needs and best practices.
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PC Replacements: New PC deployment is continuing at branch locations.
Facilities Maintenance and Planning ○
Roof Study Completed ■ We have completed design & engineering of new roofs at Sweet, Day-Riverside and Anderson-Fooothill branches. ■ We have are accepting bids for a new roof at the Sweet Branch ■ We will begin accepting bids for Day-Riverside roof on Monday, 7/22 ■ We will begin accepting bids forAnderson-Foothill roof on Monday 7/29
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Reflecting Pool Repairs Continue: The repair and waterproofing on the Reflecting Pools on Library Square continue. We will be testing for leaks, and then moving ahead with retiling.
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Master Facilities Planning: We have kicked off our Master Facilities Plan project this week with our consultants Kim Bolan and Rob Cullin (Ratio) and Kevin Blalock and Sean Baron (Blalock and Partners.) The goal of the Master Facilities Planning process is to deliver a report recommending any needed renovations, expansions, or new building projects over the next 10-20 years. The study will include an assessment of current library buildings and locations, and an analysis of community needs, population growth and demographic trends. The study will include both staff input sessions and numerous public
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Salt Lake City Public Library Director's Report - July 22, 2019 engagement sessions in a variety of locations, as well as online surveying and passive engagement opportunities at branches over the next 6-9 months.
COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT ●
Aligning Library Collections With Local Needs. Collection Development staff have been participating in collection strategy meetings with staff rom all Branches and Public Service departments at Main. These meetings involve the Selectors (who choose materials for our collection system-wide) and the librarians and manager of each location. EThe sessions are going well and will help inform planning that is already underway to align local collections, programs, outreach, and services with the local demographics and needs of each location. Draft plans are expected to be complete in July, 2019.
SELECTED MEDIA MENTIONS Reported by Bryton Sampson, Marketing and Communications Specialist ●
Affordable housing, better air quality are what Salt Lake City residents want leaders to invest in. Salt Lake Tribune (July 19, 2019) Roughly 8% of residents now say they think city services are “excellent,” 52% say they are “good” and 31% rate them as “fair” for the city tax dollars they pay. Nine percent find city services “poor,” the poll found. Services from the Fire Department, Salt Lake City Library and garbage pickup were rated the highest.
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San Francisco supes moving to eliminate library overdue fines. Mission Local (July 16, 2019) San Francisco will join more than 50 jurisdictions across the country in which libraries are late-fine-free, including Berkeley, Salt Lake City and Nashville.
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George Pyle: What might William Safire have to say about today’s Captain Ahab? Salt Lake Tribune (July 15, 2019) [T]he only time I had the great pleasure to meet Safire — when he spoke at the Salt Lake City Library.
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Park City Library director Adriane Herrick Juarez recognized for her Distinguished Service. Park Record (July 13, 2019) Herrick Juarez also reflected on how much her local librarians at the Salt Lake City Public Library helped her throughout her childhood. “They essentially raised me and showed me what potential they had to make positive impacts in peoples’ lives,” she said.
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June in Utah: The best photos from Tribune photographers Salt Lake Tribune (July 4, 2019) Jim Dabakis gets animated as he talks about air pollution alongside fellow candidate
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Salt Lake City Public Library Director's Report - July 22, 2019 David Ibarra during a debate for Salt Lake City’s mayoral race at the Salt Lake City Library on June 26. ●
Air Quality Takes Center Stage at First Major Salt Lake City Mayoral Candidate Debate. Salt Lake Tribune (June 26, 2019) The crowded field of candidates vying to lead Salt Lake City squeezed onstage together Wednesday night at the downtown library for the first major debate of the campaign. There, the mayoral hopefuls presented their own visions for the city — and though they seemed largely in step on issues relating to the inland port and homelessness, they disagreed on who was best positioned to manage air quality, which some candidates cited as the No. 1 issue facing the city.
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Early learning is a predictor of lifelong success, more Utah kids need to attend preschool, lawmakers told. Deseret News (June 21, 2019) Selected Photos from Salt Lake City Public Library: ○ Elyse Stoedter, claps and sings to her 10-month-old daughter Sophia, during storytime at the Anderson-Foothill Library in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 19, 2019. ○ Sherrie Mortensen, associate children’s librarian at the Anderson-Foothill Library in Salt Lake City, reads a book during storytime on Wednesday, June 19, 2019. ○ Elyse Stoedter, holds her 10-month-old daughter Sophia, as older children dance to a song during storytime at the Anderson-Foothill Library in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 19, 2019. ○ Sherrie Mortensen, associate children’s librarian at the Anderson-Foothill Library in Salt Lake City, uses a duck puppet as she sings a song during storytime on Wednesday, June 19, 2019.
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Inclusive Internship Initiative Begins Another Chapter American Libraries Magazine (June 18, 2019) Now in its third year, PLA’s III program offers summer internships designed to introduce students of diverse backgrounds to library careers … In addition to exposure to librarianship, interns will implement new projects at their libraries with help from their mentors. While their projects are still under development, many interns have started formulating ideas. Cade Longsdon, intern at Salt Lake City Library, said that he would like to focus on LGBTQ+ inclusion. “Libraries should be safe spaces,” he said.
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Where Is 'Yellowstone' Filmed? The Fascinating Story Behind the Real-Life Ranch Good Housekeeping (June 18, 2019) When watching Yellowstone, there's a lot that'll catch your eye. The Paramount Network series is full of drama, romance, horseback riding, shootouts, and well, Kevin Costner … In the season 2 premiere, Salt Lake City Hall and Salt Lake City Library will make appearances, playing the part of Montana State University.
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Salt Lake City Public Library Director's Report - July 22, 2019
Partnership Snapshot In June, the Library and Library Square hosted the 43rd annual Utah Arts Festival with over 70,000 attendees. A trio of 16' tall dinosaurs roamed the grounds to the delight (and fright in some cases) of all ages.
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& During an average month, Volunteers of America (VOA) staff have nearly 500 interactions with library patrons in need of critical services, which include: ● Information/referrals to and care coordination with other
July 1, 2018 -June 30, 2019 Services provided
19,102 Interactions
5,335 Individuals
676
● Information/Referrals ● Care Coordination ● Basic Needs ● Transportation (.5%)
agencies, such as shelters, mental and physical health care (including substance abuse services), housing, food banks, and employment services; ● Basic needs such as clothing, food, water, and hygiene items; ● Transportation to various services and agencies.
The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. —Maya Angelou Steve* experienced homelessness for about 10 years. He had been camping on Library Square and regularly came into the library to enjoy the space, get books, and chat with VOA staff to get his basic needs met. Steve had dreams and plans to open his own business but he didn’t have an address to register it. He had been wary of exploring housing options through VOA, but he developed a relationship with VOA staff and began to trust them. After one particularly hard day, he decided to begin the lengthy process of getting his own place. At the beginning of July 2019, after four months of paperwork and processing, Steve got his own place and began the process of registering his business with Salt Lake County. Steve says he appreciates the kind librarians and VOA staff, but he’s happy to have a place to call home where he can enjoy the books he checks out and work on his plans for the future.
Each year, VOA provides library patrons with thousands of services that transform their lives. *Real name changed to maintain privacy.
Salt Lake City Public Library | July 2019