LIBRARIAN on call

by Liisa Sjoblom, Redmond Community Librarian

March Happenings

Data For Business

When putting together business and marketing plans you always need to determine if your product or service has a market. Th is is where information about your customers and competition is so important.

So where do you go to locate this information? Many turn to Google and type in some keywords and hope for the best. That works, but how do you know the data is credible? How old is the data? Th is is when you have to carefully review who is producing the information. There are thousands of places to look for data – trade associations, state and federal governments, market research sites, and more. The shear amount can be overwhelming.

Libraries can help. How do we do that? One way is by providing access to subscription resources that pull data from reputable sources and package them together on an easy to use website. We also seek out authoritative websites and include them on the research and learning pages of our website (https://www. deschuteslibrary.org/research/business). Finally, we take questions and do individualized research when asked.

If you need help wading through the ocean of data sources, contact us through the Deschutes Public Library’s Book-a-Librarian service (https://www. deschuteslibrary.org/services/book-a-librarian). We do the research and then send it to you via email. We can also meet with you for up to 60 minutes to talk about the data points that were discovered. Call for an appointment at 541-617-7080 or fi ll out the form online at www.deschuteslibrary.org/ask.

DemographicsNow

Want to know how much households in Redmond spend on coffee annually? How about the number of households with families in Deschutes County? DemographicsNow (https://bit.ly/DPLDemoNow) provides access demographic reports and maps on any geography for information including income, housing, race, age, education, retail spending, consumer expenditures, businesses and more. It helps start-ups and business owners, size market potential for goods and services, uncover household buying patterns, and identify new business locations. For more information and details about this rich resource see the resource guide at https://bit.ly/DemoNowGuide.

Novel Idea

When the A Novel Idea community read program first started 20 years ago it was with a simple question in mind: What would happen if everyone in Deschutes County read the same book? The goal was to engage with the community through thought-provoking and relevant programming and wrap it all up with a free and accessible visit from the author. That first year, a small committee of five readers looked for a book with regional roots and selected David James Duncan’s The River Why. The weeklong A Novel Idea event coincided with National Library Week and ended with a capstone presentation by Duncan; 400 people took part in seven programs.

As we came to the end of our second decade of A Novel Idea, we knew a celebration was in order. Picking just one book to mark this tremendous milestone was a daunting task. We began to consider the possibility of bringing back authors from past years, and to our delight, David James Duncan, María Amparo Escandón, Peter Heller, and Anne Griffin all said yes. We are excited and honored to bring all four authors to Central Oregon on April 29 for the main event, and to offer you more than two dozen engaging programs in the month before their visit.

For more information about A Novel Idea check out the “A Novel Idea” website at www.deschuteslibrary.org/novelidea for author information and event listings.

Redmond Library News

The Redmond Library is officially under construction after six years of planning and preparation. The new 40,000-square-foot library is slated to open in fall 2024. The current construction timeline is as follows:

Week of January 30, 2023: Exterior landscape removal began

Week of February 6, 2023: Exterior and interior demolition began

March 2023: Groundbreaking ceremony and commemorative brick giveaway (date to come)

Week of April 3, 2023: New construction begins

The temporary Redmond Library location is now open at 2127 S Highway 97 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. In addition to providing materials like books and DVDs, this space also offers a small meeting room, public computers and printers, seating areas and familiar artwork like the bronze “reading girl” statue.

For details, floor plans, and updates see https://www. deschuteslibrary.org/futurelibraries/redmond.