{"id":658,"date":"2016-01-31T07:59:42","date_gmt":"2016-01-31T15:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bclaconnectrev.wpengine.com\/perspectives\/?p=658"},"modified":"2017-02-01T11:55:37","modified_gmt":"2017-02-01T19:55:37","slug":"how-to-turn-150","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bclaconnect.ca\/perspectives\/2016\/01\/31\/how-to-turn-150\/","title":{"rendered":"How to turn 150"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New Westminster Public Library opened its doors on Aug. 15, 1865, becoming the first library open to the public in British Columbia. But how do you throw a 150th<\/sup> birthday party? Nobody lives to 150, so there were a lot of unknowns.<\/p>\n

The first question to answer was “what does this anniversary really mean?” The library decided it was not so much about the past as about building a future on the foundation of the last 150 years. The celebration focus became the next<\/em> 150 years. The organizing committee chose to focus on things that will be the library\u2019s mainstays for the coming decades: technology, reading, art and culture, and the local community. The planning process resulted in a year-long calendar of events.<\/p>\n

150th Library Cards<\/strong><\/p>\n

Early in the year the library released a redesigned library card, for the first time offering keychain fobs. The new cards provided opportunities to recruit new members via social media. The library posted pictures of the new cards, tagging active New Westminster bloggers and Twitter users, who then spread them to their followers. The fobs proved a very popular feature \u2014 some existing members even \u201clost\u201d their cards and paid the $2 replacement fee just to get the fob.<\/p>\n

Page 150<\/strong><\/p>\n

While all of the anniversary events had digital elements, the Page 150 program was the only one conducted entirely via social media. Staff posted a picture of a book accompanied by the first complete sentence on page 150 and a link to the book\u2019s catalogue record. About 150 titles were sent out this way via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.<\/p>\n

150 Reading Challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n

Staff were polled to come up with reading challenges that covered a variety of formats, genres, and reading habits. For example:<\/p>\n