STUDIO RHODE WOONSOCKET

We've been setting up at various community events and reaching out to local organizations and businesses to partner on this project and offer our library expertise and services to their organization. Below are some of our photos taken at these events. Plaza Village                                                                         PACE Organization of Rhode Island                                             ...

Woonsocket, RI --- Woonsocket Harris Library Assistant Director Margaret McNulty spoke with Dave Richards from WOON 1240 AM Woonsocket Radio at the St. John's Romanian Orthodox festival.  McNulty talked about the importance of the "My Woonsocket Life" oral history project, what questions they are asking respondents, and other pertinent information. In May of 2017, the Woonsocket Harris Public Library won a state-wide contest sponsored by the Rhode Island Office of Innovation, and the Rhode Island State Library office of Information Services to come up with a way to come up with a creative way for public libraries to engage residents with technology and training in the digital age.  The winning idea was to collect 200 video interviews from city residents to help the City of Woonsocket create its comprehensive plan for future planning and economic development. The Woonsocket Harris Public Library also received 40 iPads, funding to convert a study room into a soun...

Leslie Page, Director of Woonsocket Harris Public Library, displays some of the new computer gear the library won to stage a demonstration project about how libraries can become more relevant in the digital age. By Russ Olivo, Staff Writer  Woonsocket, RI --- If you could change one thing about the city to make it a better place to live, what would it be? It’s not just an academic question.The top librarians at Woonsocket Harris Public Library really want to know. They’re on a mission to collect the stories of scores of city residents – focusing on their fondest memories, what they like best about the city and what might be done to improve the quality of life. “We’re doing the outreach right now and we want people to come forward,” says Library Director Leslie Page. “We’re going to hopefully use what we learn to help the city with the comprehensive plan. We decided that what we wanted to do was ask people in the city to tell us their stories.” The effort is p...

Contributed by Studio Rhode Team Member Margaret McNulty On January 23, 2017, Governor Gina Raimondo announced   the Studio Rhode Next Generation Libraries Challenge, an innovative approach to supporting public libraries with new technology and training to engage with Rhode Islanders in the digital age.  After examining the application details of the Studio Rhode Next Generation Library Challenge initiative, a partnership of the  RI Office of Innovation and the RI Office of Library and Information Services , Leslie Page, the Harris Library Executive Director, approached me with an enterprising idea to re-imagine the Harris Library.  How could we better serve our community and transform the library from a traditional library into a community hub through the use of technology? Taking that question and facilitating a project for it could be a bit challenging, as the project would have to illustrate the  power of libraries at a differen...

Library Director Leslie Page unloads new devices to be used in a new project documenting residents’ stories By Sandy Seoane, Staff Writer   Woonsocket, RI -- City residents should prepare to share stories about life in Woonsocket and their hopes for the city’s future. A new online library exhibit will document local history and serve as a tool for future city planners.  Woonsocket Harris Public Library has won the “Studio Rhode Next Generation Library Challenge,” a grant competition run by the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services and the Office of Innovation that asked public library directors across the state to submit a unique plan to transform their space from a traditional facility into a community hub more suited to the 21st century. Assistant Director Margaret McNulty worked with Director Leslie Page to develop an idea for the Clinton Street facility and came up with the “digital creation studio,” a space where local redients will create...