Goings on at Otis

June began with our receipt of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service at the White House in Washington, D.C. It was an extraordinary experience and reflects hard work on the part of many people including staff, board and the Friends. After being awarded the National Medal a reasonable question is: “what’s next for Otis Library?” The succinct answer is we will continue to do exactly what helped us achieve this distinction: assess community needs often and carefully; emphasize excellent services and programs, articulate a strategic vision and display fiscal prudence.

The Otis Library's collection of digitized historical photographs is now available for public viewing and can be accessed using the link "Flickr Photos" on the library's website. Once you’re on the library's Flickr page, click on the "Albums" tab to access the approximately 650 digital images contained in the seven different albums currently available. Click on any album and peruse the photographs within or click on specific photos and open them in their own window. Clicking in the center of each photo activates the "zoom" function and enlarges the image on the screen.

This is an ongoing project with more photographs and albums to be added as they are digitized and processed for viewing online. Mr. McNair created the link to our Flickr page on the Otis library website, which will provide ease of access for the public. The library also offers a 360 view of its interior thanks to Mr. McNair and Google. This affords viewers an overview of our service areas and is a wonderful introduction to the library. You can view them by going to Google and searching for Otis Library Norwich and clicking on See Inside.

An especially important element of ensuring Otis Library’s continued success and status as a responsive community asset will be the opportunity afforded by our participation this summer and fall in the Aspen Institute’s strategic planning program Rising to the Challenge: Re-envisioning Public Libraries. Beginning this summer Otis will be one of a small number of Connecticut libraries using this platform to update and extend their strategic plan. This is an excellent opportunity to keep Otis Library at the forefront of library development.