Staff members in the Santa Clarita, Calif., Arts Department and Public Library have innovated to provide educational and engaging programs for local residents during the pandemic and deserve praise for their efforts, writes City Manager Ken Striplin. Online entertainment provided by city staff drew an average online audience of 1,300 a month, compared to its usual in-person attendance of 81 people, Striplin notes.

Why it matters: This story from Monday's WYWW about libraries reinventing themselves prompted not only a reader poll (see the results at the bottom of today's newsletter), but also this email from reader Eric Schoenfeld:

Hi Sean ... I read with great interest today your item in the WYWW SmartBrief about libraries reinventing themselves. I'm on the board of directors of the Warren (Connecticut) Public Library, which is trying not just to reinvent itself, but to rebuild itself. The Warren Public Library is more than 100 years old and the library building itself is almost 90 (It was the town's elementary school for years. In fact, the chairman of the library board went to school there when she was a little girl).

We have embarked on a project to make the building handicap-accessible (new entryway and renovated bathrooms), along with replacing the ancient steam boiler with a new heating system, and a host of other repairs and renovations. We're applying for a variety of grants, and one amazing benefactor donated $10,000 as "seed money" for the building fund, to attract matching dollars. But as you might imagine, in a town of just over 14-hundred people, raising the funds for a makeover like this is an almost insurmountable task. (Another board member did some research and found that our first librarian made 25-cents per afternoon worked. The current staff doesn't make a whole hell of a lot more than that now.)

If you'd care to make a pitch on our behalf to your very generous WYWW audience, we'd really appreciate it if folks would go to our website and click on the "Donate" link.

Thanks for considering us.
- Eric

When I explained to Eric that I wasn't sure how much help WYWW readers would be able to offer, he reminded me of the famous quote from Wayne Gretzky: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

So if you feel like helping rebuild a small-town library, now you know how and where you can do it.

Patrons of the Somerville, Mass., Public Library system who struggle with homelessness, drug abuse and other problems can now get help on-site from a social worker. Hired in partnership with the Cambridge Health Alliance, Afsaneh Moradi will counsel and make referrals to services while training library personnel.