Suffolk Public Library’s Outreach and Program Services Team recently won the 2018 Virginia Library Association’s Public Library Innovator Award.

The award was presented Sept. 26 at VLA’s Scholarship and Awards Dinner in conjunction with its annual conference hosted at the Williamsburg Lodge.

This award recognizes public librarians or public library project teams who have made an outstanding contribution to advance the mission of a public library in Virginia through an innovative project, program or service.

“The OPS team strives to connect with people in their community every day through dynamic programming and outreach,” says Megan Mulvey, outreach and program services manager at Suffolk Public Library. “It is wonderful to be recognized for the work we have done to break down barriers to access in Suffolk.”

Suffolk Public Library’s OPS Team made it their mission to meet people where they are, educationally, emotionally and physically.

In order to bring the library out into the public, the OPS Team streamlined Suffolk Public Library’s outreach services through Library2Go services, which were essentially designed to bring the library to underserved areas in Suffolk, such as public housing neighborhoods, retirement and assisted living homes, and the rural areas throughout Suffolk. The primary purpose of Library2Go is to connect individuals and groups to information, materials, programs and services, and to increase community awareness about how the library can help them, especially those with very limited access to library resources.

Perhaps one of the best examples of how a library without walls and boundaries has taken on new audiences and locations is the prison re-entry outreach efforts. In 2016, OPS started planning a new program that focused on offering monthly re-entry and prison outreach services at local correctional centers. Today, this program focuses on developing the skills, tools and support to help incarcerated adults successfully get back into society.

The OPS Team continuously looks for new and inventive programs that will captivate and interest the Suffolk community. Offering the excitement of adventure that introduces people to new experiences outside the walls of the library has sparked a lot of positive interest in a meetup called Adventure Book Club. The Adventure Book Club is a community-focused program that has provided great experiences for the community to learn and enjoy local things to do while allowing members to broaden their minds and try different types of books.

To learn more about the Suffolk Public Library, visit www.suffolkpubliclibrary.com. Follow the library on Twitter @SufPubLib and check for updates on Facebook at facebook.com/suffolkpubliclibrary.