Star Tribune
Meet the women who launched the St. Paul library’s Laser Loons
When Eye On St. Paul thinks about memes and videos that go viral, what springs to mind are cat antics, trending dance steps and outrageous sports feats. Not library cards.
But viral is exactly what happened to the St. Paul Public Library late last year when staff members launched the Laser Loon library card, inspired by a beloved design suggested for the new state flag. An effort to coax a few more folks to use the city’s libraries quickly became a sensation and brought in thousands of new users. Eye On St. Paul recently chatted with Stacy Opitz and Claire Huber of the library system’s marketing department to delve into the origins of perhaps the coolest library card ever and ask about what might be coming next.
This interview was edited for length.
Q: Who came up with the laser-eyed loon card?
Stacy: It was Claire’s idea. We, the marketing team, had been thinking for a while about ways to bring more people into our libraries. And I think the L.A. library had done limited edition cards based upon the anniversary of hip hop. And so we had been keeping our eye open for what’s St. Paul’s thing or what’s Minnesota’s thing and Claire raised up the Laser Loon.
Claire: I kind of proposed the ideas, almost thinking not anybody would take me up on it, right? I was like, “Oh, wouldn’t it be funny if we just did a limited edition card with this Laser Loon on it?” And sure enough, we have a culture here at the library of saying yes to things, trying things, you know, experimenting and learning from projects. And so this was one of them that we said, “Yeah, let’s, let’s give it a try.”
Q: What was the goal here?
Stacy: Claire and I are on the marketing and communications team. Our big job is to tell the library story and make sure residents are aware of and using their library. Some folks in our community might still be thinking that libraries are just warehouses for books, right? We offer so much more. Of course, library cards are an important piece of using our spaces. If you want to access materials and some of our other services, you do need a card. To get more people in St. Paul signed up for cards, that was our big goal.
Q: Did that happen?
Stacy: Absolutely.
Claire: Our original goal when we first started this was to get a total of 1,000 residents a new card — or to come in and grab one of those stickers [that covers the old card]. Our total at the end of the campaign was 5,620 residents coming in to get a card or a sticker. Just in the first day of launching this campaign, we saw a 295% increase in library card signups compared to 2022.
Q: Why Laser Loon?
Claire: I think the loon itself is such an emblem of the north, of Minnesota. It’s such a cool animal and one that’s so unique to our state. And then I thought: A laser shooting out of its eye just adds this level of quirkiness, a silliness, a kind of “We’re here and we’re strong and we’re cool too.” You know, I went to school out west, and people often talked about Minnesota being flyover country and things like that. So it’s kind of like an illustration of our strength and being a cool state and worthy of attention.
The way that we came about making this design was I just looked up how to draw a loon online and ended up drawing it on my computer and using this step-by-step tutorial. And I just added a line to have it be the laser shooting out of the loon’s eye. A lot of the other community submissions that came had loons, even shooting lasers out of their eyes. So, that’s where the original inspiration came from. We wanted to tie it back to the library, so we added “read” at the bottom of the card.
Stacy: Libraries are constantly evolving with what the community needs. And community engagement processes are a big part of the work that we do. That’s how Minnesota developed its new state flag. And so we value that. We understand that and we wanted to celebrate and lift up the creativity that we were seeing.
Q: What’s next?
Stacy: We’ve been asking that ourselves and we’ve had staff and community members sharing ideas with us since the loon. There will be something, but it’s not clear to us yet. Part of the magic here is looking to community for what the thing is that is bringing joy and bringing us together.
Q: Where can people go to make suggestions?
Stacy: They can email me or Claire at Stacy.Opitz@ci.stpaul.mn.us and Claire.Huber@ci.stpaul.mn.us.
Claire: They can also contact us on social media too, at https://x.com/stpaullibrary?lang=en or https://www.linkedin.com/in/ckhuber/. We check our our DMs often.
Some take him up on it and fret when he’s not around.
“It is nice to be missed and be part of the school’s culture,” Arzola said. But mostly, he added, he wants kids to know that police aren’t around just for when the bad stuff happens. He’ll hand out his stickers and bracelets, even a trading card bearing his image. Then, they’ll talk about dogs and family.
School resource officer Al Arzola talks to students in his office at John Adams Middle School in Rochester on Oct. 11. (Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Two months ago, Rochester played host to a three-day training session for new SROs from across the state — an event organized by the Minnesota School Safety Center. On the final day, the 26 officers learned about surveillance challenges at the other school where Arzola works: Dakota Middle School.
It is a beautiful building with a scenic view. There is a lot of glass, too. Arzola, handling the role of instructor and tour guide, took the group outside and noted how one could look straight through the entrance to the large groups that gather inside. There were no curbs in front, either.
“There is nothing stopping any vehicle whatsoever from going through my front doors,” Arzola told the officers. “Law enforcement wasn’t talked to before this building was made. It was kind of like, ‘Here it is. You’re the SRO. Do what you do.’”
He showed them his office, too, which is separate from the main office and near those of other school support staff members. That makes sense, said Jenny Larrive, SRO coordinator for the Minnesota School Safety Center, given than SROs spend more time connecting with youth than on actual law enforcement.
“The basic rule in Minnesota is you cannot preemptively post law enforcement at a polling place,” he said. “A city can’t say, ‘Wow, Precinct Two, there’s a lot of intensity there, let’s just put a cop at the door.’”
Simon doesn’t go deep into the details on security, though. “I don’t want to give a total road map to the bad guys,” he said.
But testimony at the Capitol last year on behalf of the new law bolstering protections for election and polling place workers indicated there’s room for concern. One election worker was followed to her car by an angry voter; the head of elections in another county was called repeatedly on her home phone during off hours, and an official was lunged at by an aggrieved voter, forcing her to call the local sheriff.
Those who violate the law could now face civil damages and penalties of up to $1,000 for each violation.
The Brennan Center survey indicated more than four in 10 election leaders were concerned about recruiting enough poll workers due to threats of harassment and intimidation. This includes doxing — publishing a person’s personal information online in a threatening manner — and swatting, fake emergency calls that result in an armed response being sent to someone’s home.
“Election officials are working to prepare for everything right now,” said Liz Howard, director of partnership engagement at the Brennan Center. “More than 90% of election officials have made improvements to election security since 2020.”
Star Tribune
Daylight saving time ends next weekend. This is how to prepare for the potential health effects
The good news: You will get a glorious extra hour of sleep. The bad: It’ll be dark as a pocket by late afternoon for the next few months in the U.S.
Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. local time next Sunday, Nov. 3, which means you should set your clock back an hour before you go to bed. Standard time will last until March 9 when we will again ”spring forward” with the return of daylight saving time.
That spring time change can be tougher on your body. Darker mornings and lighter evenings can knock your internal body clock out of whack, making it harder to fall asleep on time for weeks or longer. Studies have even found an uptick in heart attacks and strokes right after the March time change.
”Fall back” should be easier. But it still may take a while to adjust your sleep habits, not to mention the downsides of leaving work in the dark or trying exercise while there’s still enough light. Some people with seasonal affective disorder, a type of depression usually linked to the shorter days and less sunlight of fall and winter, may struggle, too.
Some health groups, including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine, have said it’s time to do away with time switches and that sticking with standard time aligns better with the sun — and human biology.
Most countries do not observe daylight saving time. For those that do — mostly in Europe and North America — the date that clocks are changed varies.
Two states — Arizona and Hawaii — don’t change and stay on standard time.
Here’s what to know about the twice yearly ritual.
