Learning is awesome and I appreciate the different opportunities libraries give us to learn more in our daily lives, whether it is access to a language learning app, free online classes, or in person workshops (and so on).
@crlhayd said “The common theme throughout all of the articles is that librarians are here to facilitate learning opportunities ”
This was said perfectly, and I completely agree with it, so I wanted to share it.
Sometimes it seems that there is all this information out there, all these learning opportunities and chances to try new things and libraries open up their arms to you and say “come on in and try something new.” While exciting, that can also be scary and intimidating to some people. Sometimes there is TOO much available to go through and you don’t know where to begin.
This can be where librarians come into things. Librarians are a bridge in a sense. Someone comes in with a question (any kind, whether informational or how-to) and the librarian has to connect them to the right information to get the answer. This might be a book, an article, a website, a class, an app, etc. But we can’t just say “have at it” and move onto something else. We need to be sure that what we show them is useful, and that they are able to access it and get something out of it. We might need to check up on them the next time we see them, or may need to reach out if possible to see if they still have questions.
This article talks a bit more about the changing reference services and how it’s great that we have all these answers, but we also need to be able to hear the questions that need to be asked. It is suggested that libraries should market themselves as places of learning, and that it is important for librarians to be out there in the community to hear people and what they are asking.
I love the thought of librarians in the wild…seeking out information needs and making amazing connections.
Denise,
This is why I love roving librarians, because they are always moving about the stacks and looking for people to help that seem lost. As an academic library intern, I was always walking the stacks, and I would constantly find someone that seemed lost or needed help. Sometimes they would come up to me, but many times I had to come up to them. I love your thoughts on taking this even further and “walking the stacks” of the community and bringing in new patrons.