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Assignment: Create a project, plan, or idea that captures the power of stories for librarians, patrons, and/or communities. Your report may be designed to introduce a storytelling-inspired proposal to your library director or admin team.

I chose to create a pitch presentation to a library administration staff for a storytelling project based on StoryCorps centered around public health.

The mid-20^th Century was a pivotal time for public health breakthroughs. April12, 2025 will be the 70^th anniversary of the first polio vaccine. When this vaccine was developed in 1955, polio was killing or paralyzing over half a million people worldwide each year. It was spreading and becoming more severe. This was followed by the measles vaccine being licensed in 1963 and the mumps vaccine in 1967.

In each of our communities, we have a generation of aging adults who have experienced a major shift in global health. At a time when public health messaging is getting obscured by social media disinformation among younger generations, connecting to personal stories about what life was like before these diseases were preventable can mend socio-political rifts and, perhaps, dispel disinformation.

This project is not just about bringing people and partners into the library, but making the library a facilitator of connection. Through community partnerships and dynamic programming, this program will build and highlight the library’s archives and promote listening. Listening is not commenting or reacting.

Listening is connection.

There are layers of community needs that can be met and healthy growth opportunities to be found with this project. The library is fully capable of doing it and doing it well.

Here is a link to my slides.

Interconnection is the theme of my Virtual Symposium contribution. I did a 3-2-1 approach to share 3 aha moments, 2 things I’m exploring, and 1 thing I’m doing.

(I erroneously wrote “Inspiration Report” on my slide deck – apologies for any confusion!)

I dove into this module while still collecting my many, many thoughts from the Martha Stewart documentary. (Highly recommend!) Though she was criticized (relentlessly) for creating a perception of perfection, her commercial success was rooted in teaching skills and making information accessible. She didn’t build her industry teaching people how to make money from their interests; she built her industry by permitting, educating, and encouraging people to do things that allowed them to simply enjoy living.

She argued her case to corporate partners: why shouldn’t everyone be able to attempt elaborate recipes, learn how to keep a garden, or enjoy making their home beautiful, regardless of their income or where they live?

And she has lived by her personal mantra: Learn something new every day.

Martha Stewart, a champion of lifelong learning.

I thought of this reading about Scandinavian attitudes around play which incorporate multigenerational play and exploration into urban landscapes. Cities are planned to include dynamic parks and buildings where people can come together intentionally or in transit to climb, explore, or just encounter a unique experience. Hanna Harris, the chief design officer of the City of Helsinki, says that play is “something that everyone has a right to – it is like a basic service of urban life.”

Libraries support curiosity and learning. Play is embodied curiosity.

In Dr. Stephens’s YLibrary presentation, he shared that the Chattanooga Public Library has a space dedicated to “prototyping, experimenting, and dreaming.” The US does not have a culture, in my experience, that values play without profit – it feels almost subversive to be able to dream, play, and experiment without a business plan or profit motive. Yara Shahidi touches on this in her Ted Talk, Let Curiosity Lead. She talks about how there comes a point in adulthood when we’re pressured to move away from being interested in many things and pick something to “get serious” about because our multiple interests are somehow incompatible. “Curiosities are labelled as distractions,” she observes, to our personal and societal detriment.

Libraries are spaces where we can freely follow our curiosity.  The library, as Dr. Stephens describes it, is a center for lifelong learning. As physical and virtual space, libraries democratize access to learning and experiences . None of this is possible without librarians dedicated to listening to patrons and evolving library services to meet community needs. Curiosity is unique to each community and each person. For some, play (embodied curiosity) looks like storytime or an in-person book club. For others, that play may look like learning a new language, watching foreign films, or taking a course to level up their Excel skills.

Because of libraries, we all have a chance to learn something new every day.
It’s a good thing.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are quickly evolving and becoming further enmeshed in information ecosystems. AI is more than ChatGPT – it is spellcheck, automated grammar suggestions, customer service chatbots, search engines, image generators, and more.

 When used skillfully and ethically, AI technologies can be powerful tools to democratize research and provide accessible resources and assistance to patrons. These are technological tools that, “put at the service of human intelligence,” can allow us to “do more, better, and faster, thanks to the support provided by AI.” As LIS professionals, it is our responsibility to stay current with the development of AI technologies and their potential applications and impacts in our schools, workplaces, and communities at large.

In this module’s reading list, I especially appreciated Barnard College’s structured approach to building and promoting AI literacy on its campus. The campus identified a need for AI literacy and formed several working groups and task forces to determine baseline knowledge, potential impacts, and growth opportunities for faculty, staff, and students. The campus developed a four-part framework to scaffold AI literacy efforts on campus:

1. Understand AI
2. Use and Apply AI
3. Analyze and Evaluate AI
4. Create AI

Each level of this framework includes Core Competencies, Key Concepts, and Reflection Questions. Overall, this framework can guide librarians and educators in creating programs, services, and resources that promote AI literacy in ways that meet their audience’s needs and literacy levels. Examples could include:

• Educational programming like literacy workshops that introduce definitions and applications of AI technologies. These workshops could help dispel misunderstandings about AI (no, AI is not a conscious being!) and empower patrons to explore tools independently.
• Hands-on experiences in workshops around using tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity.
• Resources like handouts, recordings, and LibGuides for patrons who want to explore independently or are more comfortable with asynchronous learning experiences.

As AI becomes increasingly integrated into daily tasks and research, LIS professionals must stay informed about its developments and applications. By promoting AI literacy and providing the necessary resources, LIS professionals can help meet needs and fill literacy gaps for the communities we serve.

Sources linked above:

Revisiting the Future: AI and the Future of Libraries

A Framework for AI Literacy

AI4People-An Ethical Framework for a Good AI Society: Opportunities, Risks, Principles, and Recommendations

Hyperlinking, by definition, is connecting.

By mission and purpose, public libraries in the US provide equitable access to information and services: “Equity of access…extends to proactive actions that ensure communities being served have access to the resources they need, regardless of aspects of their identities including age, race, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, disability status, or socioeconomic status.” (Bright, 2022, p. 67)

For this module, the digital divide remained top-of-mind for me. In many communities, public libraries are the hyperlinks facilitating equitable access to the resources, services, and experiences happening online.

Cultural and informational dialogue happens on and is driven by online platforms. For example, regardless of one’s opinion or use of TikTok, it’s nearly impossible to be a reader in the US and not be influenced by the dialogue happening on #BookTok (see Kelly Jensen’s article from this module’s reading As Seen on #BookTok: Inspiring Young Readers, TikTok Is a Boon for Books). For readers without the economic means to buy unlimited books, the library provides equitable access for folks to read the books AND join the conversation. For folks who want access to credible information on current events but cannot afford a New York Times or Economist subscription, the library can buy subscriptions and provide equitable access to important information.

The information, resources, services, and experiences that can be equitably accessed at the library are not consumables; they are gateways to the conversations and connections necessary for building communities.

Audra Williams and Charlie Muller’s article (Libraries Are Bridging the Digital Divide) on the Internet Society’s blog reports how libraries can (and do) connect communities to high-speed internet. Though California is the fifth largest economy in the world, there are significant wealth and infrastructure gaps across the state. According to a fact sheet developed by the Public Policy Institute of California:

• 85% of California households have high-speed or broadband internet access,
• 8 in 10 low-income and 2 in 3 rural households have broadband access at home. 80% of this population have devices in their home.

As LIS professionals, we can look at this reporting on a deeper level and ask questions such as:

• What about the 15% of California households without high-speed internet access? How many of those 85% can afford access?
• What infrastructure and outreach are needed to connect the 20% of low-income and rural Californians who do not have a device that connects to the Internet to a public library?

While it does not rest on librarians and libraries to solve every issue of equitable access, LIS professionals can initiate conversations and partnerships to take the proactive actions necessary to build community connections.

Libraries are equitable hyperlinks for the information, resources, and shared experiences necessary for healthy communities.

Additional reference not hyperlinked in the text above

Bright, K. (2022). Equity of access, diversity, and inclusion. In S. Hirsh (Ed.). Information services today : An introduction. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Here is my Assignment X presentation about Library 2.0 as infrastructure.

Here is a link to the slides in PDF format.