“How we help people make sense of a very confusing technological world filled with information streams will be oner [sic] of our primary duties.” – Michael Stephens (2014)
With technology being an everyday part of our lives, digital literacy skills are important for everyone to learn. This is where many public libraries come in. They are no longer only repositories of books where people come in to learn on their own, but are now also classrooms where community members can come to learn together. Take the Chicago Public Library (CPL) as an example. After conducting librarian and patron surveys, they found that many adults struggled with the skills necessary to be successful in this new, digitally-dependent world (Digital Promise, 2016). To fill this gap, they created Learning Circles. These learning circles are free study groups running for three to eight weeks with a facilitator covering a variety of topics from basic computer skills to learning about AI and include a plethora of other non-technology related courses. As @michael predicted in 2014, helping people make sense of this technological world is now one of the primary duties of libraries, particularly public ones.
But this learning does not just have to happen inside the library. “As our roles evolve, we become facilitators of learning that’s fluid, flexible, and centered on the user” (Stephens, n.d.). That means that sometimes, we also have to meet people where they are. We can see this in multiple ways – my favorite being the Biblioburro in Colombia that goes to rural communities to provide access to books. But a closer example to home is at the public library that I work at: our IT team visits a nearby senior living community to provide basic smartphone and computer help and classes. These services became available because of community feedback that let us know that this specific community wanted and needed basic digital skills classes but that many of them were unable to make it to in-library classes. We are now able to meet the needs of this community where they are. The library is still a classroom, but that classroom now also has the ability to provide learning everywhere either through travelling or technology.
Libraries have always been about providing access, but with access now including technology, our roles have to evolve to teach people how to use these resources too. Access to resources without knowledge on how to use them is not really access at all. In trying to embrace the idea of a Hyperlinked Library, we must always make space for learning inside and outside of libraries and always lead with the goal to connect with one another.
References
ayokaproductions. (2009, September 15). Biblioburro- the donkey library
. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuTswmx9TQU
Digital Learning (2016, January 28). The library as a gateway to 21st century skills. https://digitalpromise.org/2016/01/28/chicago-public-library-the-library-as-a-gateway-to-21st-century-skills/
Nygren, Å. (2014). The public library as a community hub for connected learning. IFLA. https://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1014/1/167-nygren-en.pdf
Peer 2 Peer University. (n.d.). AI for everyone. https://learningcircles.p2pu.org/en/signup/online-1533/
Peer 2 Peer University. (n.d.). Beginner computer class 101. https://learningcircles.p2pu.org/en/signup/blackstone-branch-chicago-public-library-1058/
Peer 2 Peer University. (n.d.). Learning circles hosted by Chicago Public Library. https://www.p2pu.org/chicago/
Stephens, M. (n.d.). Infinite learning: Learning everywhere. Info 287 – The Hyperlinked Library. https://287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu/infinite-learning-learning-everywhere/
Stephens, M. (2014). Ylibrary? Making the case for the library as space for infinite learning. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4zt1yliwb2ffzr8euix2p/YLibraryInfiniteLearning.pdf?rlkey=m0v6lkd43ufilkp5aktawhlpr&e=1&dl=0