{"id":54,"date":"2026-10-27T04:42:06","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T04:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/inmyhyperlinkedera\/?p=54"},"modified":"2026-10-27T04:42:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T04:42:06","slug":"blogging-new-models-new-experiences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/inmyhyperlinkedera\/2026\/10\/27\/blogging-new-models-new-experiences\/","title":{"rendered":"Blogging: New Models, New Experiences"},"content":{"rendered":"

People who are \u201csurprised\u201d that libraries are still around, obviously haven\u2019t made their way into a library lately.\u00a0 Maybe past experiences shaped in their head of what a library is – book depository with stern librarians ready to shush them at any point- but happily these notions are wrong. A successful library should be doing so much more than serving books to the community.\u00a0 Yes, we have wi-fi and computers, no, not everybody has access to the internet or a computer at home.\u00a0 Yes, we offer a safe place free of the environmental elements that surround you.\u00a0 Yes, we have restrooms. But we offer so much more.<\/span><\/p>\n

The “New Models” modules offered a lot of examples of library service that you can find throughout the world.\u00a0 In Canada, you can find kits aimed for the use by dementia community members. At the Berkeley Public Library, you can have an easy access library card which doesn\u2019t require you to have a home address.\u00a0 At Salt Lake City\u2019s library you can join a tai chi class.\u00a0 These are examples of some of the innovative and imaginative ways librarians are facilitating connections within their communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Image courtesy of Anythink Library<\/p><\/div>\n

Not only do libraries offer you things and services, but they offer the opportunity of connection in a safe place where it may not happen otherwise.\u00a0 One simple but impactful program I watched during this module was Anythink Library’s \u201c<\/span>Get to Know Your Neighbor<\/span><\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 This takes a<\/span> simple idea and connects community members by having \u201cneighbors\u201d ask questions which in turn causes a natural conversation and connection between two people who may not have otherwise connected.\u00a0 Questions are created and placed in a fishbowl then a question is randomly selected and a conversation ensues.\u00a0 This is a very simple idea but the connections formed are incredible.\u00a0 Different people of different ages and backgrounds get to start a conversation with a single question.\u00a0 Sharing their answers leads to a human exchange of ideas, stories, and a feeling of connection.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know about you, but having human to human interactions are becoming less frequent.\u00a0 Want to have groceries delivered to you? Use InstantCart.\u00a0 Want to buy brand new curtains? Use Amazon.\u00a0 Want to have your favorite dish at your favorite restaurant without leaving your house? Use DoorDash.\u00a0 Technology like Waymo is even transporting people in self-driving vehicles.\u00a0 You can go a day without conversing with a human easily today.\u00a0 That starts stripping away those social skills we learned as children and young adults.\u00a0 Pretty soon, you find out that it just feels uncomfortable to socialize.\u00a0 But \u201cGet to Know Your Neighbor\u201d takes that pressure off.\u00a0 You sit on a couch with another person and you select a question.\u00a0 You are given the opportunity to talk and to listen.\u00a0 You cannot put a price on that kind of opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo courtesy of Entertainment Earth<\/p><\/div>\n

As a society we are moving towards technology and convenience and there is nothing wrong with that but as humans we seek and crave connections.\u00a0 Maybe you\u2019re a little rusty?\u00a0 Come to the library and you are sure to find a program that will give you the opportunity to connect with your neighbors.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People who are \u201csurprised\u201d that libraries are still around, obviously haven\u2019t made their way into a library lately.\u00a0 Maybe past experiences shaped in their head of what a library is – book depository with stern librarians ready to shush them at any point- but happily these notions are wrong. A successful library should be doing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":880,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,8,16,7,19,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","category-community-engagement","category-conversations","category-hyperlinked-community","category-hyperlinked-library","category-new-models","category-reflection-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/inmyhyperlinkedera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/inmyhyperlinkedera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/inmyhyperlinkedera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/inmyhyperlinkedera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/880"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/inmyhyperlinkedera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/inmyhyperlinkedera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/inmyhyperlinkedera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions\/58"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/inmyhyperlinkedera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/inmyhyperlinkedera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/inmyhyperlinkedera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}