Reflection Blogging: Hyperlinked Communities and Reaching All Users
One of the interesting points I learned from in Module 5 Hyperlinked Communities was from one of the readings. In the chapter “Reaching all Users” from the Heart of Librarianship, it opens with a study that attempts to evaluate how much people value the libraries in their community. A large majority said that their community would be impacted if their library were to close, but significantly less people said that they themselves would feel a major impact.
Perhaps many people don’t think the services that libraries would provide are relevant to them, or they don’t know that libraries serve more than just readers. In fact, that is what I’ve personally seen when I tell people I meet that I work at a public library. I usually get asked if I work with books all day as a librarian (I then have to explain that I am not a librarian), and some people express to me that they are afraid of going back to a library after not paying an overdue fine as a child. I then also let them know that our library system got rid of overdue fines a few years ago and that people are still welcome to visit libraries even if they did have a fine on their account. I’ve also noticed that people are consistently surprised to know that we offer many services, programs, and classes that are not book centered, and that are completely free. For a long time even after I started working at a library, I was unaware of the services the larger branches in our system offered such as musical instrument lending, availability of the entire adobe suite in makerspaces, or the opportunities to get free museum passes.
That study in the reading showed to me the importance of outreach to let people know of our services and to show that libraries are for a wide range of communities and activities. We are hubs for all kinds of people, and not just restricted to books and solitary activities.
I’ve seen outreach take place for my library system, from small visits to schools and hospitals, to larger system wide ones. For example at the Canadian National Exhibition, an annual community fair that takes place in the summer in Toronto, our library system has booked booths to promote our libraries, with activities and games available for anyone that comes by.
As digital technology continues to become our main source of finding information, finding our community members, and a basic necessity, I continue to see the importance of libraries adapting in unique ways to create services, programs, and initiatives as well as to promote these to the general public. I think this includes paying attention to where people are finding community, and being quick to adapt to new technology as a way to keep up.
Here’s newsletter from fall of last year that includes some of the programs and outreach that has been done, including the one at the Canadian National Exhibition
2 Comments
Sam Diaz
Hi Joyce! It’s always interesting to hear that when someone asks about a library staff member’s job duties at a library they assume the job is primarily to work with books all day. I think as you mentioned this speaks to the lack of outreach done for all that the library has to offer and the untapped potential of interests we could be catering to. I also agree that it’s important to pay attention to where people are finding community and how we can serve those smaller communities. How do you think libraries could outreach new programs to groups who have not gone inside yet? Thank you for sharing!
Michael Stephens
@joyce287 You tap inmto something that I see often: bad memeories of the library when young can create library anxiety or avoidance for adults. Thnakls for sharing all the cool outreach ideas.