Reflection on Infinite Learning: Learning Everywhere

When reviewing my notes from the videos for the Infinite Learning modules, I kept returning to the idea of learning everywhere. This is what my notes look like:

As you can see, they are not super detailed but they distill down the elements of learning everywhere that resonated with me. What does “learning everywhere” mean? To me it means that we have a multitude of learning opportunities every single day, regardless of location. But I am curious about different locations of learning, especially library locations. 

Thinking about locations and the physical places in which we learn, I became curious about unusual libraries. A quick Google search of “unusual libraries” was interesting enough (https://electricliterature.com/the-weirdest-libraries-around-the-world/, for example) but still didn’t seem to capture the essence of what I was looking for. I started wondering what libraries and learning look like in communities that are different from mine, especially in reference to location.

I have always lived in an urban setting with easy access to a library. My “everywhere” has never included a small community where there might be only a few hundred people living nearby. So I did another quick Google search for “rural libraries” and I found what I was looking for and so much more. My intent was to find a straightforward article or maybe a librarian’s blog that would describe rural libraries in a nutshell. Instead I found a rich website supporting the results of a study that was conducted between 2018 – 2021 by a team of librarians and researchers to answer the following questions: “Are libraries a component of social wellbeing in resource-poor geographies? If so, what practices do they employ?” 

Gustina, M., Guinnee, E., Decker, H., & Bonney, R., Rural Library & Social Wellbeing Project

My immediate reaction to a cursory exploration of this project was that it embodies the spirit of the Hyperlinked Library in so many ways. It places an emphasis on wellbeing, community, transparency, curiosity, and participatory service, to name just a few. I felt like @michael could and should have been part of the research team!

A deeper dive into the report and the website provided so much information about rural communities, their shared values, and how much positive impact a library has within each community. Overwhelmingly, the library serves a prominent place and conduit for social connection, which is consistently shown to be a most important aspect of each of the represented communities.

I admit that there is so much quantitative and qualitative data on this website that I haven’t finished going through it. The preprint of the study is available for download here: Pathways to Wellbeing: Public Library Service in Rural Communities. Table 3 summarizes some of the questions asked of the rural library directors. I chuckled a bit when I read that when asked why people come to the library, 83% of the directors responded with “to chat with a nice person who works for the library.” (The published journal article doesn’t include this table.)

In relation to some of our recent readings and modules, the study points out that rural libraries often serve as the repository of stories that are important to the local community. Locally, those stories might be preserved through physical items (yearbooks and trophies) or they might be preserved through community events and programming related to community history and culture. 

The study results themselves preserve some of these stories through the Case Studies that are part of the website. Click on any one of the Case Studies and you’ll be provided with details about that particular rural community and library. Click on the StoryMap Tour Bar and you’ll find yourself immersed in a map-based tour that includes photos and information about the local community – stores, churches, schools, and of course the library.

https://rurallibraries.org/story_map/pueblo-of-abiquiu-library-cultural-center-abiquiu-new-mexico/

Although the study is intended to illuminate the work of rural libraries, much of the information can easily be applied to urban settings as well. The importance of community cannot be understated, nor can the impact that a local library can make in serving its chosen community. We are fortunate that the authors of the study have provided a rich set of resources to help libraries evaluate their communities and the impact that a responsive library can have on the health and wellbeing of their patrons and their unique locations. 

I encourage you to explore the Toolkit which includes suggestions and examples from the rural libraries involved. The tools cover a broad span of topics including (but not limited to) Community Support Assessment, Is Everyone Welcome at Your Library, Nature: Going Beyond the Walls of the Library, and Youth Empowerment. The tool for Creating Community-Building Events by Kate Kosior of Cranberry Lake, New York (population 200) describes a photo scavenger hunt she created where participants were asked to locate and visit the places in a series of photos she had taken throughout their community, fostering social connections while promoting local businesses, culture, and history. 

I can easily imagine trying this fun activity with any type of library – public, school, academic, or other. I’m sure my middle school students would have so much fun and learn new things while exploring their campus or neighborhood in this manner. I hope they will prove to all of us that learning can take place anywhere – and everywhere!

References

Gustina, M., Guinee, E., Bonney, R., & Decker. H. (2022). Pathways to well-being: Public library service in rural communities. Journal of New Librarianship, 7(2), 159–189. https://doi.org/10.33011/newlibs/11/14

Kosier, K. (2021). Creating community-building events.You build pathways to wellbeing: Rural libraries & social wellbeing toolkit workbook. https://rurallibraries.org/toolkits/

Rural Libraries & Social Wellbeing. (n.d.). https://rurallibraries.org/

Stephens, M. (2022). Hyperlinked library learning everywhere [Video lecture]. https://sjsu-ischool.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=012f4ddc-7161-407c-b277-af34011b768c