Reflection Blog: Infinite Learning, Meeting People Where They Are
Today’s classroom has no walls. Instead, learning is fixed into everyday life. In the Infinite Learning: Learning Everywhere module, Michael Stephens emphasizes that the Hyperlinked Library embodies a willingness to meet people where they are. This truly means bringing learning to the people in the ways they find most accessible, whether this is via digital platform, in community centers, parks and spaces, or even the streets. Meeting people where they are can be physical, social, or cultural. It is about recognizing that systemic barriers exist even in democratic spaces like public libraries and creating equitable access. It is about building trust to facilitate learning, as people are more likely to engage and participate in learning when they feel seen, understood, and included. Finally, it is about creating learning and services that are actually relevant to a person’s life by reflecting their needs, their experience, their culture, and their interests. As Christian Lauersen writes of the Library Strategy for Roskilde Libraries,
“Learning should not only be reserved for those in education or in jobs, but should be an opportunity you can grab all your life no matter how your life situation looks like” (2020).
Public libraries that embed services into the everyday environments of their communities reach out a hand, and support and encourage curiosity and lifelong learning among their users. Here are some examples of this in action:
Street Books exemplifies the concept of Infinite Learning by bringing books, services, and dignity to people experiencing homelessness or living on the margins. Using a bicycle and help from volunteers, the Street Book mobile library meets people where they are, in parks, encampments, and shelters. They remove barriers to access by providing materials and services without requiring an ID, building trust among their community and enabling autonomy among those who are often excluded and disenfranchised.
Seas the Day Mobile Library (Oklahoma City, OK)
The Seas the Day Mobile Library is a library on a school bus, which visits students in low-income neighborhoods, apartment complexes, and daycare centers. They work to close the educational gap created by systemic inequities, fostering early childhood literacy and exploration around STEM education. They also provide services that enable education, providing donated WiFi hotspots, laptops, and sometimes meals. In making learning and materials inclusive and easy to access, Seas the Day provides responsive and participatory library services to communities in need.
Salt Lake County Library & The Road Home Shelter Outreach (Utah)
The Salt Lake County Library partners with The Road Home shelter network in Utah to provide library services within winter shelters. Librarians perform outreach by leading storytime inside the shelters for families experiencing homelessness and supporting early childhood literacy. This removes the logistical hurdle of families needing to reach their public library during times of crisis and emphasizes that education belongs to everyone, no matter their situation.
Each of these programs embody user-centered design and honor the actual lived experiences of everyone who is in need of library services. Public libraries have a duty to interact with their community in ways that adapt, connect, build trust and lower walls.
References
Hyperlinked Library. (n.d.). Infinite learning: Learning everywhere. San José State University School of Information. https://287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu/infinite-learning-learning-everywhere/
Lauersen, Christian. (2020, June 23). Learning, culture, community and diversity: New library strategy for Roskilde Libraries 2020. The Library Lab. https://christianlauersen.net/2020/06/23/learning-culture-community-and-diversity-new-library-strategy-for-roskilde-libraries-2020/
Library at Sea. (n.d.). Home. https://libraryatsea.org/
Street Books. (n.d.). Street Books: A bicycle-powered mobile library. https://streetbooks.org/
Urban Libraries Council. (n.d.). The Road Home Shelter Outreach Project. https://www.urbanlibraries.org/innovations/the-road-home-shelter-outreach-project
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One Comment
Niko S
great reflection! libraries are definitely most useful when they are the most accessible! Bringing books and learning to parts of our communities that are most in need of service is so important for fostering trust and relationships, as well as showing how good libraries can be !