Travelling Librarian 2015Community engagement projects in U.S. public libraries – a study tour

https://travellinglibrarian2015.wordpress.com

@FrancesTout

Frances ToutCommunity LibrarianNorth Somerset Council

Itinerary

• Boston Public Library

• Hartford Public Library

• Red Hook Public Library

• New York Public Library –

Stephen A. Schwarzman Building,

Mid-Manhattan Library,

Bronx Library Center

• The Free Library of Philadelphia

• Washington DC Public Library

• Chattanooga Public Library

Boston Public Library (BPL)

Working with Schools

• Shared catalogue

• BPL card issued by school librarians

• Access to online resources

• Reservations - schools, BPL - van delivery.

Teens HOMAGOHang Out, Mess Around, Geek Out

• Diner style booths

• Laptops

• Games and films room

• Media suite – partner workshops and peer to peer learning

• MOOCs – peer to peer support

• Teen Tech Mentors

• Ask teens what they would like!

Other Ideas from BPL

• Sensory Wall

• Wayfinding maps

• Conversation Circles

• Skills Sharing Workshops – new Business Innovation Centre

• Events hire

• Concerts

• Reach stats – combination of online, circulation, community use and programming.

Hartford Public Library

Partnership Working

• The American Place

• Café

• Careers Office

• University

• Co-location

HOMAGO – Teen Space

• No adults allowed! Recording studio, games area, maker tables.

• Young people from community employed P/T specialising in coding, digital skills and studio recording. Expertise and peer to peer mentoring.

• Over 80 teens per day using space in the summer.

Itty Bitty Hartford – 0-4 years

• 67% of children in Hartford don’t have vocabulary and motor skills expected of pre-school children.

• New development for 2016, model Hartford street allowing children and parents/carersto learn about everyday activities –experiential learning.

Mid-Hudson Library System - Future of Programming WorkshopMeeting changing community needs by facilitating knowledge creation.

Emphasis on programmes rather than stock.

Programming librarians commonplace.

Princeton Public Library put on over 1,700 public programmes per year.

Key themes and ideas

• No charges.

• Have a budget for programming. Don’t put on events just because they are offered to you for free.

• Treat your programmes as you would your collections – categorise to ensure diversity, offer range of formats, weed programmes regularly.

• Think thematically – programme in quarters.

• Community as collaborators – skills sharing, peer-to-peer learning, intergenerational activities.

• Get out of the library, deliver in community spaces, serve the whole community not just library users

• Evenings and weekends to meet needs of community.

Red Hook Public Library

• Community of 4,000.

• Designated 5 star library, nationally recognisedfor community work.

• 4,000 square ft.

• Open 51 hours per week, programmes also in the evenings, staff work flexibly.

• Staff – 2 x F/T, 7 x P/T, 5 x pages (3-5 hours per week aged 14+) plus volunteers.

• Average 15 - 20 programmes per week.

• 150,000 visits per year, 11,000 attending programmes.

Typical weekly and monthly programmes

• Pre-school - Romp and Stomp; Toddler FUNdamentals; Petite Picasso; Story Time.

• Grade School – Libratory (STEM maker sessions); Crafternoon; Lego Club; Curators of the Lost Art; Minecraft; Homeschool Discovery Zone; children’s craft activities and stories held at weekly Farmers’ Market.

• Teens – After school web design and graphics courses (held at High School); Latin; Japanese for fun; Teen Tech Help (teen volunteers to help adults).

• Adults – Spinning Yarns (knitting); Conversational Italian; Japanese for Fun; 2 x book groups (afternoons and evenings); Colour Club; Teen Tech Help; Shakespeare Discussion Group; Job Search; Health Navigators.

Additional adult evening one off events – often skills sharing from community - bee-keeping; gardening; maple tapping; brewing; author events.

Community Partnerships

• High School library and local private arts university.

• Facilitate monthly community meeting ‘Red Hook Together’ for village organisations and businesses.

• Programmes often held in community venues. Extensive outreach work, increases visibility of library.

• Library in constant dialogue with community – many programmes suggested by public offering skills sharing workshops.

Communities have challenges. Libraries can help.

Hartford and Red Hook are two of 10 libraries across the USA chosen as ALA LTC Cohort.

Initiative seeks to strengthen librarians’ roles as core community leaders and change agents and help them to engage with communities in new ways.

“Turning outward” approach developed by Harwood Institute for Public Innovation entails:

• Taking steps to better understanding communities.

• Changing processes and making conversations more community focused.

• Being proactive to community issues.

• Putting community aspirations first – before your organisation’s.

• Bring about positive change for whole community.

More information – tools and resources from ala.org/LTC

New York Public Library (NYPL)4 research libraries and 88 branch libraries

Mid-Manhattan Library

Open 88 hours per week.

• eBook Help Hour

• English Conversation Hour

• Author talks and lectures – 3-4 per week

• Open Book Night – themed book social

• Saturday and Sunday Movies

• Story Time for Grown Ups – short stories

Computer classes – 50 classes per month, afternoons and evenings. Basics to using cloud, apps, digital story-telling. Customers signposted to classes rather than extensive daily 1:1 help – classes frequent and cover most topics – delivered by librarians and information assistants, whoever has the skills.

NYPL Volunteering

1,100 - 1,500 volunteers at any one time.

Branch libraries High school students – community service 20 hours.Social housing – community service, 8 hours per month.

Research Libraries Volunteers often Friends of the Library.

Roles Shelving; tour guides; events; knitting groups; literacy tutors; English tutors; homework help; welcome desk and special projects.

Community Oral History ProjectVolunteers collecting oral histories, celebrating neighbourhoods,accessible on NYPL website.

NYPL looking to expand project using research collections to support memory circles.

Bronx Library Center

• Open until 9pm. Busiest in evenings.

• Attendance of programmes rising, circulation decreasing, increased digital resources.

• Highest amount of programming in the city.

• One member of staff on each floor, two at peak times.

• Staff time spent on planning and delivering programmes.

Wi-Fi used extensively, stock has made way for study tables and seating.

80 computer classes. Classes include catalogue and online resources. Library orientation classes planned.

Careers Centre

Adult Literacy Centre 24 classes per week delivered by staff and volunteers.

Teens - wide programming and live events. Monthly teen council – teen voice.

Children – homework help, video games, stories, puppetry, eBook discussions, maker room for crafts and technology. Tweens Innovation Lab – blogging and podcasting.

Free Library of PhiladelphiaCafé• Non-profit organisation employing formerly

homeless staff.

Business Centre • Free business programmes from local

business community.• New Business Innovation Centre (2016) -

legal and financial advisors and business mentors.

Health• Two social workers employed by the city

work from the library offering support to patrons – homeless, older people and those with mental health issues.

• Library nurse post under consideration -basic health assessments.

Senior Services• Comfortable homely area. • Computer area with some assistive technology.• Programmes - hobbies, history, healthy living, computer skills.

E-Gadget Help Desk• Originally for eBook help but now deals with anything from using

selfie-sticks to downloading apps.

TechMobile• Mobile computer lab with

laptops and Wi-Fi.• Outreach computer workshops.

Community groups.

Community Hotspots• Three in high need areas partnering

with community organisations. • Computer labs, workshops and job

skills.• Open access.

Culinary Literacy Centre• Commercial kitchen, big screen , prep

tables and seating. • Cooking to develop literacy and problem

solving skills. • Reading, maths, measurements,

sequencing.• Programming of demonstrations by chefs

and bakers, cook book author events, school visits and workshops.

• Courses and workshops on nutrition, healthy living and budgeting.

Culinary Literacy in Branch Libraries • Mobile kitchen boxes. • $200 per box, includes electric wok,

blender and safe utensils. • Culinary literacy outreach programming

for adults and children.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library Washington D.C. (DCPL)Major renovation project in next 18 months.

New Vision

Staff visioning study - 5 anchor concepts for the new library.

1. The City’s reading room – traditional library space.

2. The City’s innovation lab – maker movement and co-working.

3. The City’s gathering place – a place for people to meet and host public meetings.

4. The City’s classroom – a place for all ages to learn.

5. The City’s forum – a place for the public to discuss things important to the community.

There will be lots of programming space and the library will rely heavily on community partnerships to deliver programmes.

Memory Lab

• One year residency funded by The Library of Congress.

• Project to raise awareness of personal archiving and digitisation. Launching February 2016.

• The public will be able to transfer obsolete formats to digital files on memory sticks and external drives.

• VHS, mini DVs, audio cassettes, photos and transparencies.

• There could be donations to the Washingtonia archive.

• Information available on how to preserve your digital files once you’ve visited the lab.

• A series of workshops on personal archiving e.g. How to archive your Facebook pages.

• Detailed workshop lesson plans so the project can be replicated in other public libraries.

The Labs

Digital Commons• Espresso book machine.• Skype booth.• Dream Lab co-working space. • Incubator spaces for occasional meetings or regular

use. • Free use in return for monthly workshops to patrons.

Studio Lab• Recording studio, interview and podcasting booths,

rehearsal space, photography studio.

Fab Lab• Maker space, 3D printers, 3D scanner, laser cutters,

traditional tools. • Wide range of programming in the evenings. • Two makers in residence - inspiration and programme

delivery.• Staff employed with technology backgrounds.

Chattanooga Public LibraryWork in progress - Innovative ideas, challenging building, limited budget.

Patron Requests• Partnering with customers to build collections through patron

request system. • Customers can ask library to purchase items of stock (not carte

blanche) and they will be the first to borrow it. • Turnaround about a week. • 11,000 items through patron request since 2012. • Broader range of stock.• Popular with customers.

Comment Cards• Feedback/comment cards placed

around the library as well as suggestions for learning and skill sharing.

4th Floor Makerspace

Forefront of the makerspace movement in libraries.

Storage space now 12,000 ft of public laboratory and educational space.

Sharing of knowledge by providing access to tools, facilities and space.

Limited staffing.Self-directed learning.Encourage skill sharing workshops.

• 3D printer• Vinyl plotter• Laser cutter• Fabric making area• Loom• Zine making (cutting and

sticking)• Traditional tools• GigLab• Virtual reality gaming.

Teens and Tweens

• No enquiry desk, 1-2 members of staff floorwalk.

• Walk up programme stations – self-directed learning - Spirograph, science experiments, tracing table, badge making, iPad photo booth.

• Chromebooks, not desktops.

• Gaming area.

• Makeanooga.

• Films.

• Yarn bombing.

• Manga and graphic novels very popular.

• Staff book recommendations.

• Teen focus group.

• 180 teen volunteers – no set roles, very flexible, help with pop-up programmes, designing activities, engaging with customers.

Children

Sensory pod for infants.

Sensory story times.

Walk-up programme stations based on STEAM learning (STEM + arts).

• Felt table• Lego and Duplo tables• Magnetic letters• Dressing up• Write a postcard• Hopscotch

Children’s and Teen areas had been wall to wall shelving, very extensive weeding (controversial) to make light open spaces.

General ObservationsFunding

• Funding – state and local taxes.

• Philanthropy, endowments, grants, civic groups and friends groups.

• Commissioning to provide services.

• Donation boxes in libraries to help fund programming.

Roles and Staffing

• Boards of trustees – governance.

• Very few staff on floors – often only one, two at peak times.

• Teens employed as ‘pages’ – entry level – shelving, shelf tidying, support programmes, simple clerical duties.

• Interns from MLS courses widely used.

• Volunteers – varies from state to state. Most common role - shelving. In many places a large number of volunteers are sent from the courts for community service hours. Other volunteers - skills sharing workshops and courses.

Opening Times

• Peak times lunch times and evenings – all libraries open in the evenings, smaller libraries until 7pm, larger libraries between 9-11pm.

• Adult programming and courses often in evenings. • Libraries not usually open before 10am. • All open Saturdays, many on Sundays.

Online Resources

• Major growth area, use has rocketed. • Traditional reference but also Hoopla (film & media

streaming), ebooks and Zinio magazines, Brainfuse(homework help) – all very popular.

Fees

• Usually charges only apply for printing and overdues.• Virtually everything is free to customers, no charges for

courses, events, activities, reservations, DVDs.

Thank you

https://travellinglibrarian2015.wordpress.com

@FrancesTout