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• All students at public high schools are issued with a

BPL card by their school librarian.• All students have easy access to BPL online resources

from school.• Joint catalogue with schools – reservations delivered

to schools via BPL vans.

Teens HOMAGOHang Out, Mess Around, Geek Out

• Diner style booths• Laptops for teens to borrow in the

library (preferred to tablets and desktops)

• Games and films room • Media suite – partners running

workshops or peer to peer learning e.g. music making, 3D modelling, video editing, programming, Photoshop and graphic design

• MOOCs – groups, peer to peer support• Teen Tech Mentors – teens recruited

and paid to work 6-8 hours per week, term time, supporting peers with technology

• Ask teens what they would like!

Other Ideas from BPL

• Sensory Wall - infant area

• Wayfinding maps

• Conversation Circles - fastest growing programme at BPL and branches, informal groups to practice English, supported by volunteers.

• Skills Sharing Workshops – new Business Innovation Centre – free use of facilities in return for delivering workshops – libraries as facilitators.

• Events hire – specialist events team - weddings, conferences and other events.

• Concerts - free weekly summer concerts in the courtyard.

• BPL now uses reach stats rather than issue stats – combination of online, circulation, community use and programming.

Hartford Public LibraryPartnership WorkingThe American Place – partnership with Passport Office welcoming new immigrants – citizenship programme, legal advice and work skills.

Café - local non-profit food business working with long-term unemployed, providing skills in customer service and catering. 25% profit goes to library – income generation.

Job Centre - Careers office and staff operate from the library.

University – UConn will be leasing space in Central Library as part of a new Downtown campus, sharing resources and facilities.

Co-location - branch library co-located on a site with a senior centre and an elementary school. Homework club and community performance space very popular.

HOMAGO – Teen SpaceNo 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 years67% 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/carers to 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• Offer all programmes free of charge.

• 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 so people can take part in a series of events.

• See the community as collaborators – skills sharing, peer-to-peer learning, intergenerational activities. Listen to your community, libraries acting as facilitators.

• 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• Population 1,900 – serves wider community of 4,000.

• Designated 5 star library by Library Journal, nationally recognised for community work, finalist for Best Small Library of America Award.

• 4,000 square ft - children’s library, tween room, teen area, adult library, study area, 3 public PCs and children’s learning garden.

• Open 51 hours per week, additional programmes run later in the evenings after library is closed, staff work flexibly.

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

• Average 15 - 20 programmes per week.

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

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

• Extensive partnership work with High School library and local private arts university – Bard College.

• Facilitate monthly community meeting ‘Red Hook Together’ for village organisations and businesses – offers open dialogue, organisations share what they are doing, gives opportunities for partnership work.

• Programmes often held in community venues because of limitations of space – allows for extensive outreach work, increases visibility of library and their work.

• Library in constant dialogue with community – many programmes suggested by members of community 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 LibraryOpen 88 hours per week.

• eBook Help Hour - weekly, help to download library ebooks to a range of devices

• English Conversation Hour – twice a week, supported by volunteers• Author talks and lectures – 3-4 per week, early evening (6.30pm)• Open Book Night – monthly, themed, book social, share information about

a book on the theme - alternative to reading group• Saturday and Sunday Movies – classics or themed • Story Time for Grown Ups – listen to short stories, weekly.

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 Many are high school students – need 20 hours community service to graduate.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 unique neighbourhoods and diverse people. Unedited interviews accessible on NYPL website. Proved very popular with high demand.

NYPL now looking to expand project using research collections to support memory circles linking to genealogy databases, map and photography collections.

Bronx Library Center

• Open 9am-9pm Mon-Sat, 12pm-6pm Sun. Busiest in evenings.• Attendance of programmes rising, circulation decreasing, increased digital

resources. • Highest amount of programming in the city. Only 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 more study tables and seating areas.

80 computer classes. Classes include how to use the catalogue and library online resources. Library orientation classes planned.

Careers Centre working within the library

Adult Literacy Centre high demand, 24 classes per week delivered by staff and volunteers. Also ESOL classes.

Teens - cultural, artistic and technology programming and live events. Young staff. 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 PhiladelphiaCaféNon-profit organisation working with the homeless.

Business Centre Wide range of free business programmes, workshops and lectures from local business community, opportunities to network. New Business Innovation Centre (2016) will offer spaces for legal and financial advisors and business mentors to support small businesses.

HealthTwo 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 currently under consideration to offer basic health assessments.

Senior ServicesComfortable homely area for older people, newspapers, magazines, small computer area with some assistive technology. Programmes include talks on hobbies, history, healthy living, computer skills and financial planning.

E-Gadget Help DeskTwice a week in the foyer. Originally for eBook help but now deals with anything from using selfie-sticks to downloading apps. Very popular, always a queue.

TechMobileMobile computer lab with laptops and Wi-Fi, outreach computer workshops and one to one help at events and to community groups.

Community HotspotsThree in high need areas partnering with community organisations. Computer labs, workshops and job skills – open access, no library membership required.

Culinary Literacy Centre• Commercial kitchen, big screen , prep

tables and seating. • Using cooking to develop literacy and

problem solving skills with immigrant population and residents with low level literacy levels - reading, maths, measurements, sequencing.

• Facility also allows 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 - less than $200 per box, includes electric wok, blender and safe utensils. Enables culinary literacy outreach programming for adults and children.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library Washington D.C. (DCPL)Major renovation project due to start in next 18 months. Library will move out of the building for 3 years.

New VisionStaff visioning study came up with 5 anchor concepts for the new library.

1. The City’s reading room – traditional library space2. The City’s innovation lab – make movement and co-working3. The City’s gathering place – a place for people to meet and host public

meetings4. The City’s classroom – a place for all ages to learn5. 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 LabOne year residency funded by The Library of Congress.Developing a project helping 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 CommonsEspresso book machineSkype boothDream Lab co-working space. Incubator spaces for occasional meetings or regular use. Non-profits and start-ups can regularly use incubator spaces for free in return for delivering monthly workshops to patrons.

Studio LabRecording studio, interview and podcasting booths, rehearsal space, photography studio.

Fab LabMaker space, 3D printers, 3D scanner, laser cutters, traditional tools. Wide range of programming in the evenings. Two makers in residence offering inspiration and helping with programme delivery.

Staff employed with technology backgrounds.

Chattanooga Public LibraryA work in progress - Innovative ideas with a challenging building and a limited budget.

Patron RequestsPartnering with customers to build collections through a patron request system. Customers can ask the 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. Customers feel the library is listening to them.

Comment CardsFeedback/comment cards are placed around the library as well as suggestions for learning and skill sharing. All suggestions and comments acknowledged.

4th Floor Makerspace

Chattanooga is at the 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 staffingSelf-directed learningEncourage 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 rather than PCs• Gaming area• Makeanooga• Films• Yarn bombing• Manga and graphic novels very popular• Staff book recommendations• 180 teen volunteers – no set roles, very

flexible, helping with pop-up programmes, designing activities, engaging with customers

• Teen focus group

ChildrenSensory pod for infantsSensory story times – hearing impaired, visually impaired and autistic childrenWalk-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 e.g. passports, citizenship • 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• Volunteers – use varies from state to state, depending on state laws and unions. Most common volunteering

role is shelving. In many places a large number of volunteers are sent from the courts for community service hours or high schools (20 hours required to graduate). Historic libraries have volunteer guides. Other volunteers - skills sharing workshops and courses.

• Interns from MLS courses widely used.

Opening Times• Peak times are 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. Not many open before 10am. Most open weekends.

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