Resources

Embedded Librarianship: From Laundromats to Zumba Class by Noah Lenstra, Public Libraries Online

Whole Person Librarianship

Get Out of the Library! Embedding Librarians in Our Community by Meredith Farkas, American Libraries

Hennepin County Library

The post FYI Podcast: Embedded Librarianship first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

I was particularly impressed by the infrastructure that the Akron-Summit County Public Library in Ohio had developed to support this process, including a form that library staff (at all levels) can fill out to propose becoming an embedded librarian. The form includes the expected time commitment and a description of “how will engagement with this organization benefit the library?” It is very smart to think about the staffing implications that emerge when library staff spend significant amounts of time working outside library facilities.

In any case, Barb White from the Akron-Summit County Public Library has continued talking about and developing her library’s approach to embedded librarianship. Most recently, she presented at an Ohio Library Council day-long symposium “Community Engagement @ Your Library: Creating Vibrant, Diverse, and Inclusive Communities.” At this event, librarians from across Ohio shared how they practice embedded librarianship. The possibilities are endless! Sarah Glover Crawford from Lima Public Library states that we should be doing more to “Take [our] programming abilities and skills and show them off (almost) anywhere! Today more than ever it is critical that libraries start thinking and moving outside their walls and establish a strong presence outside in the community.”

Here are two examples of librarians doing just that — embedded librarianship in laundromats and Zumba classes. You may have heard of librarians delivering programs in laundromats. This idea has recently taken off, and has received some high profile media coverage, including by PBS’s News Hour, the U.S. News & World Report, and in the Chicago Tribune. These efforts involve partnerships between local public libraries (Chicago Public Library and the New York Public Library, respectively) and the non-profit organization Libraries Without Borders.

Brian Bannon, commissioner and CEO of the Chicago Public Library, stated that “Kids are not really being engaged while they’re at the laundromat … What if we could use them as an outreach point – a place where we could support literacy and engage with children and families? It’s an unlikely place in a lot of ways, but it’s a likely place in that it’s a traditional area where kids and parents go.”

This, in a nut-shell, is what embedded librarianship is all about: Meeting people where they are and finding ways to add value to people’s lives through this process.

Meanwhile, in the rural community of Odell, Oregon (population 2,255), Patty Lara of the Hood River County Library District practices embedded librarianship by taking library services to a weekly Zumba class. She writes in the article “Impacting Rural Hispanic Communities by Reaching Out, Connecting and Providing Services at Different Levels” in the Oregon Library Association Quarterly that she started practicing this form of embedded librarianship in 2014: “This opportunity came to be because of my little sister. She took me to a free community Zumba class offered in Odell. As I quickly discovered, this was a perfect opportunity to promote library services. I attended the next Zumba class where I presented my ideas to promote the library to the instructors, and they were excited to partner with me. I now carry with me a crate of books, laptop, and scanner. I have the ability to register new patrons and provide library services once a week.”

Lara shared this story in her article: “Just last year, I had an older woman ask me for a library card. She was a little quiet and reserved, and she told me she was specifically looking for a certain book. I told her I didn’t have it at that moment, but I would bring it to the next class. She came up to me during the following class, and I showed her the book. She was so happy and told me she would have never been able to get a hold of a book like that because she didn’t have the resources to get to the library.”

The local media in Hood River has also reported on Lara’s embedded librarianship at a Zumba class. Read more about her work here.

Where do you practice embedded librarianship? What impacts has it had? Share your story in the comments.

The post Embedded Librarianship: From Laundromats to Zumba Class first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA) recommends that libraries can best serve teens by providing them their own space and their own autonomy over said space.¹ There has been a big push to see the library as a safe third space for teens outside of school and that sounds great; but to do this requires a lot of money and resources and the space will be pretty empty until school lets out. As Jennifer Velaques points out in her teen blog, if teen spaces don’t have a dedicated librarian and staff to maintain the space and build relationships with the teens, then there isn’t much point to maintaining that space.²

What if we consider meeting the teens at their point of need? What if the library goes to the teens? Public schools, vocational schools, and career centers are all wonderful partners and great spaces where the library might want to set up shop. You’ll be able to share information about your online databases and work with them on interactive projects for school. Go to pizza parlors and hold book clubs that ask hard questions and encourage teens to come up with supported arguments, or get a game night going at the local laundromat.

Meredith Farkas espouses embedded librarianship as the way to update the library’s service model. In her article, “Get Out of the Library,” she points out that public libraries need to support their patrons at their point of need.³ Embedded librarianship is not a new idea and it is not exclusive to teen services; but if a library can only support one type of teen service, why not opt to get out of the library and meet the teens where they are already at?

References

1. Young Adult Library Services Association. Accessed 11 7, 2018. “Teen Space Guidelines” Adopted May 24, 2012.
2. Velaques, Jennifer. 2014. “Plastic Sofa-cover flashback: Beware the pristine, useless teen space.” Posted August 7, 2014.
3. Farkas, Meredith. 2018. “Get Out of the Library: Embedding librarians in our communities”. Posted May 1, 2018.

The post Taking Teen Services to the Teens first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

• Increase the population of active, engaged, entrepreneurial, and working millennials living in High Point by 25%
• 100% proactive enforcement of codes
• Create a downtown catalyst project that produces: 500 private sector jobs; 15 to 20 new restaurants and shops; 250 additional residential housing units; a centralized gathering place^[1]

At the same time, the library was seeking ways to increase its services to patrons. We had already been offering business and nonprofit research assistance for many years and were well positioned to help with goals one and three. Inspired by these goals and the “embedded librarianship” mindset, the library created a dedicated business center space and expanded the business research team.

Indeed, embedded librarianship and partnerships have led to much success for the business center, citizens, and city government.  It is important to meet with as many different business organizations as possible in order to publicize what libraries can do for the community. My first steps were to meet with local SCORE branches, city departments, community college business centers, membership organizations, and more. Our goal was to be a spider in the center of a web by directing business patrons to organizations, departments, and individuals that will best meet their needs. Thus, when the city announced that they would be closing three blocks of Main Street for several months for a major infrastructure upgrade, we were well positioned to support the businesses affected.

The Main Street Project consisted of replacing underground utility pipes that were over one hundred years old while simultaneously burying above-ground wires. Originally, the City planned to close one lane of Main Street at a time while they did this project, but a last-minute change required closing the entire street while the work was being completed. Understandably, the business owners on the street were not pleased by this development. The library’s business center, also situated on the closed portion of Main Street, was in a prime position to help.

Over the course of the following months, our partnerships with the City’s Public Information Office, Planning Department, and the Chamber of Commerce were vital. I was present at the initial informational meetings held at the library and managed to connect with most of the businesses before the road closure began. I explained that the library could help them, and even though they were frustrated with the City, it helped that City departments like ours were willing to help.

With representatives from the Public Information Office and the Chamber of Commerce, we held biweekly meetings to keep business owners informed of what was happening. I called, emailed, or met with almost every business owner several times. My coworkers and I provided business assistance and I listened to their complaints about how the project was progressing. I relayed these complaints to the City, and when possible, we were able to affect change. For example, the road closure meant other parallel roads were too clogged for the current traffic light timers, so the City’s transportation department adjusted the lights’ timers. Additionally, sign regulations were relaxed for the duration of the project so that businesses could still attract attention to themselves.

The benefits for the library were twofold. First, we created a lot of goodwill towards ourselves and towards the city in general. By being proactive and reaching out to these businesses, we demonstrated to the owners that they were important and valued. Because of the library’s location next to these businesses, we increased a feeling of community as well, since we were experiencing the same inconvenience. Second, the Main Street Project provided us with great publicity. We showed that the library is more than just a ‘warehouse for books.’ Many of the businesses did not know that we could help them with business related research, but our actions proved otherwise. We directly helped some of these places stay in business, such as when we fixed a Facebook problem for one restaurant owner who was having trouble accessing her page. By reestablishing her Facebook page, she regained the ability to communicate with customers and retain their business. We also helped a business owner locate his ideal clients within the city so that he could send targeted mailings and counter the decline in drive-by publicity caused by the construction. For many businesses, we conveyed their thoughts and concerns about the project to the correct city departments. For example, closing the street increased traffic on nearby side streets and interfered with the stoplight timers, causing traffic backups. We conveyed their concerns to the transportation department, who adjusted the timers to create better traffic flow. Less congestion on the streets made it easier for customers to access the businesses.

As a business outreach librarian, it is important to look for situations in your community where you can step in and provide services. Our involvement in this project was a great way to publicize the library’s resources. Our business customers and partners have shared our contact information and provided good recommendations to their contacts who may need research help. Further, the success with this project has led to more development as the City builds a baseball stadium complex downtown. City officials, impressed with how we helped with the Main Street Project, now come to us regularly for assistance. With a little creativity, any library can capitalize on outside developments, help patrons, and show their worth to the community.

Resources

1. https://www.highpointnc.gov/1603/High-Point-Strategic-Plan-2017

The post Library’s Business Center Leads to Success with Community, Government, and Business first appeared on Public Libraries Online.