The future of libraries is a lot like my office clock. It has your standard 1-12 numbering around the outside edge of the device, along with an inner ring that marks off the minutes in five-minute increments. Each hand ends in a circle, and you can read the clock by checking to see which numbers are inside each circle. In order to do so, you’ve got to realize that the hour hand is the bigger of the two—countering more than 1,000 years of conditioning telling us which clock hand is which. The clock is a subtle reminder about disruptive thinking—reversing the conventional wisdom that frames our approach toward many of the issues we face in libraries. How do we create content instead of just collecting it? Can we provide grants instead of seeking them out? Is it possible for technology to drive people to our physical spaces in addition to our virtual real estate? Flipping these scripts is the key to healthy creative destruction, and might just help push libraries forward.

The future of libraries isn’t having any of that. If you follow the tech world, then you know that “disruption” is one of its core tenets. From taxicabs to drinking glasses, every new startup seems to be targeting yet another mundane concept. Despite the industry’s exponential growth and unbridled enthusiasm, there’s a creeping suspicion that we’ve hit peak innovation. In a world where everyone’s a disruptor—and has written a “future of libraries” think piece of their own—does the term “disruption” actually mean anything? When tiny supercomputers reside in three out of every four pockets,² how can a public library make people feel more informed, entertained, and connected? The next big thing isn’t out there. It’s in all of us. With the raw materials for digital connection, curation, and creation becoming more evenly distributed, this is the moment for libraries to take advantage of their roles as community connectors.

The future of libraries is a firestarter. We’ve talked a lot this past year about kickstarting innovation, both in terms of staff capacity and among our users. Every book, answer, and program can provide the spark for someone to start something big. (At least, that’s what we like to tell ourselves.) Digital tools can help us bring each of these sparks out in the open, turning each individual spark into opportunities for collaboration and skill sharing among our audience. As we build this connective tissue, it’ll be on us to make sure the quarter of the population without ready access to bandwidth is left out. The relationships have to come first. Once those are in place, it’ll be time to start exploring ways to deliver these services through technology. The future of libraries is a ripping yarn. In most cases, the relationship between library and user ends at that initial spark. We don’t often get to see the final product that comes from that initial checkout or reference transaction. Sharing our users’ creation stories is key to documenting the library’s role in the act of knowledge creation.

The runaway success of the Serial podcast serves to demonstrate just how compelling an ongoing narrative can be. By stretching out the story and ending each installment at just the right moment, the producers have brought an incredible story to the ears of millions. We may not be able to go as in-depth (and hopefully not as dark) as Serial, but the act of  documenting the ongoing process of knowledge creation can provide compelling new reasons for people to follow library activities. The continuous bite-size nature of most social media channels was made for this. Converting our patron’s efforts into an ongoing narrative can help us show our work and provide additional sparks to outside observers.

The future of libraries is a developing collection. While the stories we tell might help to capture the quantitative data, we’re going to need to continue to take a deliberate look at what measures continue to make an impact in our communities. Using open data tools to synthesize our disparate statistical silos will be key to sorting through all the noise. By finding new ways to cross-reference these measures with one another, it’ll be possible to identify new correlations between library use and community development.

This continues to be daunting, but we don’t have to do this alone. With proper anonymization measures in place, we can build open datasets, offer code repositories, and allow more members of the public to experiment with library software. This can provide a natural jumping-on point for groups like Code for America—a national initiative devoted to cultivating greater public participation with community open data projects. Trading the library’s reach for this local expertise can be one way to facilitate ongoing improvements and building new literacies.

The future of libraries might get a little weird. In the effort to push things forward, we can’t forget to have a little fun. Our collections have always harbored quirky or outright strange titles. (The same might be said for our patron bases, as well.) It’s always been a point of pride for us to champion undiscovered gems. Similarly, injecting a little oddity into our online presence can provide a little extra garnish to the overall library story. For example, the Orkney Library’s (in Kirkwall, United Kingdom) @orkneylibrary Twitter account³ is living proof that a taste for the absurd can help to raise one’s visibility.

The future of libraries isn’t always going to get everything right. By this point, the concept of “fail quickly” is getting to be about as cliché as “disruption.” The idea of building steady improvements through constant iteration is gaining traction. But it’s tough to take such risks, especially for public institutions that likely face strict scrutiny from their taxpaying user base. Risking failure with public funds is a tremendous leap. Just as one should focus on failure as a learning tool, it’s possible to trade on trust to get members of the community on board with seemingly “risky” ventures. By keeping the risks small and the process transparent, libraries can give their users a better understanding of why they’re trying something new—even if things don’t always work out.

The future of libraries is human. Keeping the focus on the people and the community serves as our strongest hedge against the ebbs and flows of technology. We can’t predict the next big thing, nor can we be ready for the next big tech bubble to burst. But once again, it’s in the ways we build strong ties with our public that will open the doors to technological insight. As long as we keep an eye toward building continuity in our relationships, we’ll be able to develop the right tools for our audience.

The future of libraries is nothing without a strong present. During his keynote address at the Next Library 2014 conference,⁴ educator John Palfrey spoke of creating a “new nostalgia” for libraries. While libraries are known to generate fond sentiments in large portions of the population, it’s often steeped in the traditional notions of books and quiet. Given all the changes taking place in our institutions, perhaps we should look into transferring those warm fuzzies into something that better reflects current library practices.

This certainly won’t be the last piece you ever read on the future of libraries. Everyone has an opinion on the topic, and that will continue to evolve over time. But I like to think Palfrey has a point: feelings about the future can’t get started until we shape hearts and minds in the present. Shaping those feelings now is a gift we pass along to our future selves.

References

1. John Barth, Browsing (Chestertown, Md.: Literary House Pr., 2004).
2. “ComScore Reports September 2014 U.S. Smartphone Subscriber Market Share,” comScore press release, Nov. 6, 2014, accessed Dec. 14, 2014.
3. Alan White, “Here’s The Story Behind Orkney Library’s Hilarious Twitter Account,” BuzzFeed, Dec. 1, 2014, accessed Dec. 2, 2014.
4. Sanhita SinhaRoy, “A New Nostalgia for Libraries: DPLA Chair John Palfrey Discusses the Role of Libraries in the Digital Age,” American Libraries Magazine: The Scoop blog, June 24, 2014, accessed Dec. 14, 2014.

The post Looking at the Future of Libraries first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Developing an Idea

The state library agency in Maryland is housed in the State Department of Education as the Division of Library Development and Services (DLDS). In 2012 DLDS staff began laying the groundwork to help bring the spirit of the maker movement to public libraries statewide.

Nini Beegan, DLDS’s project coordinator, first came across this concept during a 2005 Library of Congress episode on C-SPAN. During the episode, Neil Gershenfeld, director of the Center for Bits and Atoms at MIT, challenged librarians to consider fabrication in public libraries as a means to bring people together to solve community problems. In 2010, Beegan attended BetaScape, a tech offshoot of the popular Baltimore art festival ArtScape. She talked with people who had built 3D printers using materials they had ordered from MAKE magazine while her children eagerly launched handmade rockets into the sky. This experience reminded her of Gershenfeld’s challenge; inspired, she began to explore ways that DLDS could help Maryland libraries use the maker movement to further their community-building work. Beegan met with local makers to explore potential library partnerships. This conversation marked the beginning of DLDS’s partnership with makers in support of Maryland’s public libraries. Later, when PLA’s 2012 Virtual Conference included a session about making and public libraries, DLDS knew that it was time to act.

DLDS decided to host a Maker Meet-up in fall 2012 to be followed by a hybrid event for library staff and the public in the spring of 2013. Beegan conducted an Internet search for makerspaces and hacker spaces to find more local contacts. She quickly discovered Michael Smith-Welch, an Artist-in-Residence at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore; Smith-Welch was using his background in education and art to set up a makerspace in Takoma Park (Md.). He introduced DLDS to Matt Barinholtz, director of then-fledgling FutureMakers, a mobile maker and education lab that uses children’s innate love of tinkering to teach youth of all ages the core values of traditional crafting, contemporary design, and futuristic digital fabrication. As the newly hired youth services coordinator at DLDS, I helped keep our team’s efforts aligned with STEM education initiatives. DLDS reached out to other makers and do-it-yourselfers, and we established a group that included academics, tool librarians, video game designers, and others. In the fall of 2012, we hosted a Maker Meet-up. One hundred library administrators, public service staff, systems staff, and others met with our group of makers at the West County Area Library of the Anne Arundel County public library system. The day included a keynote, lightning presentations, hands-on maker fun, and plenty of time for questions and answers. The packed meeting room buzzed with energy, and great ideas were developed as library colleagues and makers conversed. DLDS set up a Maker Meet-up electronic mailing list for interested library staff to continue their conversations.

We returned to the idea of sharing these great learning opportunities with the public; we wanted to provide a venue for library staff and the public to interact within the context of the maker movement. We knew that in order for maker events, makerspaces, or even isolated programs and classes to be truly successful, we would need buy-in from library administrators, public service staff, and technical services staff. But what kind of event could generate this buy-in? In the fall of 2012 there had been a few libraries nationwide that had held Mini-Maker Faires, which are maker events officially endorsed and branded by MAKE magazine. The brand is very successful, and we thought that the caché it carried for individuals in the maker community might help us find quality exhibitors, as well as giving the event some instant legitimacy in the eyes of the public. We postulated that it would be more efficient to work with an existing template that was known to produce successful results. We filled out the application, entered into negotiations with MAKE, and began to consider options for a suitable venue.

Planning and Logistics

We were determined to hold the event in a library. We wanted public libraries to progress in their role as physical, collaborative, hands-on learning spaces, and holding the event in a library would allow both the public and the librarians to witness this in action. Our first choice was the Maryland State Library Resource Center (SLRC). SLRC provides cooperative, cost-effective resources and services for Maryland libraries and their customers—they are the resource arm of the state library. SLRC is physically located at the Central Library of the Enoch Pratt Free Library (EPFL) system of Baltimore, and has a collection and customer base typical of any large urban public library. SLRC’s presence means that EPFL’s Central Library also has deeper research resources and statewide and national customers who utilize them. The library is housed in a beautiful block-long building with neoclassical influences. Built in the 1930s, the library features large display windows and a street-level entrance to entice passersby. It also has a large central hall that houses a computer commons, a grand piano, several book displays, an information station, a laptop lounge, and the circulation desk. It is a wonderful place to hold events and it is regularly used for concerts, weddings, graduation ceremonies, speaker events, and fundraising galas. In addition to the library having advantageous architecture, it is located in central Maryland, making it an ideal spot for a statewide event.

Barinholtz from FutureMakers worked closely with me to craft a preliminary explanation of the event to share with the library’s administrative team. We had no interest in just “using the space,” but instead wanted to work in full partnership with the library. We hoped to ensure that the event was something that would be a success for their regular customers and staff as well as for the people who would be travelling across the state. As we worked with the administrative team of EPFL/SLRC, it became clear that the partnership with MAKE was not in our best interest. The primary reasons were financial—MAKE charges a fee to use their brand, a cost that is often defrayed through ticket sales and vendor license fees. Events sponsored by DLDS, SLRC, and EPFL are always free to library staff and members of the public, and we didn’t want to charge the exhibitors since we wouldn’t be allowing them to sell anything at the event. Additionally, the more we dug into the details of the planning process, the more our event deviated from a Mini-Maker Faire both in scope and intent. We let our contact at MAKE know that we were backing out, and parted on good terms. There have been very successful Mini-Maker Faires held at public libraries before and since, but we have never regretted this decision. Our event was being carefully crafted to fit a variety of needs and expectations, and it needed to be custom-built. I continue to be astounded by the generosity and the organic collaborative process that went into developing this event that is largely about collaboration and the free exchange of ideas.

After we ended our partnership with MAKE, we began to explore the possibilities for our event in terms of physical space. MAKE had been very concerned that we didn’t have a large outside space to work with; we contacted the city and discovered that it wasn’t terribly difficult or expensive to shut down the block of street behind the library. Although this would have undoubtedly added to the festival atmosphere and to the types of exhibits we could offer, we decided to forego the outdoor space. It would have cost quite a bit to rent the tables and tents, and the city charges extra if the event requires electricity. In the spirit of equality of access we would still not have been able to sell anything, including food or beverages. We probably would have needed to hire additional security. We also thought about holding exhibits throughout the library rather than only in the central hall. This idea, too, was eventually dismissed. Wesley Wilson, chief of SLRC and EPFL’s Central Library, and DLDS agreed that we wanted to keep the event manageable—we thought it would be far better to plan a smaller, more predictably successful day. If the event was a hit and we decided to hold it annually, there would be time to expand later.

Ensuring that event attendance was appropriate for the venue size was a major concern. We didn’t want 6,000 people waiting in line outside the building causing security issues and general mayhem, but we also wanted to be sure that people showed up. We didn’t want to spend months planning only to have an enlightened individual with a 3D printer sitting in a corner of the exhibit hall making whistles for a handful of random passers-by. We needed to send out a call to makers and figure out what kind of publicity we wanted. Barinholtz and I looked at the security waiver from MAKE and consulted with the library administrators about what kind of exhibits they were comfortable having in this historic library space. We worked with the library to find out how much electricity and Wi-Fi bandwidth would be available. We came up with a list of requirements that we sent out along with the call for makers, so that potential exhibitors would be able to make an informed decision about whether or not this event would be a good fit for them. We also let them know up front that they would not be able to sell anything at the event. In order to participate, exhibitors had to agree not to utilize items that emitted noxious or dangerous fumes, open flames (circuit soldering was permitted), fuel-powered projectiles, large power tools or machines, items that emitted smoke or particulates, weapons that could cause injury, and anything that could be considered dangerous in a large room full of people. We welcomed questions. We set up a Google form for registration. In addition to the usual contact information we asked for the age-range of the intended audience, the number of power outlets they’d need access to, and the type of interactive elements that would be included in their exhibit.

After we came up with the perfect name, Innovation Expo, we had a personal contact who is a design graduate student create a logo. We used this logo on all promotional items for the expo, including the one-inch buttons worn by all the exhibitors. We created a Facebook event page, and EPFL hosted a dedicated information page for the event which included links to the exhibitor application and the Facebook page. The library’s design department used the logo to create a large window banner that was displayed prominently on the front of the building. DLDS spread the word through statewide library communications, and the panelists shared event details with the maker and education communities. I spent some time doing Internet searches and setting up face-to-face meetings with local makers.

As these preparations were underway, it became clear that holding the expo in a large public library had some hidden benefits. The library already owned all of the display tables and chairs for exhibitors that we needed, so we didn’t have to rent furniture. They have a full-time professional security staff which, along with the exhibitor waivers, allowed us to keep our focus on the event itself rather than security logistics. The library has a large auditorium, as well as more intimate meeting rooms. These physical amenities made it possible to hold library staff trainings and host a keynote speaker presentation as parts of the event. Barinholtz suggested that we ask Corey Fleischer if he would be interested in giving the keynote address. Fleisher was a thirty-year-old senior mechanical engineer at Lockheed Martin and a contestant on (and later winner of) the Discovery Channel’s Big Brain Theory. Fleisher was also an avid supporter of makerspaces. He was excited about the event and agreed to both present the keynote and run an exhibit showcasing an adult-sized working go-kart that is controlled by a Wii remote.

Beegan facilitated the library staff training portion of the day, which featured a panel discussion with Michael Smith-Walsh; Barinholtz of FutureMakers; Jan Baum, the director of Towson University’s Object Lab; Ben Walsh, director of Pure Bang Games and the founder of BetaScape; John Shea, director of the Station North Tool Library; Gary Mauler, founder of Maryland’s RobotFest, which is held annually at the National Electronics Museum in Linthincum, Maryland; and Mary Murphy from the Center For the New American Dream. Library staff who had been motivated by the Maker Meet-up and kept their excitement stoked by participating in the resulting electronic mailing list were excited to have their well-formulated questions answered by the diverse panel. Together they planned their own maker events, programs, and classes.

Fleischer’s keynote was well attended, and the expo was deemed to be a success by the library staff and customers who attended, the exhibitors, and the staff at SLRC who had worked during the extra-busy Saturday. Everyone agreed that it would be held again the following year.

The Second Annual Innovation Expo

Because we had already worked out the logistical challenges we focused our time on fine-tuning the event in 2013–2014. The public and library staff had largely been introduced to the concepts of the maker movement. Bre Pettis, founder of MakerBot, one of the most popular brands of consumer 3D printers, was interviewed by Martha Stewart. Dale Dougherty, the founder of MAKE magazine and the inventor of the Maker Faire, spoke at the American Library Association’s 2013 Midwinter Conference. Maryland public libraries had embraced the movement and hosted creative maker programs, hired FutureMakers to provide hundreds of classes across the state, held their own public maker events, and, in some cases, had even drawn up plans to build their own makerspaces. People were definitely still interested in experiencing the movement, but they no longer necessarily had to come to the Innovation Expo to do that. We felt that the tagline from the first Expo, “DIY in Maryland,” wasn’t exactly the message we wanted to convey. The DIY movement is definitely something that libraries should be involved in, but we wanted the name of the Expo to encompass more than that. We felt that “Create and Collaborate” was a better fit.

While the county library systems plunged forward with the maker movement, DLDS began deeply investigating public libraries’ relationship with education. The 2013-14 school year saw the rollout of Maryland’s new Career and College Readiness standards in all public K-12 schools. Citizens, librarians, and educators were all new to the standards, and struggled to figure out how best to implement them and discern what that implementation meant to communities. As I met with colleagues at the State Department of Education and traveled to various library systems throughout Maryland, I began to think about the education that children receive in public school. Maryland has been rated as having the best public schools in the country for several years in a row, but that doesn’t mean that each individual school provides the same level of opportunity or that there isn’t valuable learning that takes place elsewhere. In fall 2013, I read an article in WIRED magazine about a teacher in Mexico who got astounding results from his students by letting them study what they wanted to learn.1 I do not think that public schools in the United States will ever fully embrace this method, nor do I think that it would necessarily be appropriate for them to do so. However, the kind of learning that was discussed in that article, and that I subsequently read about in a variety of studies, is precisely what public libraries can offer. As I spoke with state leaders in other out-of-school time educational enterprises and continued to follow the latest education trends, I discovered that this kind of learning is particularly valuable and hard to find in the STEM sector. Students are, for example, rarely given the opportunity to take computer programming courses until high school. This is a gap that public libraries can fill. FutureMakers had already been offering digital classes and workshops along with their traditional crafting experiences. Why not add another degree of complexity without taking away the joy of tinkering? Why not offer our youth the opportunities to create their own video games in our libraries instead of just playing them? Barinholtz arrived at this same conclusion independently and FutureMakers began adding more computer science programs to their roster of curricula. New technical education organizations in Maryland were forming at this time, too. I met Gretchen LeGrand, the director of Code in the Schools at the Maryland Out of School Time (MOST) network’s STEM Symposium. Her nonprofit is helping Maryland schools offer fun and interactive computer coding classes to elementary and middle school students. I asked if they’d work with public libraries, and the response was a definitive, “yes.” I discovered that CPL had held a citywide coding camp in 2013. I started to think about the possibility of doing something similar at the state level in Maryland.

Education Is a Key Focus

This new idea helped us to develop a fresh strategy for the 2014 Innovation Expo. Instead of focusing purely on maker culture, we focused this year’s event on serendipitous STEM learning for all ages. Instead of adding exhibitors, we narrowed the field. Some of the organizations we invited included: The Maryland Science Center, The Baltimore Underground Science Space (BUGSS), The Prototyping and Design Lab from the University of Maryland, FutureMakers, Code in the Schools, The Baltimore Robotics Center, and The Digital Harbor Foundation. In 2013, each exhibitor had one table; this year, each exhibitor had several tables where they offered unique but thematically similar projects. Some of the activities included: learning how to solder circuits, playing a fruit keyboard, designing and 3D printing an iPhone case, electro-etching your own drawings into dog tag necklaces, designing levels of a video game, extracting DNA from strawberries, bio-painting, operating robots, and more. Because we have been rolling out statewide Minecraft programs in public libraries, we also set up a Minecraft Zone where people could play the game in a world designed specifically for the Expo. Carroll County Public Library provided a Minecraft Craft table that allowed participants to make a variety of Minecraft-themed jewelry, artwork, and other analog objects.

Teen and youth services librarians from all corners of the state came to participate in a library-staff-only workshop presented by Justin Hoenke from CPL. He told them that youth services is often the driving force behind library innovation, and offered them some practical ideas for engaging young people. The reviews of the workshop were overwhelmingly positive, and he stayed in the auditorium for a long time chatting and answering questions.
Hoenke also provided the keynote, “Create and Collaborate and Be an Awesome Person for Your Community,” in which he discussed the importance of forming equitable community alliances and how to leverage library programming as a positive change-agent for communities. This year we added an after event called After the Expo, which was held at the Baltimore Robotics Center. At the event, state library staff, the exhibitors, and other out-of-school time and STEM education organizations were invited to discuss future library and community involvement in tech education.

The second annual Innovation Expo was also a success. The exhibitors, library staff, and members of the public all commented that it was inspiring to see so many diverse people enjoy learning together. Throughout the day exhibit stations were perpetually populated by people of different ages, cultural, and economic backgrounds working together. We were all delighted by the exceptionally high ratio of entire families who engaged in the projects as teams. The visiting library staff members were pleased with the number of concrete programming ideas they walked away with, and were excited to see how much energy the customers exhibited while working on the various learning projects. Library customers had fun engaging with new ideas and technologies, and parents were enthusiastic about the level of family engagement engendered by the event.

The exhibitors had fun engaging with customers in new ways, and were glad to have the opportunity to learn more about partnering with public libraries. In his exhibitor evaluation, Tom Burkett of BUGSS wrote, “I really liked the way the public engaged in all of the activities, not just ours. I think the Innovation Expo is a great forum for makerspaces and educational programs in general.”

Reference

1. Joshua Davis, “How a Radical New Teaching Method Could Unleash a Generation of Geniuses,” WIRED (Oct. 13, 2013), accessed Dec. 4, 2014, www.wired.com/2013/10/free-thinkers.

The post Feature: Innovation Expo: Create and Collaborate in Maryland first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

DI: “Don’t be afraid to cannibalize your own business in the name of progress. Innovation is as much about what you discontinue as what you continue or create.”² Remaining relevant has been on libraries’ radars for the past twenty years with the rise of the Internet and then e-books. While libraries have done a great job at adopting and integrating these into their core service offerings, the notion that anything is sacred or forever is a tough one to move beyond. Will the physical book someday end up on our “stop doing” list? DI used the example of Kodak, whose core business was selling film for cameras. Rather than leveraging their lead in the development of digital cameras, Kodak clung to film and the rest is unfortunate history. AI suggests that library leaders, “Define the scope of the library’s programs, services and offerings around community priorities, recognizing that this process may lead to choices and trade-offs.” and simply to, “Deploy existing resources in new ways.”

Although Walt Disney has been gone for nearly fifty years, the company that still bears his name today continues to be a remarkable success story. Yet, even as iconic as the company has become and the traditions it has sparked in generations of visitors, from a business perspective it must continue to reinvent itself.

DI: “You can’t allow tradition to get in the way of innovation. There’s a need to respect the past, but it’s a mistake to revere your past.”³ We are in an experience economy where it is imperative to orchestrate memorable events for consumers of products and services. We are moving from transactional experiences to transformational experiences. AI recommends, “Change long-held rules and operating procedures that impede the development of the library’s spaces and platform.” How are we transforming the lives of our users and when was the last time we made a library policy shorter rather than longer?

Of course few corporations are better at marketing and telling a story than Disney. As noted in the DI workshop, “Research suggests that it is much easier to remember stories than it is to remember facts.” For far too long the library community has relied on telling its story of success through transactional data, circulation, door counts, computer sessions, and questions asked. Thanks to the leadership of immediate PLA Past President Carolyn Anthony, the Performance Measurements Task Force is working diligently to prepare tools for libraries to better measure impact and outcomes (more to come on this in 2015). AI calls library leaders to, “Measure library outcomes and impacts to better demonstrate the library’s value to the community and communicate these outcomes to key partners and policy makers,” and to “Communicate the library’s story of impact directly to the public, partners, stakeholders and policy makers. Include the new vision built on the library’s people, place and platform assets.” Needless to say we have a lot to learn about collecting stories, measuring impact, and then using them to influence decision-makers about support of the library—whether voters, elected officials or municipal administrators.

DI: “To be successful in a changing economy—to ensure that people can perceive the world in new ways, recognize patterns, make connections between seemingly unrelated details, ask probing questions, and generate new ideas—organizations must combat the tendency towards left-brain dominance and foster whole-brain thinking.” This statement reminded me of how library-centric our worlds are. It is remarkably easy to forget the broader community around us that we serve. We think that because we post a sign in the library or send a newsletter to every home about a service that these will become top of mind to the members of our community. Likewise, many often limit thinking within the library bubble we live in rather than the community as a whole. AI advises, “Engage the community in planning and decision making, and seek a seat at tables, where important policy issues are discussed and
decisions made.” I would further challenge everyone to take it a step further as someone recently wisely advised me, “Don’t just seek a place at the table, set it so that you don’t end up on the menu.”

I encourage everyone to read the AI report and call to action. You may also consider signing up for the DI blog.⁴ As Walt Disney once said, “Whatever we accomplish belongs to our entire group, a tribute to our combined efforts.” I am confident that together we will rise to the challenge
of re-envisioning public libraries.

References

1. Amy K. Garmer, Rising to the Challenge: Re-Envisioning Public Libraries, a report of the Aspen Institute Dialogue on Public Libraries, Oct. 2014, accessed Dec. 4, 2014.
2. Pete Pachal, “How Kodak Squandered Every Single Digital Opportunity It Had,” Mashable, Jan. 20, 2012, accessed Dec. 4, 2014.
3. Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO of the Walt Disney Company.
4. Talking Point: The Disney Institute Blog.

The post Re-Envisioning Public Libraries first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

In 2013, CCPL&IC committed to learning more about the county’s military families and finding ways to serve them. We conducted a community assessment of the military community, using a process closely aligned with the values described in the American Library Association’s (ALA) Libraries Transforming Communities initiative.⁴ We refer to this project as a “military community assessment” instead of a “needs assessment.” Rather than focus on the needs of the community’s military families, our interviews and focus groups explored the aspirations and priorities of the community, which we defined as service members, their families, and local organizations that want to support them.

There were two reasons we believed the ALA’s “turning outward” approach was particularly effective for our project. First, military family members are strong and resilient. We knew most would not talk about their needs. Instead, our goal was to learn how we could provide opportunities to enhance their ability to cope with the struggles of modern military life and improve the quality of their lives.

Second, Cumberland County is strongly committed to its military community and there are many organizations, both on post and off, that provide a range of services to military personnel and their families. In fact, in 2008, the county declared itself the world’s first sanctuary for soldiers and families.⁵ Through the library’s involvement with some of these organizations, we knew a number of professionals with a sophisticated understanding of the challenges faced by military families. Their experiences with outreach to military families meant they could articulate the barriers to reaching them. We wanted to understand the priorities of these military-serving organizations and explore collaborations that would support their efforts as well as our own.

Engaging With the Military Community

To initiate engagement with the military community, the library joined the Fayetteville Community Blueprint Network, with more than fifty-five local organizations that provide community support for service members, veterans, and their families.⁶ Many professionals who work in these organizations are members of military families themselves, either as active-duty or retired service members, spouses, or children of military parents. The library awareness coordinator actively participates in meetings and events sponsored by the network and its member organizations.

In April 2013, CCPL&IC hosted a community forum on post-traumatic stress (PTS), which featured a one-hour discussion with panelists who had expertise with PTS through professional or personal experiences. (There is momentum within the military community to drop the word “disorder,” with many arguing that stress is a normal reaction to military conflict.⁷) The enthusiastic attendance persuaded us to pursue a thorough community assessment to learn what the library has to offer to the local military community. CCPL&IC applied for and was awarded a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant in July 2013 through the State Library of North Carolina. The library’s community assessment was conducted by a military family project team of library staff members, led by the library awareness coordinator and supported by the project’s evaluation consultant, to collect information about the military community and develop marketing and programming strategies for this population.

Community Assessment Methods

We collected most of our data through key informant interviews and focus groups. For this project, seventeen individuals were interviewed who had ties to the Fayetteville military community. Fifteen were members of military families. They were either active-duty service members or veterans themselves, or were spouses or children of active-duty or retired service members. Eleven of these fifteen interviewees also worked at military-supporting organizations, so they could talk about the experiences of other military families as well as their own. Interview data were supplemented through reviews of scholarly literature and reports from sources such as the Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Army.

Members of the Community Blueprint Network were instrumental in helping to recruit interview participants. Library staff members with ties to the community also helped to identify interviewees. To supplement the interviews, the library awareness coordinator and evaluation consultant met with two groups with strong ties to the military community. They visited a Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) program that met at a local church, where approximately 70 percent of participating mothers were military spouses. They initiated informal discussions with military mothers and collected additional information with an informal questionnaire.

As a validity check, key findings from the interviews were presented to the Living in the New Normal Committee (LINN), a steering committee for the Forward March conference held annually in Fayetteville. The conference is designed for behavioral health and other professionals who work with military children. The advisory group is comprised of representatives from community organizations that work with military families. Committee members confirmed most of our conclusions and provided excellent insight into our findings.

The information collected through this process helped the library’s project team understand which library programs and services would be of most interest to military families. The team identified potential marketing strategies that could effectively target this community. It also developed ideas for new programs as well as partnerships with other community organizations.

The marketing and program strategies were then presented to an advisory group of representatives from organizations that either provided services to military families or organized cultural events in Cumberland County or Fort Bragg. Some of the advisory group members had participated in our focus group and key informant interviews, but others were formally introduced to the library’s military family initiative for the first time. Through their feedback, the library was able to develop a concrete plan for its military community project.

What the Library Offers the Military Community

The interview process did teach CCPL&IC an important lesson about the concerns and priorities of military families. Due to the enthusiastic participation at our PTS forum, we anticipated more requests for programming related to this and other war-related mental and emotional health issues. We learned, instead, that there is a more universal disruptor to military family life: the military deployment cycle. The deployment cycle affects every family of active-duty service members, regardless of rank.

During the past ten years, deployment has been a constant state for many military families. Some service members have experienced five or more deployments.⁸ The cycle has three phases. The first is pre-deployment, during which families prepare for the departure of the service member. Phase two is deployment, when the service member leaves and the spouse is left to function as a single parent. Phase three is re-integration, when the returning service member and family must reconnect. Experts call this lifestyle of constant adaption to stress and loss as the “new normal,”⁹ but spouses say that subsequent deployments do not get easier over time. In fact, the stress is cumulative.

There were common themes among the military spouses about their family priorities that help them cope and adapt to living in an almost-constant deployment cycle:

The top priority of most military parents is the well-being of their children. Our key informants from military-serving organizations told us that military parents were averse to seeking help for themselves, but they did seek programs for their children. The parents we interviewed corroborated this observation, expressing minimal interest in the adult-oriented library activities but requesting more information about child and teen programs. Parents were most interested in library story hours for their younger children and evening lock-ins for teenagers. While they valued opportunities for their children to interact with nonmilitary peers, they also recognized that their children benefited from spending time with other military children who understood their experiences.

• Family events. Military parents also valued family-oriented events that allowed family members to spend unstructured time together. They talked about attending outdoor festivals held in downtown Fayetteville, as well as military-sponsored retreats and camping trips offered to couples and families. The organizational representatives confirmed that their family events were very popular, particularly those that were free and held outdoors.
• Career and educational information for transitioning service members. Transitioning service members were the other group identified as potential users of library services. While the military provides strong support to transitioning service members, some may feel self-conscious researching their plans to leave the military on-post, in close proximity to other members of their unit. Interviewees urged the library to emphasize that it could provide information for service members because many might assume that the library’s resources do not address the special circumstances of those in the military.

We did ask directly about the need for information or programs directed toward sensitive topics such as PTS and domestic violence. Most people we talked to thought that the library should provide information about sensitive topics. However, our interviewees all warned that such issues are still stigmatized within the military ranks, in spite of high-level efforts within the military to counter such negativity toward individuals suffering from such conditions. Our interviewees suggested attracting members of the military community to the library through child-oriented and family-oriented programs and services, then discreetly offering information about PTS and sensitive topics. For example, shortcuts to local services could be placed on computer desktops and printed brochures could be offered through library kiosks that have information about a broad range of services for military families.

Collaborating with Military-Serving Organizations

Representatives from military-supporting organizations had excellent insight into working with military families, in part because they themselves were active-duty or retired military members or military parents. They told us that their main challenge was reaching the geographically dispersed military community, which was spread throughout Cumberland and other counties. While statistics for Fort Bragg were not readily available, national statistics indicated that approximately 90 percent of military families live off-post.¹⁰ Our key informants estimated that Fort Bragg’s statistics are comparable. They saw opportunities to leverage the library’s resources to improve their organizations’ contact with the geographically dispersed military community.

Meeting Space

Representatives expressed the most interest in this library resource, particularly those who worked with on-post organizations. They were keenly aware that most military families lived off-post and only ventured onto the installation for very special holidays or occasional visits to the commissary. The location of library branches throughout the county would provide more convenient access to the majority of military families. The representatives also said that their organizations could make use of meeting rooms with videoconferencing, allowing them to make on-post meetings more accessible to the off-post members.

The library’s physical space had other advantages over on-post meeting spaces. The library is known to serve all community members, regardless of their social rank. This characteristic of “neutral space” was appealing to organizations that host groups convening service members of different military ranks and their families.

For example, the Army’s Family Readiness Groups (FRGs) are organized for all members of a deploying unit. These groups include soldiers of all ranks, family members, volunteers, and civilian employees. They meet throughout the deployment cycle, allowing for communication between FRG members and the chain of command, as well as mutual support among families sharing a common experience. Membership in FRGs is automatic for soldiers and families, but participation is voluntary.¹¹

Military leaders know some of the barriers to keeping families involved. First, most families find coming to post to be inconvenient. Second, while rank is not recognized within FRGs, it may be difficult for FRG members to overlook the difference in rank. Our interview participants believed that the off-post library branch locations not only could make meetings convenient for FRG members, but they also could provide neutral space that minimizes the influence of rank.

Military leaders believe that families cope much better when involved in these groups, but meeting on-post is inconvenient for most families. Holding meetings at public library branches addresses both of these issues.

In addition, the library is not associated with negative health issues or social problems that might impact, for example, military organizations that work with service members who have mental or behavioral health issues. As one key informant stated, hospitals and mental health facilities are for people who have something wrong with them. Libraries are for people who want to learn something and become empowered.

Information Outpost

Military-serving organizations also need off-post venues for promoting their services and requested that the library establish information kiosks for their print information. They also suggested placing shortcuts to their websites on some of the library’s public computer terminals. The library could include signage directing military family members to resources of interest to them. Information related to sensitive topics should be interspersed with information about more neutral topics.

Venue for Sharing Experiences

Representatives also thought the CCPL&IC could be an excellent host for events that recognize and share information about the extraordinary service of military members and their families. Book author visits, displays, and social events with military themes would allow the broader community to celebrate its military community.

Planned Programs and Services

Based on the feedback collected through this assessment, the library established four primary goals for its military community initiative:

• Collaborate with local organizations to promote library and community information, services, and programs of interest to the military community.
• Improve military family members’ access to information that is important to them.
• Provide a venue for family members to find programs and social experiences that will allow them to connect with each other and the broader community.
• Build appreciation in the local community for the strength and sacrifice of its service members and families.

To pursue these goals, the library committed to remaining active in the Community Blueprint Network. Network members can provide invaluable assistance to the library with any military-oriented project we undertake. Our involvement in this network seems to be central to our success.

The library also pursued opportunities for potential collaborators who emerged during the community assessment project. In particular, this project successfully raised our visibility with representatives of on-post organizations who have requested information about our meeting space and talked with us about placing information at our library branches. The library awareness coordinator has already responded to requests for information about these services.

We also have become more successful in participating in on-post activities. In the past, we found it difficult to find the appropriate contacts to participate in the various fairs and events held on the installation. As a result of contacts made during our community assessment, CCPL&IC established a solid relationship with a representative from Army Community Services (ACS). We now attend the ACS’s monthly orientation offered to new soldiers and their families. A CCPL&IC representative provides a short briefing about services offered at CCPL&IC and how newcomers can get a library card.

The library celebrated the Army’s 239th birthday in June, with sixty to seventy community members attending. Fort Bragg’s Child, Youth and School Services had an exhibit booth at the birthday party, as did the Red Cross. (Representatives from both organizations participate in the Community Blueprint Network.) The local newspaper covered the event. 12
The library staff has developed other ideas that we are considering. Listed below are a few projects under consideration:

• Sesame Street “Talk. Listen. Connect.” Several interviewees suggested that the library investigate Sesame Street’s popular “Talk. Listen. Connect.” outreach initiative to help children cope with deployment, combat-related injuries, and the death of a loved one.13 Through this initiative, Sesame Street offers videos, storybooks, and workbooks for military families going through difficult transitions. The library will look into purchasing some of these materials. We also hope to contract with Sesame Street to send a character for a military family event.
• Military STEM projects. The library participates in the annual North Carolina Science Festival and may incorporate a military-related program into its STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) theme. This event is geared toward teenagers.
• Military book discussion group. The library may seek funding to purchase a military-themed Great Books anthology for this discussion group.
• Author visit. CCPL&IC may invite North Carolina poet laureate Joseph Bathanti, who wrote a poem titled “Fayetteville” that was inspired by a recent visit to the area. The library is exploring ways to memorialize and display the poem.
• Add exhibits or demonstrations for transitioning soldiers to the library’s annual job fair. The library may contact the Army Career and Alumni Program (ACAP) to participate in a library-hosted job fair. ACAP provides transition and job assistance to soldiers and their families.
• Exhibits of community members’ items. We are discussing a “Things They Carried” exhibit of service members’ personal war pieces, loaned to us by military families. We might add stories from the owners about these pieces that could be displayed or posted online.
• Exhibits from Fort Bragg museums. The John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Museum and the 82nd Airborne Division War Memorial Museum have both agreed to lend museum pieces to the library. (The library will have to demonstrate that it has adequate security and display cases for these pieces.)

At the suggestion of health professionals who participated in interviews and focus groups, the library plans to provide professional development to its staff. Representatives of military-support organizations suggested that the library staff become more aware of military culture, including how to “speak Army” so they can converse with members of the local military community. The library’s connection with organizations that have school-based programs for military children will allow it to identify professional development resources.

Lessons Learned

Less than one percent of our nation’s population serves in the United States military.¹⁴ In spite of the public’s current level of love and respect for its service members, the military and nonmilitary sectors of our population are becoming increasingly more isolated from each other.¹⁵ We learned, through our assessment project, that CCPL&IC can serve an important function in bringing together military and civilian members of our community through events that recognize and celebrate the extraordinary services of these individuals. We can provide ways for military families to share their stories with each other and their nonmilitary neighbors.

We believe that other public libraries throughout our nation are well positioned to reach out to military families and celebrate their service. Some public libraries have a large military installation in their service areas. Others may have families of reservists and National Guard members interspersed throughout their neighborhoods. Like our library, military-serving organizations may need meeting space, kiosks, and computer terminals to connect with these families who are facing the difficult challenges of modern military life. For those public libraries that want to reach out to military families, CCPL&IC offers the following lessons learned:

• Work with other organizations that want to serve military families. It can be a challenge to connect with installations, but networking is the best strategy for doing so. People who work with community-based organizations often have connections on-post and can help you navigate the bureaucracy.
• Be patient and persistent in connecting with on-post organizations. The military is actually quite progressive and dedicated to addressing the needs of military families. On-post organizations are aware that military families live mostly off-post and seek locations to provide resources and host events in the communities where their members live. If you
  can connect with organizations that support children and families, doors will open. Just realize it might be easier for these organizations to come to the library rather than for the library to participate in on-post activities.
• Military families take pride in being independent, so focus on their strengths. Find events that recognize their sacrifice and allow them to tell their stories.
• Provide information about sensitive topics, but offer it discretely and situate the information so that military community members can find it without assistance. Use signage that leads them to resources of interest. Include information about sensitive topics, such as PTS or domestic abuse, among wellness materials on, for instance, yoga or massage.
• Also, use signage and other forms of publicity to let military members know you have resources specifically for them. They often do not expect civilians who do not work on the installation to understand their special circumstances. Find ways to let them know you have resources and show how reference librarian assistance can be useful to them.
• Promote children’s services to the military community. Parents are very concerned about their children’s welfare and will come to the library for services for their children. Once the parents are in the door, they may find resources that will be of use to them as well.

Conclusion

We want to note some limitations to our data collection. The majority of our military spouses were wives of active-duty service members and their service members tended to be officers. A few interviewees from military-serving organizations were veterans or worked with veterans, but they still talked mainly about the needs of active-duty military families. We found it
very difficult to find interviewees associated with enlisted service members or veterans. We assumed that active-duty families would be the easiest to reach and attract, so we decided to focus our initial efforts on this group. As we further develop our military family program, we may find it necessary to talk with members representing veterans and enlisted service members.

Our library found the community assessment process to be an excellent opportunity to learn about our military community, promote our services and make contact with other organizations that may become invaluable partners in our efforts to reach our military families. We recommend other public libraries get involved with this strong and resilient community that serves our country with great sacrifice.

The military community assessment project was supported by grant funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the federal Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.

References

1. MARCOA Publishing, Inc., “My BaseGuide: Fort Bragg Digital Relocation/Welcome,” accessed June 17, 2014.
2. Ibid.
3. Colonel Stephen J. Cozza and Richard M. Lerner, “Military Children and Families: Introducing the Issue,” Military Children and Families 23, no. 2 (Fall 2013), accessed Nov. 10,
   2014.
4. American Library Association, “Transforming Libraries . . . Continued:The Next Chapter in the Evolution of Libraries—and ALA,” American Libraries 43, no. 5/6 (May/June 2012), accessed Nov. 11, 2014.
5. “Sanctuary (fact sheet),” overview of the Army’s Army and World’s First Sanctuary for Soldiers, Sanctuary Press Room, accessed June 17, 2014.
6. “Frequently Asked Questions,” Fayetteville Community Blueprint, Give an Hour, accessed June 17, 2014.
7. Mark Thompson, “The Disappearing ‘Disorder’: Why PTSD is becoming PTS,” Time (June 05, 2011), accessed July 24, 2014.
8. Cozza and Lerner, “Military Children and Families.”
9. Jackie Lyden, “Military Families Learn to Live with the ‘New Normal,’” National Public Radio, Mar. 21, 2009, accessed June 23, 2014.
10. Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, “Overview, Military Housing,” accessed June 17, 2014.
11. U.S. Army, “Fort Bragg Family Readiness Group,” accessed June 17, 2014, www.bragg.army.mil/82nd/1bct/Pages/frg.aspx.
12. Jaclyn Shambaugh, “Library Marks Army’s 239th Birthday with Family Program,” Fayetteville Observer (June 15, 2014), accessed June 24, 2014.
13. Sesame Street Workshop, “Arming Military Families with Love, Laughter, and Practical Tools for Deployment,” accessed June 23, 2014.
14. Alyson Hurt, Erica Ryan, and JoElla Straley, “By the Numbers: Today’s Military,” National Public Radio, July 3, 2011, accessed June 17, 2014.
15. Karl W. Eikenberry and David M. Kennedy, “Americans and Their Military, Drifting Apart,” New York Times (May 26, 2013), accessed June 23, 2014,.

The post Feature: Library Services for the “New Normal” of Miltary Families first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

He tried to kick him, so my dad, like any sensible person, fled. The guy gave chase and dad was able to outrun him and duck behind a steel door. (In my mind the guy was always barefoot because his socks were in the sink, though I was never able to confirm this detail.) Regardless, the guy kept kicking the steel door until the police hauled him away. Everything about this story cracked me up. It made being a library director sound a little like being Batman. As I said, I was a kid. Now, years later, I have the same exact job as my dad. It’s not just that I’m a library director—I literally sit in his chair at the Bethlehem (Pa.) Area Public Library (BAPL). Does it still make me laugh to consider dad running from a person trying to kick him? Sure, I’m only human. But also I realize that the issues of homelessness and mental illness in public libraries are serious business. This article is about how I sort of  inadvertently became somewhat of an expert on the topic and what we’re trying to do about it here in my little corner of southeastern Pennsylvania.

To back up slightly, I’d like to point out that I have worked in public libraries for long enough to have seen a little of everything. However, my first job as a library director was in the small town of Nazareth, Pennsylvania (population 5,746). It’s a beautiful library in what was formerly an old mansion. I loved coming to work every day in such a lovely place. It wasn’t just the library that was charming—the town itself seems to exist outside of the twenty-first century. I was repeatedly told by residents and staff and board members alike that “Nazareth is Mayberry.”

The real town and the fictional TV Mayberry have their similarities (Mayberry’s population was listed at 5,360 on the sign by the train depot), though of course I witnessed plenty to dispel the notion that any real-life place can be crime-free and relentlessly friendly. Still, it was a peaceful and amiable place to work. I was there for two years when I was given the opportunity to move a few towns over to become library director in a much bigger library in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It’s not a giant megalopolis by any means, but Bethlehem is approximately thirteen times bigger than Nazareth (population 74,982).

That means that while Bethlehem is certainly charming in its own right, it is also a city. That means city opportunities and also city problems. One of the first things I heard whispered before even taking the job was that BAPL, located downtown, had a problem. Well it had several problems—funding problems, political problems, building problems, leaky roofs, and busted chairs—but the same can be said in I’m guessing 100 percent of public libraries. The problem I heard whispered about in Bethlehem was the homeless problem.

“No one wants to go there anymore—it’s creepy.”

“Don’t go down to the bathrooms alone.”

“There are long lines of homeless waiting outside every morning.”

I heard about drug deals and public drunkenness, about horrible smells and, yes, that people were still doing their laundry in the sinks. It wasn’t just local librarian scuttlebutt; it was (kind of) big news. Numerous articles in local papers were written and Salon.com even mentioned BAPL in a March 2013 article, “Public Libraries: The New Homeless Shelters.”¹

I wondered if it was as bad as I was hearing. I knew Bethlehem well, having lived there most of my life and visited the library many times. I knew Bethlehem had never really recovered from the closing of the steel plant many years ago. Like most American cities of all sizes, there are large concentrations of poverty and a shortage of resources. But it has a charming Main Street and many flourishing businesses and dozens of successful festivals.

When I began as library director, I began talking to staff and patrons alike. I was asked several times in newspaper interviews what my priorities were. Each time I answered that it wasn’t about my priorities, it was about the priorities of the community. It wasn’t just a line—I meant it. I wanted to see what the community wanted out of its library and how I could make that happen. What they wanted, in no small measure, was to feel safe in the library.

I maintained my opinion that it wasn’t as bad as it was perceived. But perception has a way of becoming reality. If people felt unsafe in the library, maybe the library would become more unsafe. And if the perception was that it was a place no one wanted to go, no one would want to go there! I had a pretty lengthy to-do list before I even sat in Dad’s old chair, but I decided that making efforts to address the “homeless issue” needed to be at the top of the list.

Like any librarian might, I began with some research. I discovered first of all, unlike many cities of similar size, that there is no year-round homeless shelter. There are emergency winter shelters, veteran’s housing, and some facilities providing housing for youth and/or families, but nothing like the rescue missions or other facilities for single homeless individuals. The city became home to several homeless camps, many people literally living under the bridges. A nearby church served free lunches, making the library an ideal place to spend the day.
I had been trying hard to limit my “out of the library” days for the first few months at least in order to learn the operations (and try to remember everyone’s names). But when I saw an announced workshop titled “Out of the Shadows: The Library as a Center of Mental Health Literacy” I knew I needed to attend. This event was cosponsored by the Lackawanna County (Pa.) Library System, The Commonwealth Medical College, and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine and there was a great list of speakers.

I must pause here to note that I am well aware that the “homeless issue” is not the same thing as the “mental health issue,” but they are certainly interconnected. Research shows that between 15 and 40 percent of homeless individuals have some form of mental illness.2 The lower numbers include homeless children and families whereas the higher end numbers focus on single adults. And the homeless individuals who were making the library “scary” probably weren’t the down-on-their luck guys passing time reading magazines. I decided fairly quickly that they weren’t “a problem.” If people were in fact uncomfortable seeing them, well, there wasn’t all that much I could do about it. I’d love to solve the homeless problem in the city (and the world!) but it’s a fact of a society.

Criminal activity, such as drug deals or public intoxication, are dealt with quickly by a call to the police. It is certainly something for which we should have no tolerance. But complaints about the homeless started to bother me more than the homeless did. How did these “regular patrons” know that these people were homeless—the fact that they were unshaven, unshowered, and maybe wearing dirty clothes? You should see me on my days off. It’s a wonder I haven’t gotten kicked out of Lowe’s. Life in a city, and life in a public library—there are going to be people you don’t like looking at. There may even be people you don’t like smelling. (Again: see me on my days off.) In truly outrageous cases where a public health risk was observed, our staff would politely ask them to leave. Otherwise, the segment of the population I decided to focus on were the mentally ill.

It certainly seemed like an event worth attending and I hoped I would come away with some information to help me slay (or at least scare off) the large dragon on my to-do list. I made the drive from Bethlehem to Hershey with Matt, one of our information technicians, and we met one of our branch librarians there as well.

The presentation was interesting and enlightening. There was a range of speakers including librarians, doctors, medical librarians, and a speaker from the Pennsylvania Behavioral Health and Aging Coalition. I gathered a great deal of interesting data and tips. (When dealing with an emotional patient: Stop, Breathe, and Reflect before speaking. MedLine Plus has great mental health resources.)

But the most important piece of information I ended up going home with was a phone number.

As Matt and I talked on the way home, we discussed what we had heard. We also talked a lot about baseball and rock ‘n’ roll and poetry and baseball again (there was a lot of traffic) but mostly we talked about what we had heard. We agreed that the library was already pretty good at resources. Great, actually. If an individual came into the library asking for information on any disorder or condition under the sun, we’d find some information on it. If an individual came into the library asking to find out about medication or doctors or therapists or clinics or any related question, I was quite confident that our Information Department would make sure they didn’t leave empty-handed.

But what about those who weren’t asking for help? What about the mentally ill man talking to himself in the stacks? What about the paranoid woman in a panic about how Microsoft is stealing her emails? What about all the people who need help but don’t know they need help or who might be refusing help for any number of reasons? I reflected on the fact that we were not very good at dealing with these types of patrons. I became a little embarrassed—at my own behavior and the behavior of my colleagues—when I reflected on how library staff dealt with these patrons. We joke, we give them nicknames, we shoo them out the door, we call the police. Mostly we just ignore them and hope they’ll go away.
More and more, we need to accept that they aren’t going anywhere.

The phone number that came in so handy was the number for the county mental health office. I recommend that every public library make the call that I did. I didn’t have an agenda in mind when I called. I just wanted to learn more. I just said “I’m from the public library and I’d like to know if our organizations can work together.” From there, a number of interesting things happened.

The helpful staff of the county mental health office put me in touch with a group called Recovery Partnership, “a safe, culturally sensitive environment for individuals in Northampton County who are coping with or recovering from mental illness.”³ In addition to these services, they host free mental health sensitivity trainings. I immediately signed myself up for the next training that coincidentally was scheduled just days after I called. This training was far different from the one focused on the library. I was the only “library person” there.

I was, in fact, the only library person ever to sign up for the training. (Each of the speakers noted this fact and I felt kind of proud each time.)

The speakers discussed various diagnoses, stigmas, and the process of involuntary commitment known as 302. I did not leave there an expert on mental health by any means, but I did feel as though I had a better understanding of how someone with schizophrenia experiences the world, for example, and what resources are available to the library. I learned that Crisis Intervention can be called instead of the police if an individual seems in need of mental health services but is not a threat. I learned that it is unreasonable to try to reason with someone in the midst of a paranoid delusion and that a person with schizophrenia is not dangerous the vast majority of the time. I also learned that their delusions are as real to them as the physical world we observe is to us.

I decided I needed to offer this training to my entire staff and contacted one of the speakers for a continuing education session to be held at my library. I decided to open it up to other public libraries in the area and the response was overwhelming. Clearly this was a topic that struck a chord! We had more than fifty librarians and other library staff attend from approximately a dozen area libraries. The speaker was Andrew Grossman from NHS Human Services. Grossman is a passionate defender of the rights of the mentally ill and constantly reminded us not to use terms like “schizophrenic” as nouns. The person is not the disorder. The person is a person. That person has schizophrenia, just as other individuals have arthritis and don’t have to deal with the stigma of being dismissed as “an arthritic.”

We received many requests for Grossman’s contact information in the days and weeks following the presentation. Libraries all over wanted to host him, leading me to believe that a program on understanding mental illness is a field of study that should be offered to all public librarians.

My own education continued when I had on opportunity to attend a hearing at City Hall seeking input on the city’s strategic plan, specifically on the section dealing with issues of affordable housing and homelessness. There I met Pamela Lewis, a case manager for Restoration House Apartments at New Bethany Ministries. She’s a passionate advocate for the homeless and someone who has worked “in the trenches” for twenty years. Sadly, from her view the situation is only getting worse.

“Basically, supportive services money that used to go into mental health to help people through mental health treatment on a consistent basis is no longer there,” Lewis said. “The supportive services money has gone to the jails.”⁴

In other words, the case workers and other public health officials who were available to work at clinics and shelters and otherwise make sure that mentally ill individuals were taking their medication, seeing a doctor, having access to service—those jobs have been eliminated. “It is now looked at as criminal to have mental health issues,” Lewis said. “Same with homelessness. It’s viewed as a criminal issue. All the money has been put into the criminal system. If you’re on the street, you’ll be arrested. If you’re mentally ill and act out, you don’t go to a clinic, you go to jail. While you’re in jail you get treatment, but when you get released, what happens?”

“You have a lot of untreated, unstable, unmedicated individuals walking around our society, and our streets,” Lewis said. And we have them walking around our libraries as well. What can we do to serve them better while also making our libraries safe and welcoming to the entire community?

I talked to one of the attendees at our session a few weeks after hearing Grossman’s presentation. She was obviously still fired up about it and reported that her colleagues were as well. This was Audrey Kantner, coordinator of youth services at the Easton Area Public Library.

“We see people with obvious mental health needs every day,” Kantner said. “It just touched on the iceberg. I felt like [Grossman] had a lot of knowledge that was difficult to sum up. As someone who really needs tips on helping people that I know absolutely nothing about, I felt like I needed more training.”⁵

Asked for some specific areas that would make her task easier, Kantner offered several suggestions:

1. Better coordination with the agencies that serve the mentally ill population. Contact the library with information about specific clients if possible. Leave a contact on who to call if needed. “I don’t want to be the person who kicks someone out for swearing to themselves when there could have been a strategy or method—something better that I could have done,” Kantner said.
2. More education. “I’ve had training in dealing with children with special needs, but not specifically with mental health,” she said. “It is a realm of education that is lacking in public librarians and I know that there is a great desire among public librarians to learn more. It’s not that our library staff doesn’t have the desire to learn, it’s that they don’t know where to learn or how to learn.”

“I’ve worked in three different public libraries. Library staff—and patrons—are afraid of people exhibiting these behaviors. And as librarians we want to help but we don’t know how to help everybody. It just goes to show that librarians need to know everything and, well, we’re working on it,” Kantner added.

Conclusion

Since the day we were all trained, there have been instances of mentally ill patrons at my library and I do believe that the staff handled these situations better than they would have previously. They were able to recognize a patron who was devolving into a paranoid state and know that the County Crisis social workers were just a phone call away. They knew that, if necessary, they could call the police and a person could be 302’d for his or her own good. I knew that I could call the county to ask for information on individuals whom I felt could use. Caseworkers have offered to come meet these individuals in the field, to try to connect them to the services they may need.

Library staff may also be a little more relaxed around patrons exhibiting signs of mental illness. They recognize, as Grossman taught us, that most people with schizophrenia are not dangerous and pose no threat to themselves or others. They have every right to be in the library as anyoneelse. If they seem odd or somewhat disruptive, well, that’s part of life in a public library. Patrons as well as staff would do well to accept that.

Finally, remember that it is important to move away from identifying a person by his or her illness. Instead of “here comes that schizophrenic,” try thinking “here comes a library patron who needs my help.”

References

1. Evelyn Nieves, “Public Libraries: The New Homeless Shelters,” Salon.com, Mar. 7, 2003, accessed July 9, 2014.
2. National Alliance on Mental Health, “Mental Illness Facts and Numbers,” Mar. 2013, accessed Dec. 14, 2014, ; Dennis Culhane, “Five Myths about America’s Homeless,” Washington Post, July 11, 2010, accessed Dec. 14, 2014.
3. Recovery Partnership website, “Who We Are,” accessed Dec. 14, 2014.
4. Pamela Lewis, personal interview with the author, Aug. 18, 2014.
5. Audrey Kantner, phone interview with the author, Aug. 15, 2014.

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