| Convocation on Providing Public Library Service to California’s 21st Century Population | [Back] [Contents] [Next] |
Community collaboration and outreach are terms that have taken on new meaning and heightened importance for the public library in California. As budgets have deteriorated and the competition for limited public dollars has intensified, the assumed inviolate nature of the public library has proven to be a myth. Burgeoning new technologies and the widely held misconception by policy- makers and the public at large that the Internet will be the information provider of the future has made it essential for libraries to become visible and integral to the life of the community.
As Coordinator of Youth Services in the County of Los Angeles Public Library, I network with a host of youth serving agencies, public policy planning groups and coalitions. I speak to constituency groups, parent groups and public policy-makers. In general, I find that: 1) libraries as institutions are revered; 2) many people, even highly educated ones, have a limited perspective of the array of services that the contemporary library provides; and 3) many are not aware of the impact those services have on the community. I do not think my experience is unique.
As we come together to consider the public library in the 21st century, we must discuss: l) how libraries can retain their positions as integral resources in our communities; and 2) what steps we can take to increase the library's visibility and esteem in the community.
Collaboration, partnerships and cooperation are the key operating words in California and throughout the nation. The Governor and Legislature support efforts and provide funding to encourage collaborations such as Even Start and Healthy Start. The American Library Association (ALA) and the Library of Congress support Head Start Partnerships. ALA funds the Born to Read Project, which like its prototype in California, Begin at the Beginning With Books, encourages collaboration with health care agencies. Thanks to the efforts of the Serra Library System, libraries throughout Southern California are collaborating in the development and implementation of the 1997 reading program, Library Detectives, Inc., which attracted funding from Wells Fargo Bank. Library literacy efforts including Families for Literacy are a model for coalition building and community collaboration to raise funds and provide important services.
In Southern California, both the City and County of Los Angeles have created Commissions whose goals are to spearhead neighborhood planning efforts and encourage collaborations on behalf of children and youth. Technology for Learning is a collaborative effort mounted by the Los Angeles County Office of Education to build partnerships among educational institutions, public and private agencies and corporate sponsors to improve the availability of computers and technology for children. Also, in Southern California, a new organization, Partnership for Los Angeles Youth Enrichment and Recreation Services (PLAYERS), has formed to encourage collaboration among enrichment and recreation organizations.
In order to ensure public library survival as a vital agency into the 21st century, library decision makers need to analyze their library's role in the community. It is important that library staff participate in and take an active role in local planning initiatives and become players in local public policy and problem-solving processes.
Being part of a community collaborative means working together with other agencies to identify mutual goals and create an implementation strategy to work together and meet these goals. It also means sharing existing resources and seeking resources from new funding sources such as community redevelopment, block grants, family preservation funds, etc. The library cannot be isolated from the community planning process and hope to be remembered and taken care of.
Even as collaborations strengthen the library's role as a participant in community planning, community outreach must be increased to raise visibility and underscore the value of libraries. As resources diminish, it is natural to retreat into the library building and focus attention on keeping the doors open for loyal customers. As the library presence in the community diminishes, so does its visibility and prestige, and ultimately its value to the community at large.
It becomes increasingly important in lean times to make every effort to maintain a presence in the community, whether it is the actual provision of services outside the building in the traditional sense or intensifying public relations or marketing activities. It is important to strengthen ties to the community by activating support and/or advisory groups that are representative of a cross-section of their constituencies and willing to spread your message. Library booster groups need to be developed with liaisons to local PTAs and other active community groups.
On a wider front, California libraries need to develop a statewide public relations outreach campaign to raise the profile and visibility of libraries in general. Public libraries must collaborate with each other and media partners to send a strong message about their importance to the community. It is particularly important to make the public aware of the vast array of library services by specifically defining them and quantifying their importance to both community members and public policy-makers. Such a public relations effort would require a multifaceted strategy, including media and coordinated outreach activities on the local level and across library jurisdictions to focus attention on the benefits of a strong, well-funded public library.
The California State Library can support community outreach and collaboration in the following ways: