Community Engagement

Community EngagementStephanie ZimmermanTraining & Development/HR CoordinatorLibrary System of Lancaster County, PA

ILEAD USA March 2015

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What is Community Engagement?

• Community engagement refers to the process by which community benefit organizations (in our case libraries) and individuals build ongoing, permanent relationships for the purpose of applying a collective vision for the benefit of a community. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_engagement

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What is ILEAD USA?

• Innovative Librarians Explore, Apply and Discover is a continuing education library immersion program that cultivates both participatory technology skills building and leadership training, in order to increase exposure of services,

engage libraries’ constituents, and provide opportunities for collaborating on innovative projects.https://ileadusa.wordpress.com/about/

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ILEAD USA IS Community Engagement

What does one do in Community Engagement?

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• We connect

• We interact

• We build relationships

You ALL have experience in Community Engagement

• The Bookends

• Techni-gals

• ALT

• Job Squad

• Memory Masters

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The Summerville Public Library Story

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But, we’re already doing this…

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Stop and contemplate

The Edge Initiative

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http://www.libraryedge.org

Edge Benchmarks

• Community Value (1-3)

• Engaging the Community (4-6)

• Organizational Management (7-11)

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Edge Benchmarks in PA (Aug 2014)

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How do we do this?Exploring Community Engagement Philosophies

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http://creatingthefuture.org/

Philosophy 1: Creating the Future

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http://www.help4nonprofits.com/Engagement-AK/CommunityEngagement-ACTION_KIT.htm

Hildy Gottlieb’s 8-Step Guideline1. Determine the goals of the plan

2. Plan out who to engage

3. Develop engagement strategies for those individuals you already know

4. Develop engagement strategies of those individuals you do not already know

5. Prioritize those activities

6. Create an implementation plan

7. Monitor your progress

8. Maintain those relationships

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http://ephratapubliclibrary.libguides.com/jobcomputerskills

3 Effective Tools

1. Writing

2. Speaking

3. One-on-one Coversations

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MORE Fun, LESS Costly, MORE Effective

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http://www.ala.org/transforminglibraries/libraries-transforming-communities

Philosophy 2: ALA’s Libraries Transforming Communities

Harwood Institute for Public Innovation

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http://www.theharwoodinstitute.org/

LTC consists of three areas of concentration

1. LTC Public Innovators Cohort

2. Knowledge-sharing

3. ALA staff training

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LTC’s Knowledge-sharing

1. Resources for Libraries

2. Public Innovators Lab Workbook

3. Step-by-Step Guide to ‘Turning Outward’ to Your Community

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Resources for Libraries

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Public Innovator’s Lab Workbook

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Step-by-Step Guide to ‘Turning Outward’ to Your Community

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http://learn.webjunction.org/course/view.php?id=77

Philosophy 3: WebJunction CourseTell Me Something I Don't Know - Meaningful Community Engagement (Infopeople webinar)

Key Takeaways from Course

• Properly directed questions

• Can’t afford to guess

• Demographics are not enough

• Satisfaction surveys are not enough

• Talk to the movers and shakers

• Unearth what the community values

• Don’t ask people to commit in advance to non-existent services

• Listen, don’t explain

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It’s not about THEM learning about (what) the library (does),

it’s about US learning about (what they do) THEM. You do that by listening NOT by talking

How to Connect Effectively

• Effective community meetings

• Effective social media

• Effective interviews

• Effective Focus Groups

• Effective Surveys

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A few more tips…

• Don’t thank them for their time, thank them for their SERVICE

• DO NOT ask the civilians to design the service. All they get to talk about is outcomes. It’s up to the staff to decide HOW to do it.

• Repeat; this process is ongoing

• CONSTANT ENGAGEMENT WITH THE COMMUNITY NEEDS TO BE THE RULE, NOT THE EXCEPTION

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Other Philosophies…• “The Engaged Library: Chicago Stories of Community Building” -

http://www.abcdinstitute.org/docs/ULCReport.pdf

• Blog post titled “Libraries and community engagement” at the blog “Sustaining Community” https://sustainingcommunity.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/libraries-and-community-engagement/

• WebJunction’s Betha Gutsche’s post “The Engaged and Embedded Library: Moving from talk to action” at http://www.webjunction.org/news/webjunction/Engaged_Embedded_Library.html which includes many resources and case studies

• ARSL (Association for Rural & Small Libraries) – “Community Engagement: Small Libraries Go Big” -http://arsl.info/2013/03/community-engagement-small-libraries-go-big/

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Examples of Community Engagement in Action

Cumberland County Library System Consensus Building Process

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http://www.cumberlandcountylibraries.org/?q=Building_consensus

PA Forward

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http://www.paforward.org/

Geek the Library

39http://get.geekthelibrary.org/

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http://www.webjunction.org/news/webjunction/community-engagement-and-staff-development-at-all-levels.html

WebJunction

TEDx Event

41https://www.ted.com/about/programs-initiatives/tedx-program

Houston Public Library Mobile Express

42http://houstonlibrary.org/our-partners/community-engagement

Ephrata Public Library, PA

43http://www.ephratapubliclibrary.org/

More Examples on WebJunction• “Great Ideas for Innovative Community Engagement” -

http://www.webjunction.org/news/webjunction/great-ideas-for-innovative-community-engagement.html

• Mentions a Facebook experiment that spawned over 150 community-generated ideas on the future of Miami’s libraries -http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rebecca-fishman-lipsey/100-great-ideas-for-the-for-the-future-of-libraries_b_6551440.html

• “Transforming Library Space for Community Engagement” -http://www.webjunction.org/events/webjunction/transforming-library-space-for-community-engagement.html

• “Teaching Tech to Patrons”Webinar -http://www.webjunction.org/news/webjunction/learn-by-doing-teaching-tech-to-patrons.html44

Challenges vs. Rewards

46http://www.slideshare.net/jonbward/community-engagement?qid=57375ec7-00ec-48ee-b5f0-e4e40207985d&v=default&b=&from_search=5

What are the challenges of Community Engagment?

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• Community Engagement has a cost

• Staff may not have the skills or confidence to do community engagement work

• Community may have unrealistic views or a range of opposing views

What are the rewards of Community Engagment?

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• Making a difference

• Steering the service/program/project

• Garners political involvement and support

• Can bring in new funders

• Protects the service

• Brings new ideas and inspiration – invigorates!

Main Points

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• There isn’t a right way…

• The only way to learn how is to go ahead and do it…

• we’re not all good at it - those of us who aren’t should do everything we can to support those who are…

Your Future Position?

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Community EngagementAdministrator

Your Charge

R. David Lankes, "The Community Is Your Collection."

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• [email protected]

• http://www.facebook.com/Slzimm1

• http://www.google.com/+Slzimm1

• http://www.linkedin.com/in/slzimm1

• http://twitter.com/Slzimm1

• http://del.icio.us/Slzimm1

• http://lslctraining.blogspot.com

• http://www.youtube.com/lslctrainer

Engage with me!

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Image Credits

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• Linking Arms -https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7223/7155861446_031d28e6f8_b.jpg

• MozFest Community - http://creativecommons.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/mozfest.jpg

• PeopleConnect -http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7396/8718123610_09e70f6d90.jpg

• Albert Einstein -https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8408/8882601625_aa8046b387_b.jpg

• Stop&Contemplate -https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2775/4443143080_30650552fd_o.jpg

• MoreFunStormtroopersYMCA - https://flic.kr/p/6sfakm