It Takes a Library to Raise a Community Marjatta Asu & Leanne Clendening Ontario Library Service-North OLA SuperConference 2007
Mar 27, 2015
It Takes a Library to Raise a Community
Marjatta Asu & Leanne Clendening
Ontario Library Service-North
OLA SuperConference 2007
2
Welcome
OLS-North & community
development
The library board &
community development
It Takes a Library to Raise a
Community
3
Challenges
4
Municipal Cultural Planning Forums
• “…asset-based community development… mapping broadly defined local cultural resources … leverages these resources for economic development and community building.”
Provincial policy makers
Municipal staff/ associations
Cultural sector
Creative City Network of
Canada
5
Terminology
CapacityCommunity
development
Community or social
sustainability
Human capital Social capital Social inclusion
Community asset
mapping
Community engagement
Community of interest
6
“Only when all of the capacities of local individuals, associations and institutions have been inventoried thoroughly; only when these local assets have begun to look first to their relationships with each other for solving problems;... only then should the community begin to consider leveraging resources from the outside.” Kretzmann and McKnight (1993), 353
Asset-based Internally focused
Relationship driven
Community asset mapping
7
Neighbourhood needs map
Crime
Child abuse
Sub-standard housing
Illiteracy
Drug abuse
Mental illness
Broken families
Teenage pregnancy
Pollution
Unemployment
Welfare dependency
Domestic violence
Dropouts
Gangs
AIDS
Alcoholism
Homelessness
AbandonmentCapacity building
McKnight & Kretzman, Module 3:Community&Economic Development, Chapter 2: Mapping Community Capacity
8
Community asset mapping
“Communities have never been built upon their deficiencies. Building community has always depended upon mobilizing the capacities and assets of a people and place. That is why a map of neighbourhood assets is necessary if local people are to find the way toward empowerment and renewal.”
McKnight and Kretzman
9
Individual capacities
Individualbusinesses
Personalincome
Religious organizations
Cultural organizations
Hospitals
Neighbourhood asset map
Firedepts.
Associations
Energy/ Waste resources
Social service
agencies
Business associations
Home-based enterprise
Police
Parks
Highereducationinstitutions
Welfare expenditures
Vacant land,
buildings,etc.
Publicschools
Libraries
Public information
Capital improvementexpendituresGifts of
labeledpeople
McKnight & Kretzman, Module 3:Community&Economic Development, Chapter 2: Mapping Community Capacity
10
Mapping community capacity
Your community asset map (Worksheet 4)
• Capacity inventory of individuals (Adapted from Kretzmann & McKnight; Beaulieu)
IndividualsCitizen
associationsLocal
institutions
11
A Place at the Table: Participating in Community Building
“… “Connecting libraries to community organizations is the way to multiply the effectiveness of libraries in community building…. the work librarians do on a daily basis clearly fits into community
building activities.” McCook (2000) 40
http://www.cas.usf.edu/lis/a-librarian-at-
every-table/index.html
12
Shared values of community builders
Community involvement
Awareness of community
issues
Connection as a responsibility
Integration of service
Community building as
a value
The library can make a
difference
McCook, 2000
“…there should be a librarian at every table”
13
A voice at the table …
Communities of interest
Community issues/ goals
Community assets
Library/ community connections
Library capacity
Library goals
Worksheets & Checklists
14
The Community
Table
Environment
Resource Sector
UnemployedChildren & Youth
Labour
Health
Public Library
Other Stakeholders
Businesses
Leisure
Sports & Recreation
SeniorCitizens
Literacy
Education Municipal
Government
The community table (Worksheet 1) Matrix of library-community connections (Worksheet 2)
15
At the community table
“As the library’s presence in the community decreases, so does its value and visibility to the community.”
Penny S. Markey, 1977
• The library in the community (Worksheet 3)
16
Libraries and community capacity
• Key support to economic development
– Job creation
– Education, training, skills development
– Cultural development
– Social capital
17
Library capacity
Capacity Inventory of Individuals
“Capacity Building for Libraries”
Skills, culture, attitude Commitment to
training
Identify opportunities &
strengths
Leadership, planning
Belief
“… mix of skills, people, plans, and commitment to do what needs to be done.” Frank and Smith, 10
18
Define library assets (capacities)
Centre of neighbourhood’s
flow of information
Computers & the Internet
Critical information
Community meeting space
Cultural projects
Public libraries are public institutions with community-building potential
19
How will you recognize capacity?
Frank & Smith (1999)
• People are active, interested, participating
• Questioning, challenging,
debating NOT complaining
• More people are involved
• Results are becoming obvious
Partners in capacity building
21
Partners in capacity building
Checklist #1: The library’s role as a community partner Checklist #2: Community
access to government
Skill builder
Community connector
Information provider
22
Libraries & the local economy
Checklist #3: The library’s role in local economic development
Checklist #4: Employment and financial resources
Capacity building
BR+EAccess to services & resources
Cultural & community
centre
23
Libraries & lifelong learning
Checklist #5: Lifelong learning and information literacy
Lifelong learning Capacity building
Information literacy skills
24
Libraries & community culture
Culture “…is the glue that holds communities together and makes them last over generations…. Culture is the soul and life force of a community…”
Nozick (1992),181
Checklist #6: The library’s role in the community’s cultural and social development
25
Libraries & social development
• “…there has to be continuing, meaningful human interaction in order to create the social bonding which is a prerequisite to building community culture.”
Nozick (1992),196-197
Checklist #6: The library’s role in the community’s cultural and social development
26
Libraries & social inclusion
• “Those who are socially excluded have nowhere else to go. The library could become an important resource in their life.”
Brian Campbell, National Director of the Working Together: Library –
Community Connections Project, 2005
Checklist #6: The library’s role in the community’s cultural and social development
27
Libraries & the digital divide
Checklist #7: The library’s role in bridging the digital divide
Digital divide
Capacity building
Community prosperity
E-government initiatives
New technologies
28
Next steps
Worksheet 1: The community
table
Worksheet 2: Matrix of library –
community connections
Worksheet 4: Your community asset
map
Worksheet 3: The library in the community
Library goals for community building
29
The Engaged Library
• Get outside the doors• Find the leaders • Be creative about what the library can contribute• Discover and contribute to the unique capacities
and conditions of the community• Support local businesses and institutions• Make the library building a community centre• Create a community-minded culture among
library staff and volunteers• Support library investments that jump start
community redevelopment effortsThe Engaged Library:
Chicago Stories of Community Building (2005)