It Takes a Library to Raise a Community

1. OLA SuperConference 2007 It Takes a Library to Raise a Community Marjatta Asu & Leanne Clendening Ontario Library Service-North

2. Welcome The library board & community development OLS-North & 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 communitybuilding.” Municipal staff/ associations Creative City Network of Canada Cultural sector Provincial policy makers

5. Terminology Community or social sustainability Community development Capacity Human capital Social capital Social inclusion Community asset mapping Community of interest Community engagement

6. Community asset mapping “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 Internally focused Relationship driven Asset-based

7. Neighbourhood needs map Homelessness Pollution Sub-standard housing Teenage pregnancy AIDS Alcoholism Capacity building Child abuse Abandonment Gangs Welfare dependency Broken families Drug abuse Crime Domestic violence Mental illness Unemployment Dropouts Illiteracy 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. Neighbourhood asset map Public information Fire depts. Parks Vacant land, buildings, etc. Cultural organizations Libraries Business associations Religious organizations Public schools Police Individual capacities Individual businesses Capital improvement expenditures Hospitals Gifts of labeled people Associations Personal income Higher education institutions Social service agencies Home-based enterprise Energy/ Waste resources Welfare expenditures 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) Citizen associations Local institutions Individuals

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 “…there should be a librarian at every table” Awareness of community issues Connection as a responsibility Community involvement Community building as a value The library can make a difference Integration of service McCook, 2000

13. A voice at the table … Worksheets & Checklists Communities of interest Community issues/ goals Community assets Library/ community connections Library capacity Library goals

14. The community table(Worksheet 1)Matrix of library-community connections(Worksheet 2) Municipal Government Education Businesses Literacy Environment The Community Table Health Resource Sector Public Library Labour Children & Youth Unemployed Leisure Senior Citizens Sports & Recreation Other Stakeholders

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 Skills, culture, attitude Identify opportunities & strengths Commitment to training Capacity Inventory of Individuals “Capacity Building for Libraries” 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) Public libraries are public institutions with community-building potential Community meeting space Critical information Centre of neighbourhood’s flow of information Computers & the Internet Cultural projects

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

20. Partners in capacity building

21. Partners in capacity building Community connector Skill builder Information provider • Checklist #1:The library’s role as a community partner • Checklist #2:Community access to government

22. Libraries & the local economy Access to services & resources Cultural & community centre Capacity building BR+E • Checklist #3:The library’s role in local economic development • Checklist #4:Employment and financial resources

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 Community prosperity Capacity building Digital divide New technologies E-government initiatives • Checklist #7:The library’s role in bridging the digital divide

28. Next steps Worksheet 2: Matrix of library – community connections Worksheet 3: The library in the community Worksheet 1: The community table Worksheet 4: Your community asset map 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 efforts The Engaged Library: Chicago Stories of Community Building (2005)