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Branch libraries can be powerful community building resources, effectively enhancing the well-being and capacities of urban neighborhood residents, associations, non-profits, public institutions and businesses. That is the central finding of a new study by Northwestern University’s Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute, which reported and analyzed intensive case studies of several branch libraries in Chicago neighborhoods. Released by the Urban Library Council at its recent Partners for Successful Cities Conference, “The Engaged Library” identifies libraries as critical community assets which strengthen and multiply the community connections which in turn contribute to making neighborhoods healthy, safe and vibrant.
The case studies revealed that each branch, and its’ neighborhood context was unique, but that common themes and strategies for community building emerged across neighborhoods. These strategies led to libraries effectively supporting and activating young people, helping to create jobs and open the doors for economic development, enhancing opportunities for new immigrants, creating safe and inviting spaces where different community groups and interests can meet, celebrating diverse cultural experiences, inviting intergenerational experiences, and continually building strong relationships, or “social capital.”
The engaged library recognizes and uses its own significant assets—resources such as free community space, access to information technology, connections to the local economy, and perhaps most important, a sense of ownership and trust by the community. The library leadership, embedded in the community, seeks constantly to link the libraries’ assets with the wide variety of resources present in the surrounding neighborhood—the mix of individual skills and talents, local associations and institutions, the community’s cultures and economy.
Study author Susan Rans, along with ABCD Institute co-director Jody Kretzmann, discovered that deeply engaged libraries exhibit most or all of these eight characteristics:
Branch managers and staff are as active outside the library as inside. They take an active role in the civic life of the community, and are constantly creating a set of exchanges, a “two-way street,” which places the library at the center of neighborhood life.
Branch managers and staff find and create relationships with the community’s social, political, economic and faith-based leaders,
The staff is extremely creative about what the library can contribute, going well beyond traditional services. They tend to say “yes” to new ideas that fall within their broadly defined mission.
Library staff discover and respond to the unique characteristics of the community, such as cultural attributes, family patterns, and the particular situations of the neighborhood’s young people. Staff then utilize these discoveries to customize the ways in which they interact with and support the community.
The library supports local businesses, non-profits and public institutions such as schools, parks, and police. Branch managers and staff constantly look for ways to create reciprocal relationships with these institutions—for example, advertising library services and functions with them and spending discretionary funds locally.
Branch managers and staff view the library as a public building that not only is used by neighborhood residents, but functions partly as a community center.
Branch managers work to create a community-minded culture among library staff and volunteers. Staff are encouraged to learn names, attend events, develop relationships, and pay attention to community issues.
The library system’s leadership, along with the city administration, recognize the power of branch libraries to contribute to community development efforts. A new or refurbished library brings hope to areas struggling against disinvestment and economic decline.
Commenting on “The Engaged Library,” Chicago Public Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey said, “We work every day with partners in government and the private sector to create vibrant neighborhoods. Libraries are clearly a vital community asset.”
ULC President Martin Gomez added, “Our hope is that this report, including the tool box for engaging libraries, will spark other communities to investigate the catalytic work of libraries in their communities, to understand the rich contributions being made, and to tell their stories.” |
