Libraries Foster Community Engagement
Membership Initiative Group
2015 ALA Midwinter Conference – Chicago, IL
Sunday, February 1, 2015, 8:30 - 10:00 am, McCormick PL West W195
Agenda and Notes from Meeting
AGENDA
1. Kettering Ecology of Democracy Book Discussion Groups
2. Naming and Framing Webinars
3. NIFI/American Commonwealth Partnership: The Changing
World of Work -- What Should We Ask of Higher Education
4. Harwood Institute,/ALA Partnership Community of Practice—
Come share your interests/experiences in community engagement
5. Community/Civic Engagement Activities Around the Country
(Send Other Suggestions to Nancy Kranich [email protected])
Join Us. Bring Your Colleagues
Related Meetings of Interest
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 31 - 8:30am - 10:00am Turning Outward to Lead
Change in Your Community: Aspirations MCC PL W178
SATURDAY, JANUARY 31 - 10:30am - 12:00pm Turning Outward to Lead
Change in Your Community: Turn Quiz MCC PL W178
SATURDAY, JANUARY 31 - 1:00pm - 2:30pm Turning Outward to Lead
Change in Your Community: Intentionality MCC PL W178
SATURDAY, JANUARY 31 - 3:00pm - 4:30pm Turning Outward to Lead
Change in Your Community: Sustaining Yourself MCC PL W178
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1 – 1:00pm – 2:30pm A Conversation on Equity,
Diversity, and Inclusion MCC PL W375c/Skyline—Location Change!
SATURDAY, JANUARY 31 – 5pm – 6pm Libraries Fostering Community
Engagement reception, HRM – Hyde Park/CC 11A
Saturday, Sunday, Monday, 8:30 am, 10:30 am; 1:00 pm; 3:00 pm Kitchen
Table Community Conversations, HRM Boardroom 1 (1½ hour
conversations). Click on to facilitate, record, and/or join the conversations.
Follow the ALA Center for Civic Life
Blog: http://discuss.ala.org/civicengagement/
Libraries Foster Community Engagement ALA Connect: http://connect.ala.org/node/64933
Subscribe to ALA's Civic Engagement listserv: http://lists.ala.org/wws
Learn to convene and moderate forums at: http://www.programminglibrarian.org/libraryplanning/civic-engagement#.VKR1dWTF-Z4
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Round Robin Reports from the Field
Carolyn Caywood, VA Beach PL, Not in our town dialogue, one book—Fahrenheit 51;
developing dialogue around sea level rise.
Shelly Harrick, Red Hook, NY PL, cohort member.
Brett Kowalcheck, Deputy Mayor, Red Hook, NY. Seeing some action, traffic light,
ASK exercise. Pedestrian safety, pedestrian friendly historically sensitive community.
Bad lights that cause people to drive into neighborhoods. Aspiration exercise brought
community orgs outside themselves and started working on common concerns.
Erica Freudenberger, Red Hook Public Library, Harwood LTC cohort member.
Conversations got us a crosswalk, facilitate and make things happen and lift up
community.
Cheryl Gorman, VP Harwood Institute
Amber Williams, Spokane PL, a cohort library. Huge organizational shift in view and
how interacting in community. Not how we are awesome, but what awesome things we
can do
Eillen Lupert, Spokane County District, programming looking different. Certified
navigators to sign people up for health care. Signed up 600+ people for health insurance.
Carlton Sears, Harwood, coach. Former director of Youngstown-Mahoning County,
OH, Public Library where he used Harwood approach, which remains in use with new
director.
Monina Hall, VA Tech, better partner with service learning community on campus. Into
curriculum in classroom, all Greek life required to do service and sororities, arts
community, public library collaborative
Sarah Ostrom, PPO, programming librarian editor.
Amy Paggett, Tippecanoe PL, Lafayette, IN. Came out of building common ground
project, conversation circles, with some facilitation from library,
Crosby Kemper, Kansas City PL, Alvin Sykes, funding from community foundation
and Harry Potter Alliance, civil rights case, sending Alvin on road, working with Alan
Katz, group called the Village Square, brings people together from all sides, civility with
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, Kevin Yoder (tea party member); immigration
conversation coming up, work with citizens association, immigration initiative, working
with LaRaza, urban education-what works? Google fiber city—library leader looking at
digital inclusion. Community learning centers coming out of this—library, computer
training, and access through neighborhoods. 70% of kids don’t have home connection;
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40% of kids have at least 2 addresses during school year. Deal with in library-focused
way. Reading is the fundamental skill—community of readers program; ULC and
Kaufman Foundation—importance of academic success is number of books in home.
Alan Kleiman-Keen interest is engaging older adults; train around country; as director of
medium sized public library, come back with new ideas. Change of mayor, interested in
more transparency. Opportunity for library involvement. In white middle class town, all
nice, but not interacting with government.
Richard Frieder—Harford PL, Community Engagement Director, part of cohort,
having great experience. Learning a lot. Learning about turning outward. All
involvements are partnerships. The People’s budget, public participation process in
annual budget process; doing every year now. Mayor has really bought into it. Work
with Hartford 2000, coalition, break into small groups and they’re supposed to decide on
budget. Engaged Public—company that uses online simulation tool. Want to make
Hartford showcase. Participatory budgeting project in NYC. Important public programs:
minor league baseball stadium—controversial, development proposal now for downtown
north. Sponsored first public meeting, in collaboration with a coalition of neighborhood
organizations and the city. Community violence—strategic results oriented approach.
Moving towards community dialogue on issues. Public choose issues most concerned
with and form action teams. Longevity project—violence among youth to move forward.
Youth forum. Hartford Votes—formed coalition, doing forums; committed to increasing
voter engagement. Do community dialogue from Everyday Democracy, incorporating
Harwood tools. Mental Health dialogue, creating community solutions.org. Learned
with action teams that you must nurture them. Some need lot of help, and others not.
Education dialogue led to time bank, like bartering—exchange of services. Focused one
education dialogue on one neighborhood. How action going to happen? Partners can
make action happen, library facilitates. How to bring immigrants and non-immigrants
together. Kansas City follows immigration model. Hartford Public Library
Michele Bradley, Midwest Collaborative for Library Services, doing community
conversation using Harwood tools. 3 staff went to public innovators lab. Started as way
to get in closer touch with members. Get a better sense of what they needed our
organization to be. Librarians love and hate webinars. Found ways to get librarians
within regions to come together for continuing ed. School librarians down 60%, resulting
problems with information literacy and critical thinking—whole library community
within Michigan responding. Librarians unsure how to get started. Applied for grant
from IMLS to do cohort similar to Gates project. Looking for funder in Indiana.
Ed Remus, Adult programs at Chicago Public Library, want to learn more about this
work. Modern lives and movements series. Range of topics. One off debates. Health
care reform and minimum wage. Having 3 sides of position.
Richard Kong, Deputy director of Skokie PL, went through Harwood training. Have
entire department focused on community engagement. Good response from wide variety
of community members. Innovation space tool to work through staff related issues on
what happening with realignment. Innovation spaces with 14 or 15 people each. Give
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staff at least one hour per month to get together to talk about what learning.
Sarah Lawton, Neighborhood supervisor, Madison, WI, Public Library. Working
with community and government groups on racial equity issues. Finding positive
solutions to problems we’re facing. Developed survey tool on racial equity issues. Need
more librarians in conversation.
Pat Wand, chair of BARC. Watching movement with interest.
Marsha Iverson, PR Specialist, King County PL, new director, Gary Wasdon,
MaryAnn Van Cura, in Minneapolis State Library. Care deeply about digital
inclusion and equity. Twin Cities have active effort. Engaging people with government
information.
Nancy Kranich, Rutgers University Libraries, Using Harwood tools to engage the
campus community, focusing on Undergraduates, Graduate Students, and International
Students (so far). Has helped them restructure, change job descriptions, engage more
actively with various communities, develop new partnerships
Aspirations for Community of Practice
Brainstorming Session to Discuss Future Directions for Community Engagement
MIG/Community of Practice
Vibrant, online, practical discussion
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How to’s
Story sharing
Specific stories—library engagement that leads to real change/insights for the
profession
Topic-based (e.g. participatory budgeting)
National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD)-style exchange of ideas
through listservs and/or social media
Forum to brainstorm—across library types
Idea bank:
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Help us to articulate what engagement is
Scrapbook of achievements/experiences
Proof point for library executives
Turnaround techniques for difficult situations—identify positive responses (e.g.
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democracy)
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Quick Response Team
How can wisdom and resources of this group be brought to bear in these tough
issues (e.g. Ferguson)
Resolution of intense situations
Share wisdom in the room out to the library field—build together
Create structure to mobilize action
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Practical ways to engage
Connect new people with work
Topical, process
Mentoring
Share how to make time for community engagement—good starting point
Involve community
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Let go of library—instead of communicate my value, be of value to community
Bank of useful documents
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E.g. Job descriptions
Draft policies for doing community engagement programs
Civic engagement continuum—easy entry points
Colorful tool kit
How to disseminate
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Conference stream
Short tips/tools/etc.
Move this from choice to part of our work
+Why we exist, what is our mission, what are the aspirations of our community?
Operationalize
Big Aspirations
Find place for discussion, samples, proof points and cases
Brainstorm opportunities, work together and share what’s working.
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Place to collaborate on work about role of libraries in the community
Sustainability post- LTC grant
Identify and strengthen key partnerships for ALA and among librarians
Follow up actions:
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Conference call
Meet at conferences
Create agenda for action
Prepared by Nancy Kranich with flip charts produced by Cheryl Gorman
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