ALA, in partnership with The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, has released three new tools to help libraries engage their communities, focus efforts where they are needed most and lead positive community change.

The tools are the final pieces of a set of community engagement resources created for libraries as part of ALA’s Libraries Transforming Communities initiative. Taken together, the collection — which includes worksheets, conversation guides and webinars — teaches libraries to “turn outward,” making their communities the reference point for the libraries’ work.

The new tools are designed for libraries that already have been putting the “turning outward” approach to use, or those that have attended a Harwood Institute training or orientation.

• “Making It Stick with Staff” is a discussion guide to help libraries reflect on their changing outlook and make the “turning outward” approach part of their everyday work.

• “Making Meaning of Data” helps libraries make sense of data about library usage and activity and use that information to create programs that better serves the community’s needs.

• “Tracking Your Progress” provides a visual representation of the “turning outward” approach to help libraries visualize where they have been and where they are going next.

Deborah McCullough, deputy director of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County in Ohio, said the “Making It Stick with Staff” tool helped facilitate teamwork among her staff.

“‘Making It Stick with Staff’ was a great way to get staff to talk — and everyone participated! —about what the library has done to implement change,” McCullough said. “The questions were practical and specifically designed to keep the conversation going, and yet allowed for reflection and analysis.”

Created by The Harwood Institute, the “turning outward” approach emphasizes taking steps to better understand communities; changing processes and thinking to make conversations more community-focused; becoming more proactive to community issues; and putting community aspirations first.

Libraries and library professionals around the country are using this approach to:

• lead conversations with community members to better understand their goals and concerns;
• develop library strategic plans that benefit the library and the greater community;
• connect with underserved segments of the library’s service area;
• overcome political gridlock; and
• create professional development opportunities that meet the library system’s needs.

The full collection of “turning outward” resources — including a 90-day “Step-by-Step Guide to ‘Turning Outward’ to Your Community” — can be downloaded, free of charge, at ala.org/LTC.

The new tools were conceived with insight from the Libraries Transforming Communities Public Innovators Cohort, a group of 10 public libraries selected to take part in an intensive, 18-month training into the “turning outward” approach.

 

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Sarah Ostman

Communications Manager

Public Programs Office

American Library Association

312-280-5061

 

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