As libraries continue to look for ways to create meaningful community connections during the pandemic, it was exciting to see this wonderful idea shared in the Programming Librarian Interest Group on Facebook. Thank you to Paula Wagner, Reference...

This resource is part of the Toolkit for Creating Smart Spaces, a toolkit to help you re-envision your library’s place as a center of community learning. If active learning seeks to involve community members to co-create and collaborate arou...

Libraries have evolved over the past few years to augment their role in providing lifelong learning for their communities. They have shifted from passive to active engagement with community members. They are becoming hubs of collaborative learning, p...

Noah Lenstra (Let's Move in Libraries) looks at how libraries can engage communities safely by taking programs and services outside, including creating obstacle courses.

In part 2 of the series, Audrey Dingler, from Cape May County Library, and Noah Lenstra, from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, explore how libraries assess community needs in relation to outdoor tourism and recreation economies, and ex...

Audrey Dingler, from Cape May County Library, and Noah Lenstra, from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, reflect on preliminary research into how rural counties with outdoor tourism and recreation economies benefit from population sta...

With a determined stride and a big smile, Ida Abolins walks over to the writing desk at the window of the library in San Francisco and asks a young man bending over a pile of paper, "How are you doing?"

Overlooking the lavish City ...

Perry Memorial Library in Henderson, NC is a rural library serving Vance County where approximately two-thirds of the county's population is either under the age of 18 or over the age of 60. Yet mobility issues and lack of transportation meant these ...

"Yes!" That’s what Kathy Zappitello, Executive Director of the Conneaut Public Library wants her staff to be able to say to patrons, to colleagues, and to new opportunities. The library, which serves a community of 12,841 residents in north...

ALA Annual is always overflowing with sessions to help library staff take a step back and think about their libraries, services, and approach to their communities. This year was no exception, and there were many stand-out sessions dedicated to rethin...