WebJunction

Library as:

Community hub
Gathering place
Third place
Information hub
Great meeting place
Fun!
A place to go for information, contact with other people, computers, programs for all ages.
A place overcoming the Digital Divide
Some libraries are physically in the hub of the community…take advantage of this!
Hub= dispatch
Be the point
Connection to social services, public health, education, local businesses, e.government, access to computers and internet, Americorps/Red Cross
The only place for people to meet in a free environment
Adaptable
Welcome center, place for new comers…be on or create web page for city/county info, share with chamber, etc.
Homeless shelter
One-stop shopping
The "go to" location
Central meeting place
Default chamber of commerce
Like "Cheers" where everyone knows your name!
Wheel is round and you should be able to move to other places as the hub with spokes as: ESL, schools, town hall, police/fire, service groups, chamber of commerce, social service.
Focus on library as part of the air in an inner tube or spoke of a wheel - not hub
Takes place where there is no school-preserve the sense of community
Most reliable source of information
Conversation area
Resource for a Democratic Society
Community center able to respond to an emergency
A place to check out "what's new"
A place for your events, birthday parties
A Funeral reception facility
Arts and crafts center
Center for lifelong learning
Internet café
Polling place, voters info
Authoritative information source
Jewel in the crown (of the community)
Place for city council meetings
The only contact to outside world
Impact on property values
Klatch

How:

If people are not coming in it's you!
E-rate as resource for ISP services
Wearing many hats
Model good relationships "We all play nicely together at the library"
Change concept of libraries (e.g.. not quiet)
Be a magnet
Listen to the community
Patron's come to touch other people, library as facilitator for these relationships
Make them feel welcome and comfortable
Ban the hard sharp and brown! Use bean bags, diner booths, add COLOR (get paint mistakes for cheap)!
Visit with them, learn their names, first name recognition
We go into the community…GO TO THEM
Kiosks for library at hotels and grocery stores
Leave collections at day cares, senior centers, schools.
Bring new visitors
Be engaged in community politics, movers and shakers, but stay off enemy's list
Have bulletin boards (cork and digital)
Lets community have power
Community chats, free access to community forums
Showcase local talent and hobbies
Art displays bring people in
Realia  
Provide tech support for community
Rural into Suburban
Involve community stakeholders
Don't forget Mash-ups  (mash up map idea)
What is the library of the future?
Have an outdoor presence: garden, benches, picnic tables
Work with public transport (if you have any!), kids ride free to library
Explore attitudinal/actual barriers to being the hub of the community
Accessible to everyone regardless of age/education level
Read N Feed
Wal-Mart is often the hub of community…what if we put library in Wal-Mart??
Reach out to online community
Don't try to fix, try to serve
Make Spanish area very colorful
Sign up for sports teams @ your library
Sonicwall
Planting seeds of knowledge
Luncheon with county, city officials to introduce them to library
Think locally

Circulate things you wouldn't think of: cake pans (holiday molds) or other occasional tools, fishing poles, dollies, screens, projectors, DVD players/ CD burners, electric meters, tools, toys

Marketing:

Sidewalk chalk
Footprints to your library
Newspapers
TV
Radio
School newsletters, websites etc.
Gorilla? or Guerilla marketing 
Cookbook for fundraiser
Promote ourselves as the hub…we don't toot our own horn enough, too many people don't know what we have to offer. Get creative about how we get the word out.
Print monthly local news on Gates printer.
Have a marketing plan
Notebook on Publisher to create marketing
Make it professional, use branding
Information is big business
Local business "adopt" a computer add plaque…good PR
Placemat advertising, coasters at bars
Rack card at tourism office
Put library card applications in the new homeowner/chamber of commerce packets
New baby packets
Library mascot visit local stores…leave clues as to where to find him each week
Word of mouth. Ads and fliers at front desk
Use consistency for programming e.g.. Tuesdays @ the library
Make it contagious and continuous.
Made to "stick" sticky ideas…service for everyone.
Love your library!

Who:

Friends of the library are "Friends for life"
Recognize excellent "customers"
Trucking community and other travelers
Know other leaders in the community
Volunteers of all ages (kids to shelve books)
Experience Works  
Need advocates in the community
Home day cares
Senior centers
Work with teachers
Mature services - seniors work in library for no cost to library
Social workers/ case workers keep hours at library
English teachers
Program tie ins: fire dept, weather, post office, doctor, optometrist.
Give library cards to community stakeholders
Ask companies to provide free cable access.

Staff:

Hire for attitude rather than ability
May need to change culture of staff…retrain
Make friends
Change
Direct conversations, not give opinions
Know what you know and what you don't
Don't give advice
Know what is appropriate to discuss
Cheerleaders
Think of ourselves as patrons…no division between us and them.
It's their library, not ours.
Meet and greet
Get staff buy-in
Change and adapt
Recognize pressure on staff and find ways to release it!
Acknowledge staff stress!
Customer service, we're friendly
Being approachable is a big part of disseminating information
Flexibility and balance: "That was the job we had. Now this is the job we have."
Never say "we don't have" something, always have something to offer.
Are we trying to do too much?? Make a desk schedule, engage volunteers and others!
Have staff share their passions: public and staff displays/programs
Should know community resources
Get rid of staff that doesn't perform
Pride in service
Adequate training
Diverse staff to represent community
Shift from being someone who keeps library hours to becoming a force in the community
Mentoring by showing staff how to do things.
Make generic business cards with library info to hand out while in public
Prioritize
FISH  
We're never off the clock

What we offer (This is my library…):

Free services
Education
Entertainment
History
Genealogy
Community "memory" institutional repository
Preserve photos
Literacy
Community information and links
PC's with access and high bandwidth
Programming (know what community wants, and outcome desired)
Outside programs
Senior lunches
Access to statewide catalogs
Teen Advisory Group  
YA's have own space (shows, readings, art/poetry contests)
Wireless (inside and in parking lot…how far does it stretch?)
Kids borrow laptops
Gaming club members
X boxes for kids
Points for checking out books, and prizes
Bookmobile
Movie night
Passport services
Notary
What can we offer that the Internet can't? Personal touch
"I didn't know you had/did ____!
E books
ILL
Databases
Training (for staff and patrons)
Move beyond children's programming…serve all segments of the community
Small libraries can offer personalized services
Driver's exam station
Coffee shop or homemade cookies!
Job applications (print and access to local industry sites…expect online apps)
Food stamps
Tax forms
Coffee hour last Saturday of month
Artwork
Teach/train patrons about what library offers
Local authors and gook signings
Bring gators (local higher ed? Or animals?) into library
Civil liberties
Adult learning-life long university
Scrabble day
Movies
Cultural committee
Authors
Birding group
Ask & Answer
LAN (video games) party - Ron
Invite businesses after hours (smoozing) and invite business sponsorship
Early literacy
Trivia/bingo nights, game nights
Have a playpen
Large print, outreach to nursing homes
Preschool or museum or haunted house in library basement

What does a library that is a hub look like?

Full parking lot
Busy computers
Phone lines busy
Waiting lists for programs
Articles and letters in newspaper
"Shushing/no shushing"
Hard questions being asked
Staff passions being shared
Staff live in the community
Supported by community financially and otherwise
Staff room to remove yourself and rest
The library is "humming"
Location, location, location

Ask:

What happens when the library is gone?
Do people know the value of library?
Core values should match community core values…what are they?
Hub= Relevance in lives of community
Policies reflect needs of the community (do policies sometimes prevent the use)
Useful social mission "useful social mission" have one and follow it - become and stay connected to community - offer what they need and want - not what you think they want
Don't need to duplicate services available elsewhere in community…know your community.
Deal with changing communities, shift focus
Know needs. Do strategic planning.
Public means community; who's not here?

Challenges:

Governance
Limited hours
Getting political and fiscal support
Increased expectations…don't want to be the hub, but rather a spoke in community, otherwise will be a treadmill to meet everyone's needs.
Limited facility
Staff capacity- can they handle serving entire community
Changing assumptions (e.g.. libraries don't like children)

Other notes:

WiFi: unsecured/public, secured network, but don't have access to staff info, secured with access to staff info.

"Great floods have flood from simple sources and great seas dried when miracles by the mighty have been denied." As you like it. W. Shakespeare.