And I'm going to shift us on over and introduce my colleague, Beth Gutsche, who will be presenting with me today.
My name is Jennifer Peterson, and we're so glad you're here and I'm going to have Betha get us started.
Thanks for being here, Betha.
>> Welcome everybody.
I am excited, I know Jennifer's excited to work with you all through this idea of what a power and a force libraries are as social connectors in your communities.
So we are presenting a thesis to you, that by applying an intentional focus really to what you're already doing, and focusing that on rebuilding social bonds, that libraries, I know this says Public Libraries, but let's generalize, libraries have the position and the power to heal fractured communities.
It's a bold statement, and we're going to spend some time establishing some of the evidence behind that statement and talking about sort of the latest trends in social connection or lack thereof, and how libraries play a role in that, and then we're going to get to I think the most exciting part, we're all going to work together.
So this is about you as much as it is about us as presenters.
Because you all are the gold mine of thinking through possibilities and really coming up with amazing and innovative ideas about how we can augment social bonds in our communities.
First, Jennifer is going to get us warmed up.
>> Yeah.
Before we go through with the Katrina, we want to -- trajectory, we want to hear from you in chat.
Hover over the slide and find the chat bubble on the bottom of the slide, and that will open the chat window on the right, and be sure to post to all participants.
But we'd like to gather your thoughts before we begin on what active learning or parties patory learning programs you're offering in your library now or that you hope to offer.
And now this is a way for us to gather as many ideas as you can think of.
So don't hesitate to post ideas to chat, and I know you're all thinking.
What are some programs that you are already offering that provide opportunities for those social connections?
Craft programs, excellent.
Yoga.
Tai chi, Bollywood.
Lots of DIY, arts and crafts.
Steam programs.
Writers' groups.
A crochet club.
Story times, yes.
Bock clubs.
Ukulele classes, escape rooms, wow, this is fantastic.
Game night.
An unbook club.
Very interesting.
Meditative mandala, food programs, yes.
Language classes.
Video making.
ESL classes.
Next chapter book club for adults with intellectual differences.
We've done a webinar with the next chapter book club folks.
Wonderful.
Wonderful example.
Gardening.
Seed starting.
Wow.
Fantastic.
Adult coloring.
You guys are so great.
This is exactly the kind of thing we're talking about, and we love to see your ideas shared here.
I see NOAA is doing great work, lots of examples of yoga, and exercise.
Coffee conversations.
Mediation.
Perennial exchange.
Very nice.
Cook the book.
Cooking programs.
Technology, lots of technology examples.
Read to rover, I love the read to rover programs.
Pub trivia.
Great.
An excellent example of maybe something happening outside of the library.
Music jams.
Stitching clubs, lots of -- henna for teens.
Business classes.
Fantastic.
You all are modeling active engagement in chat for sure.
Excellent.
>> You're doing this faster than I can keep up.
Thank goodness we will share the chat which will capture all of your ideas, because I only captured a portion of them on screen here.
>> We wanted you to have some visual, but definitely you can see how chat can be a great place for us to collect as well.
So keep these in mind.
We're going to revisit them a also bit later.
Keep them coming, keep jotting them down as they come to mind.
But we're going to actually have Betha get us started on the value of social connection.
>> Yes.
I think it's really critical for us to really be clear and establish why social connection in a community makes a difference to us.
It has been found that the strongest predictor of a spees's brain size is the size of its social group.
So we humans, we have big brains in order to socialize.
Our brains are wired to seek social connection.
It is that fundamental, it is about our survival.
Hard to argue with that in any way, shape, or form.
But of course this is bolstered by lots and lots of studies that have shown really that social connectedness generates a positive feedback loop of social, emotional, and physical well-being, and studies have shown that this is happening at the physiological chemical level, and there is so much evidence that positive social connection lowers your anxiety and depression, it strengthens your immune system, that's operating at that very physical level.
It leads to faster recovery when you do fall ill, it even leads to an increased chance of longevity, though I always wonder how do they measure that?
But I think really importantly, it leads to higher self-esteem and super important, it leads to greater empathy.
So this is really critical that social connection, people with that strong social connection are more trusting and cooperative, but this is really important to our thesis, as a consequence of their stronger connection, others are more open to trusting and cooperating with them.
So that's that really strong feedback loop, and this is what we refer to as social capital.
So social capital is the bonds between people that lead to trust and reliance among community members, and this increased resilience of the community is a really good thing in times of stress.
And I think we can probably agree, we are in times of stress.
So just last fall this wonderful book came out, "palaces for the people."
The title is just really says it all.
The title, how social infrastructure can help fight inequality, polarization, and the decline of civic life.
And what's really wonderful is the author calls out very clearly how libraries can come to the rescue and are playing a really important role in the social infrastructure of our entire society.
So it's just really heartwarming to hear him say that, but also very is specific in the way that he talks about how physical conditions and physical structures can determine whether or not social capital develops.
So he really is convincing about how libraries are actually palaces for the people, where community members come together in physical proximity and forge these really healthy social bonds.
However, we are seeing an erosion of social capital.
I don't know if anybody remembers this seminal book, it's almost 20 years ago that this came out, "Bowling Alone" written by Robert Putnam in the year 2000.
Putnam at that time described what he was seeing as the aggregate loss of membership and participation in civic organizations.
So these are things like labor unions, fraternal organizations, parent-teacher associations, community-based organizations, and he talks about a time when these organizations were more common and there was more participation, and as a result they brought together people who were diverse in terms of class, race, or ethnicity.
So there was more of the social infrastructure that supported shared experiences and group mixing.
So using bowling as a metaphor, when somebody is bowling alone they're not participating in social interaction.
But when bowling lanes were more common, they brought people together from different cultural communities and economic levels, and these are people who wouldn't otherwise be in the same space doing something they enjoy, and this is the -- these are the ingredients, very potent ingredients for creating social connection and social capital, and, hey, this sounds a lot like the library.
So Putnam was identifying technology in the way that it individualizes leisure time.
He was at that time, this is 2000, so this is when social media was just barely poking up above the horizon, so he was blaming it mostly on television and the internet.
But just think how much that has been exacerbated today by the presence and the ubiquity and the pervasiveness of social media in our lives.
There are so many headlines just one after another, that are talking about this, and although there is some controversy because this is not a black and white situation, but there is -- there are many, many studies that show that our increasingly digital lives have led to increased sense of isolation, a decrease in our levels of happiness, increase in depression, and particularly seeing a link to increased rates of suicide and depression, especially among teenagers.
So that's very concerning.
There is definitely a positive side, I don't want to paint this as completely negative, there are benefits to the connections we make through social media.
It brings groups together that cross geographic barriers.
And this is where people have a shared interest.
And there's also this benefit that sociologists have studied called weak social ties, and weak is not a pejorative here, but it's talking about the meaningful ties that you form with a very diverse set of peers, even though they're not going to be deep and lasting friendships.
But overall there's this pervasive sense that we've lost that "we" feeling as members of the geographic communities in which we live.
We still live in physical places and proximity with other human beings.
And we know not just social media tends to lead to that isolation and disconnectedness, but we also now are increasingly aware of how the algorithms that underwrite our social media interactions are very divisive, just by their nature.
So the way we occupy internet filter bubbles, it seeds a kind of in-group connection and social scientists call this bonding social capital, so that feels good, and we like some of that.
But it starves us of bridging social capital.
And this is bridging, this is what we need to live together in the real world.
So these filter bubbles are dividing and separating us.
Sherry Turkle, who is a cultural analyst who's written quite a bit about this, has observed how we can be alone together, we can be physically in the same space, but separated by our devices.
So it's not all doom and gloom.
There is also some really interesting and exciting evidence that there is a renewed interest in things that are physical, and tangible, and involve our existence in the real world.
So you might wonder why I'm showing you a display of moleskines, this book came out in 2016, the book is "revenge of analog, real things and why they matter."
And in that book he tells the story of the insane success of this humble little notebook, like there was some lurking passion waiting to be tapped to hold and write in a little pad of paper is essentially what it is.
Now you can get them in all colors and shapes and sideses all over the world.
So Saks comes up with other examples of this renewed interest and even passion for things that are physical and tangible.
There's a renewed interest in vinyl records, and film cameras, and paperback novels.
And board games, which is something that's really been revived at libraries, it's so exciting to see that.
And according to Sax, he has found this trend is hottest among teenagers and 20-somethings.
So he says that the younger someone is, the more digitally exposed their generation has been, so this whole generation that was born into a digital world, he says the less I found them enamored by digital technology, and the more they were wary of its effects.
So this is a group that is really turning toward physical connection and tangible things.
Love this headline that more and more teens -- I think more and more people are logging off of social media be and returning their attention, understanding what they're losing by doing that.
I want to say this group of teens are not the group that are necessarily logged off, but I love this photograph, because they are coming together physically in a space that's dedicated to them.
Their teen space in a library, because they value that ability and connection for them to be together and really benefit by that.
There was -- not just this headline, there was another interesting study in 2017, a survey of British school children that found that 63% of them said they would be happy if social media had never been invented.
So it's not all black and white.
But it really goes back to the very primal force, the human brain's deep-rooted capacity and need for social connection.
We need it to survive.
So this desire for human interaction, David Sax talks about this in his book, and he talks about bookstores, but we know that libraries are even in a more powerful position to really satisfy and meet that need for human interaction.
>> That brings us to libraries.
Definitely.
And you've also definitely started to think about and share those ideas.
I'm going to start with a question that I know we are all tired of hearing.
Why libraries?
Why still have libraries when everything is online?
I am so tired of hearing this.
And I love this analogy, why go to a party, I have food and music at home.
So I really look forward to the day when this isn't the first thing people mention when I say I work in a library.
Because I believe libraries have really moved beyond staying relevant.
It's almost coming around full cycle, a lot of what we're talking today really shows that libraries are as relevant as they were when we first began, and perhaps even more so now that libraries are a shared experience.
So as Betha talked a little bit about, we know that many of your library services and programming do foster social cohesion.
I think we take this for granted.
And often it takes someone outside our field to point to this.
Like Eric Klinenberg has.
We know that many of the qualities he cites in his book about things that create strong social infrastructure are things that we have in place in our library esdz ix, our values, this is something that's been a part of the field since we first began.
So libraries do help people forge those bonds to create that healthy infrastructure.
Libraries are open and inclusive.
Libraries do create safe spaces.
And they do nurture civility, and I am always talking about how libraries are cultures of learning, and the more we can provide opportunities for folks who learn together, then we can improve ourselves and our society.
And this idea of creating civility, I really want to emphasize the great work that's come out of the Howard County library system.
Since 2006, so actually for quite a while, they've been running a program, an initiative called choose civility, which brings people from the whole community, agencies, business, law enforcement, to really emphasize the ways in which civility creates that healthy social infrastructure as well.
I really do believe that we need to make more of a case.
It's time for us to talk about this social infrastructure that libraries bring to the community, and really a critical role we play in the health and sustainability of our communities.
So I'm -- as I said, I know Eric Klinenberg has come from outside the field, but I'm so glad that he's bringing that conversation for us to emphasize with each other.
So I'd like to give you a few examples of some of the ways in which we've seen the social connections made.
And you know, this is another opportunity to talk about how our role has changed.
Maybe it's flipped back and forth over time.
I feel like change is one of those competencies that we really need to embrace in our libraries and in our communities, and one of the things that we saw with the maker space phenomenon that there really was a lot more happening maybe around technology in creating those spaces for active and participatory learning.
Some of our examples, as you see on the right side here, maybe don't involve technology, or if they do involve technology, how can we make that social connection really the focus of bringing folks together around stem or steam initiatives, which is a great segue to talk about the folks on the left side of the slide here, from the low-carb public library, they're in their digital media lab, and these teens are creating music together.
So another emphasis on how bringing folks together around that technology can create connections.
And I just want to talk a little bit more about the silent reading party idea.
I think this is another opportunity to see how we've maybe come full circle.
I mentioned in chat social media has completely impacted my ability to read.
I'm not reading before I go to bed, which we know has healthy -- has a healthy impact on our brains, and how our brains are going to last longer, so this is something that I think people are coming back to the library to say, you know, I want to read more, but why not create an opportunity for them to socially connect around that reading?
So some libraries are offering silent reading parties, perhaps an hour for folks to silently read, and then maybe another half hour for folks to discuss what they're reading, talk about what they maybe would like to read more of, and of course any time you can bring food or beverages, I just love that this event, supper is provided.
What a wonderful way to bring folks together and create that connection through a traditionally solo activity.
So again, I think we have an opportunity in libraries to address the health of our communities by bringing them back to reading as well.
And also, sorry, I'm sorry, I hate when people go back, but I love this idea that the DIY, we've supported folks that come to the library that are trying to do this work on their own.
DIY, I want to be more self-sufficient.
But what an opportunity to create a DIT, do it together.
I know the repair cafe is another example of folks coming together to learn how to do it to get that support, and help from others so that they can do it together.
A few more examples, the one on the left here really sparked my interest and I actually have come across a film called Thunder dome, it's a documentary that chronicles how a community grew around Nerf wars.
It's about a man, rob lair, who was dealing with depression and PSTD after a near-death experience, and he decided to transform his back yard into a Nerf war zone, or Nerf war space.
The film includes testimonials about people who talked about that they had previously lacked community they were spending too much time on, either on T.V. or addicted to video games, dealing with depression and isolation.
And this just seemed like a perfect parallel to what libraries are doing to bring folks into communities and there's a wonderful blog post, I'll post to chat, about the film and a little bit more about those testimonials.
So I encourage you to check that out.
And there are definitely libraries hosting Nerf events at their libraries.
This one is at the Carnegie stout Public Library in Dubuque, Iowa.
They posted a video recently for celebrating five years of after-hours adult-only Nerf battles.
So this has created community that has sustained now for over five years.
I love that example.
On the right you mentioned lots of you mentioned gardening events in your brainstorm, and gardening definitely fulfills that opportunity for social connection, many times intergenerational, it brings folks from different parts of the community, I think remembering that any of these events that maybe bring unlikely folks to your library or wherever you're gathering folks on behalf of the library, that maybe don't intersect with each other.
And you're providing these opportunities where those conversations that can happen in between or Betha likes to refer to it, intercity officially those conversations that pop up as we're doing things as we're being active, and engaged in these events.
So think about those conversations as well.
One other example you all mentioned in chat as well are escape rooms.
So I wanted to share a couple of examples, and I loved this one on the left at the kings highway library.
And it was a march for change escape room, where they also explored -- obviously learned how to work as a team, but they were exploring change that impacts social injustice.
So having even that level of a theme around an escape room, what a wonderful opportunity to create that connection.
So all of these events obviously get people out of their houses, off their couches, off their screens, many of them are getting them physical, they're creating those opportunities for face-to-face social connections that counter that isolation that people are feeling.
It can often be all ages, targeted to one age, it can involve food, or drink, and definitely helps to create and strengthen those community ties.
So lots of ideas, continuing to congressman to mind I'm sure.
But I think the question we want to ask is, what do we need to do to become more intentional in our planning and implementation of these events?
To really capitalize and amplify the opportunities they provide for social connection?
So I know many of you are thinking, well, we do provide these programs, but we'd like to shift now into thinking about how you can create that intentionality to really build and amplify those social connections that you can bring to the community.
About Betha is going to introduce our challenge here.
And get your thinking caps on again, and we're going to move into some interactivity as well.
>> Yes.
In my mind, this is the good part of the webinar, because this is where you get involved.
So this is our challenge for a public program that brings people together at the library to do things together, so they're already coming together physically in a space to do things.
We want to design ways to enhance the social connections.
So it's that intensioniality that Jennifer just spoke about, especially between individuals who are unlikely to connect in their everyday lives.
So that's a really big part of this.
Jennifer and I recently read a wonderful book, I just linked it into the chat, it's called "the art of hosting" and although it really doesn't speak about libraries at all --
>> "the art of gathering."
>> Oh, sorry.
It's "the art of gathering."
There's so much application to libraries, what she talks about is how important the host role is in really any kind of an event.
And there's a real temptation to thank -- let's put this in the context of libraries -- there's a real temptation to think, okay, I designed a program, I put out the announcements, people will show up and it will all be great.
But I really recommend looking into this book, because Parker goes through some very specific phases around an event in which there are opportunities to apply some of that intentionality.
So in order to do this challenge, I thought we would have some sort of a concrete example to help us think about opportunities.
So we chose the cardboard challenge.
This is a real thing.
You can go to that URL, it's actually an international thing.
The reason why I think it's so appropriate is because it's very low-tech, low-barrier kind of social participatory active learning program, and it also works really well as a team event.
So essentially people are given very simple materials, cardboard, tape, crafty things, and there's usually some sort of a design challenge.
Build something out of these materials that will do something.
And I think the challenge for this one was build some sort of an interactive game.
So that's our context.
And given that idea that you're going to stage a cardboard challenge in your library, what is really -- I think one of the amazing illuminations for me from the art of gathering book is that the event starts with the invitation.
We tend to put out announcements, flyers, thinking that the actual event starts at the date and time we've scheduled.
But what's fascinating is to think that the event starts in people's minds and imaginations as soon as they hear about it.
So this is your opportunity, and I'm going to invite people to start putting things in chat, about what can you do to start building anticipation, excitement, and connection right at the point at which you have announced your event or sent out your invitations?
So part of this is Parker goes into a whole discussion in the book about being selective about your invitations.
So I know libraries like to say, everybody is welcome.
But there are advantages and particularly if you're thinking about helping people mix and mingle who wouldn't ordinarily be doing that, you might want to be very intentional in just the way you invite people, or announce people.
So on thinking about -- and I think this is a great example, the cardboard challenge, to say, we want to do an intergenerational event.
And this whole phase of the host role is really new to me.
So I think it's kind of more challenging to think about, but it's exciting also to think about the potential, it's an otherwise sort of wasted interval of time between your invitation and the actual time at which the event starts, where you could be building anticipation if you are able to target some very specific invitees, you could maybe ask them to do something, bring a photo to the event that shows something they love to do in their lives.
So thank you Jennifer for break can the ice, she said I would start talking to patrons about it immediately.
Yes.
In addition to the newsletter.
I like this.
Competition.
So start your competition right from the beginning.
Who can bring in the smallest or largest cardboard box?
Fantastic.
So thinking about the intergeneration, if you want that audience to come, thinking about how you're going to accommodate them and how to really make it marketing to the different agents in a way that they will respond and get excited.
Jennifer is going to get rid of her cardboard boxes, that's a nice double benefit.
Nancy is talking about, they did a recipe exchange and they started talking it up immediately.
It's amazing how much information transfers by word of mouth in the library by people overhearing.
Show that video of cane's arcade, which is where the cardboard challenge came from.
I recommend everybody watch that video.
It's really compelling.
That would be a great way to get people sort of juiced up and into the mood before they even come to the event.
So lots of examples, and we're going to get into phase by phase where we go from here, but I love RSV with your avatar or made-up name.
Have people assume an identity in preparation for the event.
And I know I'm missing some commence here, so thank goodness for capturing chat.
This is good.
Find places where people hang out.
Not just relying on flyers and announcements, but if you really want specific people to come to this event, go where they are and connect with them personally.
The personal connection is so powerful on so many levels.
Definitely use social media, which Megan is saying that has been their most effective tool.
But thinking about maybe how you frame your message within that social media opportunity.
Going to various places like senior centers and preschools, okay.
So I think we're going to move -- these are great and I really encourage you, this is your opportunity to really help each other think about being intentional.
But I'm going to move us on to the next phase.
This is the concept of crossing the threshold.
So there's also this tendency to say, hey, here's the date, here's the time, here's the room, or the location in the library, and expect the people will just come in and start doing their thing.
But think about people who maybe are not that familiar with the library, if you are being intentional about including more people from diverse communities and people who wouldn't necessarily have come in and been involved in other events in the libraries, ideas are already coming in.
Have a welcome person at the door.
So, yes, it's like, you know, we all make fun of the Wal-Mart greeters, but that's part of an experience and it starts at the threshold.
So really helping people, what can you do to help people see that this is a welcoming environment and not -- there's always a hesitation, especially if it's in a separate room, to kind of peer in and go, I don't know, do I want to jump in?
Especially if you don't know anybody.
I love this one, tell the town clerk, she'll tell everyone else.
That sounds like a small town.
Food and drinks.
That's always a really good warm-up ming letter.
Having ice-breakers, so maybe something that you -- some sort of game that people can begin to participate in right away.
That hopefully might get them mingling.
Being aware of the physical space.
How welcoming is the physical space?
Is it giving indications of the exciting things that are doing to happen there?
Are there ways that people can sort of get easy access?
So some things that are done very often traditionally, like name tags, name tags are great, they'll never go out of style.
Introduce yourself to any new face.
So this is -- that's a really good point we're going to get into the next phase.
Having music.
That's fabulous.
Smile and acknowledge everybody.
That's part of the greeting.
Yes, acknowledge everybody to make them feel like you're in the right place, we're glad you're here, yes, we did invite you.
And asking for people's names and introducing them to other participants, this is getting into the next phase, but that's really great, because there's a lot of overlap.
Oh, having display or activities outside leading up to the door.
That's really -- that's -- I love it.
That's really thinking of that whole sequence of the experience of the user or the participant.
>> There's a great question about deciding whether or not to have registration.
That's an interesting question, especially if you're considering --
>> that's an interesting and eternal question, and there's so much argument on both sides.
Sometimes registration is a barrier, yes, as somebody just pointed out there.
So I'll let you all discuss that in chat, because I don't think there's a definitive answer, and it probably is trial and error what works well for your community and what might not work.
>> And it's interesting, as Betha said from the art of gathering, if you do have registration, then you could perhaps interact with them a little bit more before the event.
If you have their emails, perhaps you set up those expectations that we talked about before.
>> And this is interesting, going to the next phase where everybody is in the room, and the activity has started, but related to registration and the art of gathering book, there's Parker has a whole chapter onsetting rules.
Which applies to the whole process of, if you have a very selective list of invitees, you can set some norms and rules ahead of time, and one of them might involve registering or making some commitment.
But these are really important aspects of hosting.
So let's start with equalizing.
Especially if you are intentionally inviting communities of people who wouldn't otherwise mingle, it's really important to think about how do you eliminate hire arc Is and disparities between them so they feel equally empowered to engage with the activity and engage with each other?
We'll just put it all together, so the other aspect is connecting your guests, and some of you are already suggesting making introductions that you as the host make introductions and get people or some to talk to each other.
I love this, you're already getting them divided into teams using mini-candy bars.
So some element of randomness or intentionality around dividing teams so that they are teams that are mixing people who wouldn't otherwise be together.
So signing up for door prizes, that's an enticement for registration.
That's great.
One aspect of equalizing, I'm going to throw out this idea, Parker had this from one of her events, she set a rule, and she's kind of big on rules, but the rule at the door was that you leave your titles, positions, role in your organization, business cards, any of that, you leave that outside of the room, and when you enter the room, the rule is you're not allowed to talk about your work.
So what this does, it forces people to talk about anything but their work.
So what they like to do, where they like to go, what their kids are up to.
That Parker has found is a great equalizer because it just removes those superficial hire arcis people tend to carry with them at all times, and it circumvents that tendency for all of us, we all tend to say when we meet people, we don't know, like what do you do?
Which means, what is your work, and that immediately introduces these hierarchies.
>> This is another time to think about and mention how can you be mindful of equity or diversity or inclusion in your events perhaps if people -- if there are language differences or cultural differences, being mindful of how you might equalize your ask of the group in those situations.
>> I like bingo for door prizes.
Bingo is a great connector.
Because people love bingo.
I played it at our state library conference just last week.
Oh, the bingo items were find someone who likes the movie better than the book, or find someone who knows a poem by heart.
That's wonderful.
And I like that, because you may be focusing on the main event, which is your cardboard challenge, so you're not thinking of another game, but that is a very good mixing and mingling, getting people to go around and just start to feel comfortable.
And this all builds to that phenomenon, that bowling league phenomenon and that social infrastructure phenomenon that Klinenberg talks about where when people are together in the same physical space doing something they enjoy, the connections happen spontaneously.
So the more you can do that, mingling and bringing people together, the more you're going to be seeing the fruits of this spontaneous connection.
So just remembering that it is a really important role for you and whoever other library staff you're working together with for the event, to be that catalyst.
To help people find those connections, or to help people be together unself consciously next to each other so they can start to feel relaxed.
I read a wonderful article in Public Library magazine that talked about embracing people in the library, people who are experiencing homelessness, embracing them to get involved in their maker space.
And I just think what a great thing to think about if you want to welcome people into a maker space with the other people who are probably already much more familiar and comfortable in that space, what would you do to help bridge differences and perceptions, and approaches and help everybody feel comfortable and excited and engaged?
>> I just want to bring up an idea that came up earlier, Wendy mentioned that in their programs, instead of having people turn to the person next to them, they invite people to pair up with the person behind them for a chat about the topic, or with whatever is happening.
So that they're not talking to the person they came with perhaps.
>> Perfect.
And I love this, yes, you can enlist your patrons to help in this.
You're not -- you don't need to be alone.
So moving forward, we're actually at the end of your event, and this is also another area where it's very tempting to think, okay, time's up, we said this would run from 6:00 to 8:30, it's 8:30, okay, everybody leaves.
But according to Parker, this is a really important phase of the entire event, because this is the opportunity to help your participants reflect on what happened at the gathering, and to help them leave, like really capture their excitement and motivation and leave with that sort of solidified in their minds, and with each other.
And why we call this a dual purpose wrap-up is because when you give your guests the opportunity to make those reflections and express their excitement, you -- the library staff, you are capturing an amazing advocacy moment.
So this is where you can get the evidence of how important it is to bring people together.
Somebody says, project outcome surveys.
Yes, that is one way.
I love taking photos, because that is an immediate visual.
I'm all about visual.
People really respond to visual evidence of how they felt with each other, and it's something they can get excited about and share.
Have people pose with your team, or your creation, yes.
So get those photos.
And that's -- I love that.
Because posing with your team and hopefully the team is a mixture of people who wouldn't necessarily have been -- didn't come together, that's visual evidence of the excitement and the bonding that they felt.
And, yes, follow up with people the next time they come in, when you see them again.
Remind them about the program and sort of get some feedback about what they enjoyed, and what was really exciting for them.
And I love, you do a last call announcement for drinks and snacks so you let them know it's winding up.
Yes, it's good to not end abruptly, but that's a great hosting.
So on paint nights, they leave 30 minutes at the end to let people finish, and during that time take photos for Instagram and go around asking patrons how they enjoyed it.
So get that verbal affirmation.
Encourage them to post on social media.
That's great.
Because that captures it in writing.
Or have them physically write down their experiences so that they can be displayed at the next event, and you also have a written documentation of those enthusiastic comments and feedback.
So Nancy asks for future program ideas from the people while they're engaged.
That's great.
Because they're feeling good, and they're all excited and they will let you know what they want to do more of.
So this is Kathleen building off taking a photo, she says have them present their creations or ideas to the whole program.
I like that.
Because that gets them each sharing and talking.
And notice -- Noah says in a lot of the exercises classes they take group selfies at the end.
This is a great closing.
The one-word closing where you go around and everybody has to say in one word the best thing you did today.
And it's true, if it's some kind of event where they've created something, like an art event, have them, if they're not going to get up and demonstrate, have them all display what they've done and do what we call a gadz gallery walk.
Where everyone else goes around, because then that gets even more mingling, that's powerful.
Great ideas, so please, please, please, keep your great ideas coming.
But we are forced by the clock to move forward, because we definitely want to carry forth with this idea about the importance of advocacy.
>> Fantastic.
Yes.
Betha mentioned gathering their feedback is one way for you to start to collect ways to advocate, and another Eric Klinenberg thought and quote, he said that libraries are amazing institutions  that would be kind of inconceivable if we didn't already have them.
So let's take advantage of the fact that we have them and let's tell these stories that demonstrate the ways in which we are building that social infrastructure that is critical to our communities.
It's critical to our health, it's critical to how we connect, and communicate with each other.
So you know, I really feel like this is something we should be talking about with our stakeholders.
We should be talking about it internally, with our staff, with our board, and with our external community stakeholders.
You know, when somebody says to you, "why do we really need libraries anymore?"
You want to be able to talk about the critical role libraries play in building social infrastructure.
So I'm curious, we like to do the exercise of what is it, the 15-8-3 -- 9-27-3, which I'll post a link on the event page so you guys can explore that, but it's basically coming up with your elevator pitch, we talk a lot about having something that you can say in a short enough period of time that really tells the story of the impact your library is having.
What are some of the ways in which you would maybe start to include this social infrastructure role that your library plays in your conversations?
Invite the media to the event.
You know, actually, inviting stakeholders to participate in your programs, invite them to be there and experience it themselves.
I know that some of the libraries that are hosting the Nerf wars or the laser tag, they're inviting their law enforcement community to come and join, and they've become a part of those regular events.
Have a patron designated to be the library reporter.
So inviting the library patrons to intersect and engage with the media as well.
Having those elected officials intersect and share those stories with the media as well.
The media definitely can help you spread the story.
Somebody mentioned that community connections is in their mission.
So this is a part of their broader goal and mission.
So maybe including -- fixing out how you can build this social connection and social infrastructure piece into your existing messaging or as you update your messaging.
Have a monthly meet the commissioner event where local officials comes and talks to library patrons.
Maybe inviting them to come to one of these events as part of their meet the commissioner event.
Include some sort of active and engaging activity as a part of that reoccurring event.
>> I just want to add, somebody made the comment about make sure your library staff are participating in other community events, yes.
This is so important no matter what kind of program you're doing or what the topic is.
We're actually going to do a webinar in early June that is really talking about community connections and various strategies and tools for doing that.
>> Excellent.
Yes, I actually added a slide, Betha doesn't know I've added a slide to our deck, I'll actually jump oaf to that so you can see that.
Because I think this is a perfect precursor to that webinar.
So thinking about how you can discover more about your community as well.
So definitely put those on your calendar.
Having staff be members of those external organizations, the rotary, gardening clubs, schools, participate in those community events, model community engagement, right?
Modeling that as well.
I appreciate the conversation about getting photo permission, that's a great reminder to have something in place for that.
Excellent.
Lots of great ideas in chat.
And I'll also mention too that we are eager to keep this conversation going.
This live social connect hashtag is one way -- this #Libsocialconnect is one to use, feel free to add that to your events too.
So we can all together promote the critical role we play in creating those social connections.
>> Yes, you are all amazing and you're clearly doing amazing work.
And we really like to know through that twitter hashtag how it's working, if you're going out and doing some of these intentional social connections, strategies, we really want to hear how it works.
>> And then feel free if folks have questions or comments to keep those coming.
I also wanted to remind you that we do have a learner guide that we've created for today's event.
And this guide actually has taken that art of gathering and taken some of those steps that we worked through in the last half of the webinar and we encourage you to think of these guides as a way for you to bring the conversation to your team, you can customize the guide, so if you'd like to shift it up and customize it before you bring it to colleagues, perhaps your board, perhaps somebody mentioned how patrons themselves can help us host these events, perhaps you have an eager patron who is interested in being involved.
The guide can be a way for you to bring that conversation and take those steps to build that intentionality into your planning, your invites, and your implementation and your follow-up.
So definitely we encourage you to use the guide that's posted to the event page.
And we're just about at the top of the hour, thank you so much, it's great to see folks chiming in.
And, yes, today's session is going to be available as a recording.
And the learner guide as well as all of the resources that we've mentioned are listed on today's event page, and I will send you all an email later on today once everything else is posted up there, and I'll also send you a certificate within the week for your attendance today.
And I also am sending you to a short survey as you leave, and this survey is a great way for you to share feedback to us, and it helps guide our ongoing programming decisions.
So thanks for taking the time to do that.
Thank you so much, Betha, it's always a pleasure working with you, and we've been so excited to bring this session to you all today.
And thank you to our captioner and to WJ Support, Kendra, for her helping today.
And everyone, have a fantastic day.
We look forward to seeing your socially engaging and connecting events shared throughout -- with the hashtag, and through your libraries work.
>> Yeah, library power!