Building Community Relationships for Better Library Services
Explore strategies for finding community partners and building relationships with them with the goal of truly working in collaboration with people they serve.
Many libraries are increasingly focused on planning library services collaboratively with their communities. Connected Learning, Participatory Design, and Community Led-Libraries are becoming standard practice, but to successfully embark on that work, the first (and ongoing!) thing library staff need to do is build robust and meaningful connections within their communities. In this session, we will explore strategies for finding community partners and building relationships with them with the goal of truly working in collaboration with people they serve. We will discuss strategies for small rural libraries up through large urban systems. You will hear from library staff who have successfully started doing this work in their own communities with partners who serve all ages. You will also learn about the importance of this work and why it needs to be supported by administrators and supervisors.
Presented by:
- Sara White, Youth Services Consultant at the Washington State Library
- Stephanie Zero, Operations Manager at Crossroads Library, King County Library System (WA)
- Elissa Burnley, Assistant Programs Manager at Mid-Columbia Libraries (WA)
- Rachel Beckman, Teen Services Librarian at Sno-Isle Libraries (WA)
Tweet: #wjwebinar
Access Recording
- View Webinar Recording (Coming Soon)
Webinar Attachments
- View slides (pdf) (Coming Soon)
- View chat (xls) (Coming Soon)
- View captions (txt) (Coming Soon)
- Learner Guide (doc) Use alone or with others to extend your learning. (Coming Soon)
Related Resources and Links
- Partnerships & Collaboration topic area on WebJunction
Date
24 October 2023
Time
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Eastern Daylight Time, North America [UTC -4]
Webinar presenter Sara White
Webinar presenter Stephanie Zero
Webinar presenter Elissa Burnley
Webinar presenter Rachel Beckman
Upcoming Webinars
26 September 2023
Climate Action Planning (Part 2): Disaster Preparedness and Community Resilience
03 October 2023
Climate Justice
11 October 2023
Revitalizing Morale: Cultivating a Supportive Library Culture
24 October 2023
Building Community Relationships for Better Library Services
28 November 2023
Living Our Values Out Loud: Programs that Walk the Talk
13 December 2023