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  • Serving Communities: Inclusion-centered leadership practices that engage the community in actionable science

    Adults can address a range of pressing issues when and if they have the ability to access and understand scientific information that is meaningful to them, their families, and communities. This includes health concerns such as the COVID-19 pandemic, ...

  • Expanding collections with a Library of Things

    Everybody loves a Library of Things. Stories about these popular lending libraries are popping up all over mainstream and social media. Community members are heading to their local library branch to borrow everything from cookware and tools to prom d...

  • The signs and science of burnout

    Employee burnout is rising at an alarming rate across many fields. In libraries, staff often face added unique challenges that contribute to workplace pressure and make the need for support even more pressing. To respond to these increased demands, W...

  • Fostering public library teen engagement through connected learning

    Learning and literacy that is grounded in personal relevance, meaningful relationships, civic engagement, and a sense of purpose, is what the Connected Learning Alliances describes as “connected learning.” For public libraries, building connected lea...

  • A Community-Centered Approach to Digital Collections

    Digital collections offer a way to preserve local history and artifacts while showcasing the diverse stories and voices in your community that might be absent from your physical collection. Creating and curating a diverse collection requires intentio...

  • Partner with indie authors to share diverse stories

    Despite efforts to increase representation in publishing, the industry remains predominantly white. Authors of color often face a range of challenges, including difficulty finding literary agents, limited access to publishing opportunities, and insuf...

  • Co-creating library services through human-centered design

    Much of the work of co-creation happens before you start to plan a concrete service or program. It’s worth spending the time up front to establish authentic, asset-based relationships and craft a scope that aligns with both community aspirations and ...

  • Reading in the balance: Exploring the role of public library in the ‘science of reading’

    Learning to read is neither an innate nor simple process, and recently there has been increased scrutiny on whether schools are effectively preparing children to learn to read. Colloquially referred to as “the reading wars,” this scrutiny has led to ...

  • Hopkinton Public Library unites community in library planning

    At Hopkinton Public Library in Iowa, community engagement is thriving. And the secret to this success is including community members in in the planning, from beginning to end. From an annual haunted house to community bake-offs, the library incorpora...

  • Align library services with community aspirations

    The most successful library services are often those that help the community meet its aspirations while also honoring the unique purpose of the library. But balancing the community’s goals and the library’s scope is not always an easy task.