Advocacy with a big A
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Gina Milsap, NEKLS Director's Spring Institute
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Advocacy with a big A
- 3. Gina Millsap, CEO Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library
- 4. The Aspen Institute Dialogue on Public Libraries To learn more: http://as.pn/libraries Amy Garmer, Director amy.garmer@aspeninstitute.org QUESTIONS?
- 6. Gateway to lifelong learning “Persistent education and learning are the reality … the library as people, place and platform is the new knowledge institution that can serve all those needs.” -LEE RAINIE
- 8. LIBRARY AS PEOPLE “Take away my people, but leave my factories, and soon grass will grow on the factory floors. Take away my factories, but leave my people, and soon we will have a new and better factory.” Andrew Carnegie
- 10. LIBRARY AS PLACE “The public library is first and foremost a place…that promotes development in society. It is the family room of a community.” Akhtar Badshah Lawrence Public Library | Metropolis Magazine 4-year-old Asmund’s favorite place to read in the library Overbrook Public Library storytime
- 11. Ron Robinson Theater, Central Arkansas Library System Philadelphia Free Library Virtual Branch at Airport Topeka Library Trivia teams at the Kansas Expocentre
- 12. Mahjongg program at Basehor Community Library In Topeka’s teen room, where kids come daily after school. Atchison Library’s kids space Lawrence Public Library’s Sound+Vision Studio
- 13. How is your library a community hub?
- 14. LIBRARY AS PLATFORM Nashville Public Library Makerspace Library computers at community centers DREAM Center
- 18. Library as platform R. David Lankes
- 20. Community-focused strategic plans “We work together as partners with other community organizations in a spirit of cooperation, supporting each other's efforts to achieve organizational excellence.” Atchison Public Library
- 21. Our goals • Support the economic vitality of our community • Support and nourish the community spirit, imagination and culture • Contribute to the growth and development of our community’s families and children Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library
- 22. Our goals • Every child will be ready for kindergarten • Everyone will discover their passion for learning • Everyone will continue learning new ways to live their best life. • Topeka and Shawnee County will be a community of readers. Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library
- 23. Share something your library is doing!
- 25. 1. Aligning with community goals STRATEGIES
- 26. “The public library has moved from being an institution that primarily services individuals to one that navigates community.” –Tessie Guillermo
- 28. We’re in the community
- 29. Are you at the table? Once you’re at the table, what do you do?
- 30. 2. Provide access to content in all formats STRATEGIES
- 32. ACCESS IS NOT ENOUGH!
- 33. 3. Ensuring long-term sustainability STRATEGIES
- 34. Toward a national digital platform “With a nationally networked platform, library and other leaders will also have more capacity to think about the work they can do at the national level that so many libraries have been so effective doing at the state and local levels.” -MAUREEN SULLIVAN
- 35. Europeana
- 36. Digital Public Library of America
- 41. Demonstrate the value of libraries
- 45. Policy Makers & Funders
- 49. How can you use the AI report?
- 50. Wichita Public Library "When the Aspen Report was released, it was as if it had been written just for Wichita.” Cindy Berner, Director
- 51. Using the action guide
- 53. Let’s SOAR
- 55. “Root for Columbus” campaign
- 56. How are you leading in your community?
- 59. Gina Millsap gmillsap@tscpl.org 785-580-4480 on twitter @ginamillsap Let’s keep the conversation going!
Notas del editor
- Advocacy with a Big A We’re going to talk a bit about the Aspen Institute’s new report, Rising to the Challenge: Re-envisioning Public Libraries, within the context of advocacy and changing the way the general public views public libraries. We talk about local advocacy a lot – what each of us can do everyday to help connect people to the library and help them understand how it can help them live better lives. Our recent experience with HB 2719 is a good reminder of how important advocacy is. Today we’re going to talk about advocacy on a larger national scale.
- Does this look familiar? It’s a report funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and developed by the Aspen Institute. Some of you have seen it. For others, it’s your first peek at a groundbreaking initiative to change the public’s perception of public libraries. It’s a national effort to position libraries as essential to their communities and to the well-being of our democracy in the 21st century. It’s getting a lot of attention and one of the reasons is because it was produced by the Aspen Institute, which has an international reputation as an educational and policy organization. If you get the Aspen Institute’s attention, it signals that you have an important role to play in making a better society and a better world. And what’s more important than public libraries? We know we can change the world.
- When public libraries got their start, we were seeking to fill a void in our communities – of literacy, culture and education and, equally important, access to basic information. The Internet has changed the game. Today’s networked world is one where information is in the palm of your hand. The spread of powerful digital information and communication technologies has touched every aspect of daily life. What’s needed now is digital literacy -- the ability to find, evaluate and use information. Public libraries are already at the forefront of tackling the critical need for these skills by providing access to online information and supporting digital literacy. And to meet the needs of individuals, the community and the nation in this new knowledge society, public libraries must be re-invented for a networked world.
- This is Lee Rainie – Director, Pew Research Center Internet Project He says, “No longer a nice-to-have amenity, the public library is a key partner in sustaining the educational, economic and civic health of the community during a time of dramatic change.” Public libraries inspire learning and empower people of all ages. Now is the time to focus on how important libraries are to education and the difference we make in our communities. My own editorial comment – we need to encourage curiosity, the “I wonder..” moments and make learning fun. This is what will distinguish us in the future. So what positions libraries to do that?
- What are the library’s key assets? What are our strengths, the things of value that are unique to us? They are: People, Place and Platform. So, what does that mean? So let’s break that down a bit.
- The public library is a gathering place for civic engagement, fostering new relationships and strengthening the social capital of the community. That means that Librarians must be actively engaged in the community. We connect individuals to a vast array of local and national resources and serve as neutral conveners to facilitate community conversations and consensus. We facilitate learning and creation for children and adults alike. We’re high-tech and high touch representing the best combination of technology and skilled, educated people.
- The library as people reflects the shift away from building collections to building relationships and knowledge networks in the community. People are at the center of the library’s mission. The library is a facilitator of human connection and understanding. Library staff are making sure that community members are reaching their goals as well as connecting community members with similar interests and concerns. Think of it as match.com for libraries and the people we serve. Here’s an example. Louisville Free Public Library’s 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Challenge is a program that encourages all families and caregivers to read at least 1000 books with their young children before they enter Kindergarten. Reading to preschool-age children builds vocabulary, language skills, and helps prepare them with the skills they need for Kindergarten. In as little as 15 minutes a day, families can build the skills for future school and life success. St. Louis County Library is committed to promoting early literacy within the community. Pictured here is one of their many videos of storytimes that build crucial early literacy skills. St. Louis County Library is partnering with area hospitals to make sure new parents know about the importance of early literacy. The Born to Read program provides new parents at four area hospitals with a bag of library goodies-including a book, a bath toy, an activity calendar and instructions on how to receive a library card. Parents will also receive an invitation to celebrate their child's first birthday at the library where they will receive another free book.
- Library as PLACE The public library is a welcoming space for a wide range of purposes—reading, communicating, learning, playing, meeting and getting business done. Its design recognizes that people aren’t just consumers of content but creators as well. Its physical presence provides an anchor for economic development and neighborhood revitalization, and helps to strengthen social bonds, community identity and civic pride. Yet, the library is also a virtual space where individuals can gain access to information, resources and all the rich experiences the library offers. In the creative design of its physical and virtual spaces the public library defines what makes a great public space.
- Library as PLACE Library = Community Hub Today’s library is both a physical and virtual place, but it continues to be the physical presence of the library that anchors it most firmly in the community. Here’s some examples Ron Robinson Theater, part of Central Arkansas Library System’s main library – 315 seat multi use venue with state of the art technology offering films, live theater and concerts. Philadelphia Free Library partnered with Airport Authority to open a virtual library at the International airport. Ron Robinson Theater, Central Arkansas Library System Philadelphia Free Library Virtual Branch at Airport In the lower right hand corner is the Topeka and Shawnee County’s Public Library’s perennially popular Trivia Night. It brings hundreds of library customers and first-time visitors to the library, creating a sense of fun and kinship with their library and their fellow Topekans. It’s also raised the library’s profile regionally, attracting people from Kansas City, which is just down the road and as far away as Hutchinson, KS, some 180 miles away. It’s become such a big event that it’s been moved to our convention center for 2014 and is one of THE anticipated events of the year.
- A great library platform is a “third place” that supports the learning and civic needs of the community. When we talk about our community, a sociologist named Ray Oldenburg argued for the importance a third place separate from home ("first place") and the workplace ("second place”) where people can gather, socialize and learn together. Wouldn’t it be great if the library were that third place for most folks? Here’s some other great examples from right here in NEKLS country.
- Think about how your library is a third place, a community gathering place. Who would like to share an example of something you’re doing to create that in your community?
- Now let’s talk about library as platform. That concept is a little bit harder to grasp at first. The library as platform sees itself as “library as a service.” It’s a physical or virtual space that people can use as a base to create new content, connect people to ideas and each other and promote community learning and relationships. Within the building itself, it starts with the biggest, fattest, most secure Internet connection possible, robust Wi-Fi, and support for mobile devices for borrowing books, film and music. Outside the physical library, these high quality experiences are delivered on-demand to users wherever they may be and through whatever device they want and for whatever purpose they choose. Content may come from within the library’s own collections, from a national content platform or anywhere in the cloud. So we’re talking Overdrive, Hoopla, Flipster.
- Here’s an example of creating a regional platform for access to digital content.
- Because I think this concept is a bit harder to visualize, I looked for a picture that helps to make the notion of platform a little more real. This is architectural firm UNStudio’s design for the Urban Library of the Future and Centre for New Media in Gent , Belgium. Doesn’t this image look like an attempt to interpret the notion of library as platform in physical space?
- Or it could be the 21st century version of the Love Boat. May I ask how many people get this reference?
- David Lankes, a professor of library and information science at Syracuse University, describes it this way. “The new view of the library is not as place, or as collection, but as community platform for knowledge creation and sharing.” He further states that: “The Mission Of Librarians Is To Improve Society Through Facilitating Knowledge Creation In Their Communities.” He suggests that our library catalogs should be a platform to connect people to content, events, people and other information. In other words, it’s not just about our stuff.
- Here’s a reading recommendation. Check out this brand new book -- BiblioTech – Why Libraries Matter More than Ever in the Age of Google by John Palfrey. John is the founding chairman of the Digital Public Library of America. Remember that – I’ll talk about DPLA again in a minute. His book presents a compelling argument for re-envisioning libraries as platforms to help our institutions, our communities and our democracy grow and thrive in the 21st century. So, how do we get there?
- Well, first, it’s important to remember that it’s not just about the technology. It’s also how we work in the community. It’s how we work with partners to have a greater impact than we can have on our own. And for that ---- you need a plan.
- Here was my library’s approach eight years ago. Note we’re talking a lot about community, but it’s what we’re going to do for the community.
- Here’s our approach today. These goals are aspirational and they describe a bigger, brighter future. Partnership is baked into to every one of these goals. It’s understood that the Library doesn’t own these goals, but we can be a platform for making them happen. And we don’t use the word community anymore because it’s inclusive --- the goal is to reach everyone.
- How is your library a platform for your community? [Ask Brad Allen to talk about how Lawrence PL is facilitating music creation and acting as a platform for creativity.]
- The Aspen report also includes actions that we must pursue to be successful. Connecting people to the world in a different way is the challenge of the 21st century for public libraries in communities of all sizes. Libraries long ago established their place in the hearts of their communities. Sustaining and broadening that position requires new thinking about what a library is and how it drives opportunity and success in today’s world. Here’s are four strategies that Rising to the Challenge identifies as essential to libraries’ long term survival.
- To be successful, public libraries need to align their people, place and platform assets and create services that support local community goals. That means we know what’s going on in our communities. We know and participate in goal setting with other organizations like our local governments, United Way and other organizations that seek to have a significant impact on the community.
- Here’s a perspective from someone outside the library world. This is Tessie Guillermo – President and CEO of ZeroDivide – this is an organization that helps organizations and institutions use technology to facilitate social change in underserved communities. They focus their efforts on closing the digital divide. Does that sound familiar? Do libraries care about the digital divide? You bet we do! We’re all about equitable access, right?
- Here’s an example from the library world. LIMITLESS LIBRARIES is a project serving more than 80,000 Nashville public school students and 7,000 educators giving them access to a wealth of resources. This is a cooperative program between the Nashville Public Library and Metro Nashville Public Schools designed to encourage resource sharing and improve student access to learning materials. Since its launch, circulation of school library resources has increased 79 percent; 28,000 middle and high school students are registered Limitless Libraries users; and bulk purchasing and negotiated discounts have achieved an estimated $271,000 in savings while vastly expanding resources. Limitless Libraries, Nashville, TN
- Here’s some examples from my community. My library works with Heartland Visioning, our community planning process and the United Way on maximizing our collective impact through shared goals. Our first community impact goal is Every child ready for kindergarten. We also have librarians serving on Heartland Healthy Neighborhoods and Safe Streets. And we’re working on bridging the digital divide with the development of a community-based plan for access to advanced broadband services. I’m serving on the Mayor’s task force that is focused on this effort. We’re at a lot of community tables.
- 5 second delay between questions. So two questions to consider. The reason I ask this is – this isn’t about supplying a bookmark or attending meetings where there’s lots of discussion but little action. This is about the power of the library and the librarian to make things better in our communities. Talk about “brochure.”
- Another strategy for success… As we continue to our shift our role from warehouse to platform, we’re investing in content in many formats. Libraries face a couple of major challenges: 1. Being able to obtain and share e-books and other digital content on a similar basis as we do physical books and other container content 2. Having affordable, universal broadband technologies that deliver and help facilitate the creation of content. Advocacy (there’s that word again) for changes in the business model for ebooks and for more accessible and affordable broadband are critical.
- The Library of Congress has made digitized versions of collection materials available online since 1994. They’re providing a gateway to a growing treasury of photos, manuscripts, maps, sound recordings, movies, and books, as well as native digital content like Web sites. LC provides one of the largest bodies of noncommercial high-quality content on the Internet. So we all have access to the treasures of our national library. But these digital platforms need to exist at all levels.
- And access by itself isn’t enough. Here’s an example of what the Chattanooga Public Library is doing with it’s Gigabit broadband access. (If you’re wondering what Gigabit is, you’ve heard of the fiber networks Google is building in selected cities around the country? It’s bringing Gigabit connections to institutions, businesses and households. It’s a big Internet pipe!) So, Nashville PL doesn’t just have a gigabit connection. Its GigLab provides a separate gig-connected space designed specifically for gigabit-related experimentation and learning, application testing and workforce development. So it’s not just access – it’s a maker space using gigabit technology for hands-on learning and entrepreneurship.
- What all this means is that things are changing – and along with drastic change comes the need for a new models for library budgets, governance and how we measure the difference we make to meet the demands of our society and our communities. We all know that funding is dependent on how we’re governed and who makes the decisions about library funding. We know that some funding models are more effective than others in providing sustained and predictable financial resources. Pam Sandlian-Smith of Anythink Libraries in Colorado says, “Special taxing districts are effective for longer-term planning and transformation. The provide certainty and are less open to political changes. And I’ll add…..that my library is also an independent tax district, which has a Board of Trustees with taxing authority. That means we control our financial present and future. And we’re committed to participating in a national digital library platform.
- An essential part of our future as individual libraries is becoming part of larger library platforms. Having a great website and digital presence for our individual libraries is just the start. Becoming part of a national digital platform will level the playing field and help bridge the digital divide by ensuring that whether your library serves a population of 300 or 3 million, they have access to the world’s information at their fingertips.
- Europe is already working on this. This is Europeana. It was originally called the European Digital Library Network and began in 2005 with a letter from the president of France and the premiers of several other countries to the European Commission. They recommended the creation of a virtual European library to make Europe’s cultural heritage accessible for all.
- So, how do we go about doing that here in the United States? Are you familiar with the Digital Public Library of America? http://dp.la/ The Digital Public Library of America brings together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world. It’s: A portal that delivers students, teachers, scholars, and the public to incredible resources, wherever they may be in America. A platform that enables new and transformative uses of our digitized cultural heritage. An advocate for a strong public option in the twenty-first century. All libraries should be represented and provide access to the DPLA. It has the potential to be a, let’s call it, a fourth place for libraries and the communities they serve.
- Here’s another example from our own NEKLS. This time helping us develop a digital platform that helps us share the amazing resources sometimes hidden away in our libraries. Recollections: Kansas is the platform for Kansas libraries to share unique historical materials and heighten awareness of the richness and diversity found in local collections.
- It’s also important to remember that…. None of this works without Internet access and adequate broadband capacity. I mentioned earlier that we’re working on community-based broadband plan for Topeka and Shawnee County. It’s take about three years to convince public sector leadership and our local Chamber that vendor product doesn’t equal a plan for our community. Our big goals are facilitating digital entrepreneurship, bridging the digital divide and helping people attain digital literacy.
- The fourth strategy for success is leadership. Leadership is essential throughout the community; and especially in libraries. Leaders will build communities and public libraries that thrive and succeed together. And it has to be leadership with VISION. Every community needs a vision and a strategic plan. Every public library needs a plan that directly aligns the library and its work with the community’s educational, economic and other key goals. And it must have input from all stakeholders in the community.
- Librarians must go beyond the walls of the library and into the community, to engage different stakeholders groups and explore how to provide library services that are untethered from the library building itself. And a side note --- public/private partnerships are key. It is important to identify and cultivate champions in the private sector, especially those who can leverage philanthropic action to support the library and help to showcase the library as a community asset.
- At the end of the day, we’re talking about advocacy and that starts with each one of us.
- The power to re-envision libraries is also the power to re-envision our communities. To do that, we need a shared vision and values, like equity, access, opportunity, openness and participation. We also need a unity of vision and purpose by stakeholders – at all levels. Everyone has a stake in building engaged, healthy communities. Therefore, every stakeholder is a library stakeholder. Library, government and civic leaders all have a role to play in building strong communities by building and sustaining strong libraries. The report identifies 15 action steps for each sector. I’m highlighting four key steps for the 3 major groups of stakeholders in the report.
- Leadership is key and the report outlines specific strategies library leaders should take to position their libraries for success.
- For us as library leaders, this means: Defining the scope of the library’s programs, services and offerings around community priorities, recognizing this process may lead to choices and trade-offs. Developing partnerships and collaborations with other libraries and knowledge networks that can contribute to efficiencies, using the opportunities provided by digital technologies. Measuring outcomes and impacts to communicate the library’s value to the community and communicate these outcomes to key partners and policy makers. Engaging the community in planning and decision making, and seek a seat at tables where important policy issues are discussed and decisions are made.
- For policy makers and the folks who make the decisions about money…..
- It means: Defining libraries as part of the community’s priority infrastructure along with established priorities such as schools, transportation and parks, and make sustainable, long-term funding that reflects the library’s value to the community a budget priority. Developing strategic alliances and partnerships with local library leaders to advance educational, economic and social goals. Leveraging the economic development potential of the public library as a community platform. Supporting a study on funding and governance structures for public libraries to identify strengths, weaknesses and opportunities that will lead to the development of stronger, more efficient public libraries.
- For private sector leadership, community partners and the public…..
- This means: Developing strategic partnerships and alliances around content or specific organizational or community needs. Participating in the library’s platform for curating local history and culture – telling the community’s story. Volunteering organizational and technical expertise to mentor and support learning that takes place in the library spaces and on its platform, including innovation labs, (especially those aimed at youth), makerspaces and co-working spaces. Supporting broadband the deployment of broadband, WIFI, and digital literacy skills throughout the community, especially to economically disadvantaged, underserved and other special needs populations.
- So, how do we use this to advance our library’s role in our community? Here’s just a few examples of how the report has since been used as the basis of discussion among library staffs, boards of trustees, policymakers and funders. It was used to: To initiate a discussion on the future of public libraries on a statewide level – in Connecticut; As part of the strategic planning processes for the Topeka and Shawnee County (KS) Public Library and the Santa Monica (CA) Public Library, and In community forums convened by the Brewster Ladies Library in Massachusetts as part of planning for the renovation of its building. As the centerpiece to the keynote address by Norman Jacknis and the structured workshop led by Maureen Sullivan at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the New Hampshire Library Trustees Association.
- Here’s an example from my state. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tol_tLdEHa0 (use first 2 minutes) “The idea of a new Central Library for Wichita has been under discussion for nearly a decade. Making a $30M commitment to build a new library has been a difficult decision for elected officials who are faced with many important community needs. When the Aspen Report was released, it was as if it had been written just for Wichita. The questions we had been trying to answer about libraries of the future were clearly addressed in ways which align closely to the vision we have created for our "advanced learning library." The report added credibility to the information we had been sharing about how our public library could - and should - be an important part of our community's preferred future. After distributing the report to community leaders and potential donors, we have received permission to complete construction documents for the new facility and have raised $4.4M in private dollars of additional funding for building enhancements.”
- The good news is that there is now an action guide that accompanies the AI report. It has a collection of resources for library and community leaders. The guide has worksheets to help evaluate the current levels of activity and support for the library. It also has a process for planning and convening a public dialogue and talking points to use with outreach efforts. And there are several libraries have used, tested and improved the activities in the guide.
- So, my question for you is --- As we look at the opportunities for future success for libraries, what will your library be and do to help change the perception of libraries and its role in the community? In Shawnee County, we held community meetings to listen to people’s aspirations for themselves, their families and the community. We used a SOAR analysis to facilitate the conversation. We recommend this approach instead of SWOT and it’s included in the Action Guide.
- SOAR stands for Strengths – Opportunities – Aspirations – Results It’s a way of assessing and describing an organization. It uses a process called appreciative inquiry to focus on an organization’s strengths, not its weaknesses. SOAR encourages: Collaboration Shared understanding and collective wisdom Representation of all stakeholders A wider perspective and whole-system analysis Commitment to action Utilization of strengths This is just one example of the tools provided in the action guide.
- Here’s an inspiring example from another state. This is my new best friend Cindy Fesemeyer, director of the Columbus (Wisconsin) Public Library. Cindy is doing amazing things at her library and in her community. She got her library degree in 2012 and has been in her position for about three years. When I talked to her about how she was using the AI report and workbook, one thing she said really struck me. She said: “We stopped saying no.” to invitations and opportunities to work with and in the community.
- Columbus Public Library is one of 23 libraries around the U.S. test-driving the Action Guide. Here’s one example of what she and her staff are doing. The library is acting as convener for the Root for Columbus Campaign. That includes hosting a potluck supper three times a year where community discussion and brainstorming happens. Partnerships and projects focused on helping Columbus be a better place to live, work, learn and play are developing out of these potluck events. And the library is the leading the way!
- When we lead, we demonstrate the valuable asset we are. Imagine your community without your library.
- Now we’re going to do an exercise that is in the Action Guide for Re-Envisioning Your Library. It’s called Action Steps for Library Leaders. There are 15. As the handout notes, they are a starting point for change. You have a handout with the list of steps and a second page that is a worksheet.
- So, here’s what I’d like you to do. Take 9 minutes and read the library leadership action steps and then follow the instructions in worksheet. Once you’ve filled out the worksheet, share what you’ve chosen as your priority action steps, why you’ve chosen them and how you intend to implement them. You have flip chart sheets and markers on your tables. Write down your ideas to share with the large group. Finally, select two people from your group to speak for the group.
- With that I’ll say thank as as if there are questions or comments.