Libraries and Community

It's that time of year again for staff day at the Oak Park Public Library.  As we gather to enhance ourselves in the work we do, it makes me think about the important role libraries play in their communities.

That was the subject of the 2016 Annual McCusker Lecture at Dominican University back on October 6, sponsored by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, which is undergoing a name change to the School of Information Studies--a change the university's board of trustees approved the same day as the lecture.

The speaker was Sari Feldman, currently the Executive Director of the Cuyahoga County Library System in Parma, OH.  She was also president of the American Library Association from 2015-2016.  During her presidency, she spearheaded the Libraries Transform campaign to highlight the role libraries play, which used a number of catchy slogans.  

She emphasized towards the beginning of her talk that libraries are less about what they have, and more about what they do.  Based on what I learned in my MLIS studies, I couldn't agree more:  As libraries are doing more with technology, and less with print materials, they still do the same work of connecting people to information resources--and technology was a major theme in her talk.  Indeed, libraries don't have to have just books to be useful to people.  She also mentioned that all libraries are public by the very nature of their role to serve people.  And libraries connect not only people to resources, but also people to each other, especially in light of the sharing economy, as well as entrepreneurial resources libraries provide to help people create their own products and services.  Then there are also the space resources libraries provide where people can meet.

Towards the end of her talk, Sari used the word "nostalgia" in a way that gave me pause, saying that it is the enemy of creativity.  I'm the kind of person that often turns to the past as a way of enhancing my understanding of current circumstances around me, and so I often find myself nostalgic.  But Sari suggested that nostalgia is a problem for libraries, because being too nostalgic hampers the ability of libraries to think innovatively that is critical for their survival in today's society.  And it makes sense that libraries must often think of new ways to provide their services, even as they maintain their never-changing role of serving.

Indeed, there's so much libraries do, and it's important for us librarians to let people know what we do, given the importance of the role we play in communities.  While we don't have to market ourselves like a business to make money, it's still important for us to make the people of the community aware that we are there to serve them.

As I think about the ways the Oak Park Public Library serves our community, I think about the unique initiative of the book bike, which had its first season in 2015, going all over the community to various events, bringing the library to the people.  It continued with much success this year 2016, and I was glad to be part of it on a couple of occasions.

I actually was there at the book bike's final outing of the season late in October, when I joined Jenny, one of the librarian book riders, at a block party.  These parties are a wonderful feature of the Oak Park lifestyle, and underscore the sense of community we have here.  This was the first time I had ever gone to a block party outside of my own block.  The residents there were so kind and welcoming to us, offering us hot beverages since we were spending an extended period of time outside on a rather cool day, and later welcomed us to enjoy some of their food.

Thanks to Jenny for offering to take this picture of me by the Book Bike.

It was nice chatting with the residents and getting to know them, as we showcased the library and offered activities for the children.

This brochure in a rack on the Book Bike uses a clever statement from the Libraries Transform campaign.

But that wasn't my first time at a book bike event.  Another one came at the beginning of October when I joined librarian Sarah with the book bike at Percy Julian Middle School to engage with students during lunch periods about Banned Books Week.

The time I spent at Julian was memorable, and is an experience that remains in a special place in my heart.  I enjoy every opportunity to return there and remind myself of that memorable time, and even interact with current students, who bring the experience alive for me again.

So when I heard the book bike was headed to Julian, I jumped at the chance, and arranged with Sarah to accompany her.  I was particularly eager to seize this opportunity because a number of my Religious Education students attend Julian.

Oh how enjoyable it was to be back at middle school lunchtime at Julian.  What was amazing to me is that lunch is the one unstructured period of the day for these students, when a teacher is not telling them explicitly what they're supposed to do.  Yet there were so many students who came up to the book bike to talk with us about banned books.  When they heard "Where is Waldo?" was a banned/challenged book, they reacted with great surprise.  We then encouraged them to flip through the copy of the book we had available on the bike to see if they could find out why someone challenged/banned it in a library.  And we encouraged them to think about the reasons why other books were challenged/banned.  Some students even checked out books that came on the bike.

We also gave them an activity to chalk out a quotation from a banned/challenged book on the ground in the area near the doors of the main entry and the Commons.  By the end of the last lunch period, there were so many quotes strewn about.

As I figured, I saw a number of my RE 8th grade students, some off in the distance, and some who actually came up to the Book Bike.  In the other lunch periods, I saw a number of other students who I recognize from Ascension Parish, and it was so nice to be reminded of all the connections I have.  One student, whose sister was one of my students last year, immediately came up to greet me when she stepped outside.

Being back at Julian also made me aware of how the student experience has changed.  For example, the enrollment has increased so greatly since I was at Julian that the students have to eat lunch in shifts.  One group eats first while the other goes outside to hang out, and halfway through the period, they switch.  And then there are the ubiquitous iPads--a word I learned near the start of the 7th grade school year.

It was an exciting time to be back at Julian, even despite my reservations over the idea of Banned Books Week.  But what happened there at Julian--as well as at Brooks the week before--is the heart of what I feel is the best way to address issues of intellectual freedom: having healthy conversations about it.  Clearly, the people who challenge library materials have legitimate reasons for doing so, based on how they want to foster a decent society.  While it may not be the best solution to remove an item from a library, librarians should readily facilitate conversation over the bigger issues raised by a book challenge, and help people in their efforts to create a decent society by promoting positive behavior and attitudes.  What happened at Julian was a great way to stimulate conversation and get these young people thinking about the underlying issues.  And some of the staff people who approached us commended us for coming out to raise awareness and conversation.

There is indeed a great community in Oak Park, fostered by the close connections we have with the people around us.  As an institution, the library plays an important role in the community, so it's very appropriate to have engagement as one of our three priorities at the Oak Park Public Library.  As my experiences with the book bike have shown, it's a two-way street:  As we engage with the community and promote the library, we benefit by getting to know the community better.

The library is all about bringing people together, and it's great to have opportunities like these to go out and be where people are getting together to emphasize that strong sense of community.