SLO#4: The student designs services to meet the information needs of all users and communities.
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| Story time at Greensboro Public Library |
In order to meet the needs of your community, you have to make an effort to get to know what your community needs. I heard a story of a nearby librarian who was awarded a technology grant. Instead of assessing the needs of his community library to see how to effectively use the money, he went out and bought an expensive 3-D printer. The problem is, the printer is not used very often and materials to keep it functioning and to run library programs with it are not cost-effective. Hindsight is 2020, but it seems that a needs-assessment would have allowed the librarian to make a more useful choice for his community.
The American Library Association (ALA) stresses that "The unique context of each library and community will inform the ways in which the values of equity, diversity, inclusion, and intellectual freedom are reflected in the library’s materials and services" (2019). In other words, librarians need to be familiar with the unique aspects of their community in order to effectively run the library while following the ALA code of ethics.
Greensboro Public Library Observations
What better way to connect with the community than to observe the local libraries? I did three such observations in my MLIS classes, and each library was a bit different based upon the communities they served.
Jamestown Public Library is the first library I observed. From my reaction paper:
The library meets the needs of the small town it serves, but it seems that more computers would benefit the patrons. I was unable to explore the upstairs and downstairs of the building, so I am not sure if there is any additional space that could be used for computers and work tables. I also am curious about why North Carolina does not have a library system like Evergreen in Indiana. Indiana residents can obtain a library card in their home county and use it at nearly every library in the state.
I also observed the main branch in downtown Greensboro. From my user experience paper:
I think the library was well-designed in general, takes its role in the community seriously, and strives to be viewed positively by its users. . . . Would I consider the library user-oriented or service-oriented? Since I believe that a library, especially a main, downtown branch, designs its services based on its users, I would lean towards calling the library user-oriented. I really had no trouble navigating my way through the library on my own, but there were staff members who would have been willing to help me. . . A quality library has a diverse selection of staff that represents the community. I found the services benefiting the community, but a bit more diversity in the staff members seemed to be needed.
My third observation experience is from the Kathleen Clay Edwards Library in Greensboro. From my reaction paper:
Most of the negative aspects I thought were beyond the librarian’s control—after all, they cannot make the building larger; they can only utilize the space they have as best as possible. The children’s room especially would benefit from more space. The employees were very polite and helpful and offered to reserve some Fly Guy books for my son. Never did I feel like they were rushing through my request even though there was a line, and I appreciated that. I liked the display of activities on the whiteboard and would like to go back to see the therapy dog. I plan to visit this library again in the future.
Diverse Populations and Places in the Community
The following papers and projects are about populations in Guilford County and/or specific issues related to diverse populations in the community.
Jamestown Public Library Summer Reading: When I was working at Jamestown Public Library, I kept records of the summer reading program. The following is an infographic that I created about the amount of people who participating in summer reading.
My reflection about the infographic is here.
Racism in America: In Library 618 Materials for Adolescents my group and I wrote a paper after our group discussion on racism in America after reading the books Between the World and Me, All American Boys, and The Hate U Give. We discussed how these books and what we learned from them can be used to help us further understand the challenges of the African-American community. An excerpt from the group discussion paper is here:
Though these books appear to be simply for young adults, that is not the case at all. The Hate U Give, All American Boys, and Between the World and Me would be great for cultural diversity workshops for staff at educational institutions, law enforcement organizations, and the general public to provide cultural awareness and sort through the issues presented. These books need to be presented in a positive light because the material can make readers uncomfortable; however, this discomfort is totally acceptable. These pieces should make readers uncomfortable because this is a part of the learning process. Everyone has a racial bias they need to confront, just as everyone should be aware of what’s happening in the world around them. These books can certainly help with that. That being said, not everyone is ready for the messages in these books. Some may not have the tools needed or ability to understand and may need someone to walk through the books with them. If people could just be even a touch more open-minded and give these books a chance, so much good could come from them and impact society as a whole. If you do not say anything, then you are adding to the problem.
Enabling Text Project: From my post on Anger is a Gift:
I used Anger is a Gift for a project in my Reading and Literacy in Libraries class. For the assignment, I was to read a book that is an enabling text for African-American youth. "Enabling texts are those that encourage and empower young men to take action in their own lives and in the lives of others" (SOURCE). Learn more about enabling texts here, which is also where I found the rubric about identifying enabling texts.
What Would Librarians Do?: WWLD? is located on the videos page and is a training video for librarians. It helps them brainstorm how to deal with patrons who are homophobic. My reflection over the project is here.
Youth Librarians and At-Risk Populations: For my final paper for my introductory library class, I wrote about three underserved populations of teenagers in libraries: African-American boys, homeless, and LGBTQ+. From the abstract of my paper:
The statistics about how often teenagers use their school and public libraries were encouraging, yet frustrating, since articles encouraging students NOT to pursue Masters of Library and Information Science are easier to find on a basic Google search than positive statistics. Do libraries have a public relations problem? Arguably, but again, it was heartening for this future librarian to read these viral Tweet from the Angriest Librarian: “You need to close libraries because you have no idea what the f*** they do? Stay the f*** home and shut your mouth. . . Just kidding, everyone is welcome at the library, even the backwards thinking simpletons” (as cited in Rozsa, 2017, fifth and sixth pulled Tweets). The future is still bright for public libraries.
LGBTQ+ Population in the Community
After I wrote the final paper for 600, I decided to focus on the LGBTQ+ population in Greensboro when I completed projects in class. My first project was starting the blog Jen Reads the Rainbow and creating the LibGuide Jen's Rainbow Resources. Here is an excerpt from the needs assessment that I wrote before creating the blog and LibGuide:
When searching through the LibGuides, I found that there were not very many LGBTQ ones and that none of them focused exclusively on teenagers. I also know many parents and teenagers who would benefit from a Greensboro-specific LibGuide putting all of the materials in one place. Finally, the research has shown that teenagers who identify as LGBTQ are underserved in libraries. Due to my evaluation, I believe there is a need for an LGBTQ teenager LibGuide.
For my Community Informatics class, I volunteered at Guilford Green's LGBTQ Center. From my final paper discussing the experience:
The cybernavigating was not what I had expected and would likely have gone differently if I had been volunteering in a public library instead, and the classes had been carefully structured and sufficiently advertised. However, I feel that I learned a lot about the average person who visits a community center, and I very much enjoyed interacting with people. I hope to have more positive experiences at Guilford Green’s LGBTQ+ in the future.
I also collected data about the LGBTQ+ population for a research project for my Serving Diverse Populations in Libraries class. Here is an excerpt from my initial research paper, describing the approximate amount of LGBTQ+ people in Guilford County:
Numbers: I live in Greensboro, North Carolina and wish to focus my research on the LGBTQ+ community in Greensboro and Guilford county. The percentage of people identifying as LGBTQ+ in the United States was to 4.5% in 2018, up from 4.1% in 2016 and 3.1% in 2012, according to Gallup polling (Newport, 2018). From the same Gallup survey, the number of LGBTQ+ people in North Carolina is four percent of the population, or between 50,000 and 200,000 people (LGBT Populations, 2020). The population of Guilford county is 533,670 and the population of Greensboro North Carolina is 294,722 (City of Greensboro, 2020). Therefore, there are about 21,350 LGBTQ+ in Guilford County and 11,800 LGBTQ+ in Greensboro if the 4% is accurate.
I had planned on interviewing people who had come to the LGBTQ center, but the pandemic put a wrench in that plan. Instead, I created a survey on Google Forms. Here is an excerpt from my analytical paper about the survey results:
I did find evidence that confidential surveys tend to be statistically more accurate and produce better response rates (Qualtrics, 2020). Several articles, including one by Wilkie (2018) found that confidential surveys conducted by someone not connected with the company (or survey takers) were more accurate. Therefore, confidential, but not anonymous surveys was the plan I decided would give me the best data. I decided to write a Google Form survey and virtually distribute to my Facebook friends (and friends of friends) to take. The responses would be confidential but not completely anonymous; I could trace them back to each person if I needed any clarification.
The PowerPoint with the results from the survey is found on the videos page.
Community Experience Outside the MLIS Program
I occasionally act in theater productions with Shared Radiance Performing Arts Company. I also volunteered to help with Shared Radiance's teen acting group. For my library media production class, I completed two projects with Shared Radiance: a digital photography slide show from a play rehearsal and a public service announcement from the teen group.
As part of my current job as a Kids' department lead and bookseller at Barnes & Noble, I have made connections in the community. Covid-19 has shut down store events temporarily, but when we had store events, I ran several of them. For example, I ran the monthly book club and increased the participation from two or three attendees to up to twelve attendees monthly. I also ran the Saturday morning pre-school storytime several times, and the Sunday baby and me storytimes as well. Last year, I made a presentation at Alamance Country Club, recommending 25-30 book club options for the ladies to choose for their book club.
When I was a teacher in Indiana, I interacted with the community especially through directing the plays for the drama club and organizing the annual eighth grade Washington DC trip.
In Conclusion
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| Library picture with three women. Source |
Libraries are the hubs of communities. In order to serve their communities effectively, libraries must interact with their communities and consider the morals and values of them. Librarians also must strive to make their buildings safe places for everyone in the community and provide materials that serve as many diverse groups as possible. Only then can libraries become places where communities want to be.
Return to Capstone, or click on other SLOs below:
1. Ethics
2. Research
3. Information Literacy
4. Communities
5. Professional Development
6. Technology
7. Marketing
8. Collaboration
Click on the picture to return to
Jen Reads the Rainbow
Jen Reads the Rainbow
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