A library should reach out to its community. To do this an effort must be made by the staff to know the community in which they serve. All people groups in the community should be known so that library staff can know how to serve them. Programs can be created to bring in diverse peoples; people that maybe do not typically patronize the library often. It is not uncommon that the library populations do not match the community population (referenced to in lecture #19, Lorenzen). In an effort to promote diversity libraries should incorporate programs geared towards different people groups. This does not only include cultural diversity but also political, educational, physical, mental along with others.
In general library programming includes programs for children, teens, adults and seniors. Story time for toddlers, teen activities and reading contests for young people, computer and resume classes for adults, and book club and Medicare seminars for seniors. These are the most common programs no matter what community the library is located. These programs can be further geared towards the population of the surrounding community by determining what the needs are. For example, in Community A there are more stay-at-home parents than working parents. Therefore, toddler story hour can be scheduled during the day. Community B has more working parents than stay-at-home parents, therefore, it would be best to hold toddler story hour in the late afternoon/early evening or on the weekends.
As our society is constantly growing in this digital age libraries should follow suit to better serve their patrons. Some communities may demand new technology sooner rather than later. According to an article from The Denver Post found on The Detroit News’ website one new service is the “digital” branch (Nilsson, 2009). This service provides resources online such as audio books, movies and music. A patron would just need a library card. Another service catering to the technology-lovers is access to business databases which help those looking to start their own business or who are researching business-related topics (Nilsson, 2009).
At some point though a librarian must concede that catering to every people group individually is near to impossible. Therefore providing programs that serve the general population seem to be very popular, such as computer classes, resume making courses and tax advisement. Then several times a year programs geared towards a particular population may be available.
Librarians need global perspective so that we can provide programs that cater to a diverse population of the community. It is helpful to see through the eyes of others to best meet their needs. When designing a children’s area one should get on their knees to get a real perspective of the environment.
References
Lorenzen, M. (2009). Multiculturalism and diversity PowerPoint.
Nilsson, M. (July, 2009). Libraries transform in digital age.
The Denver Post. Retrieved July 15, 2009 from http://detnews.com/article/20090707/BIZ04/907070308/Libraries-transform-in-digital-age
9 comments:
Considering the diversity of the users I see at the Ann Arbor Public Library, I'm surprised that they don't offer any classes or events in other languages. As you say, they are "providing programs that serve the general population" but I would think there would be a demand for more multicultural programming. As for the website, they do use Google translator for Arabic, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.
The good example for me is the Farmington Public Library which is very much involved with community A and B as stated in the blog and specially in meeting the needs of children of all ages.
As a resident of Denver, I have been using the "digital branch," and it is great! It is a little weird, but I've found that many people find it to be helpful. There's a lot of people that are discovering it as well. I think it is reaching the younger generation in a very relevant way. I didn't realize that Denver was unique in doing this kind of program!
One of the issues that I discussed with the Orion Township Head Librarian was reaching parts of the population that cannot get transportation to the library. Her concern was the lack of funding to take services outside the building to them. Fortunately, the Rochester Hills Public Library at least has a bookmobile that allows for this. Libraries do need to plan on reaching all parts of the population, and perhaps that means going to them when they cannot come to the library.
I like your point about how the library should know the community it serves. Besides census data, I wonder how libraries gather other information that provides a "well-rounded" picture of the people in their communities?
The library I vistited Tuckahoe, in Henrico Co. (Richmond VA), had a lot of programming. Most of it was what would be expected--teen and children summer readings, adult educational programs (how to find a job, resume, etc), but what they had the most of was a ton of storytimes for varying ages of little children. They had one for 0-9 months, 1 for 9 months to 2 years, 2 to 4 years, etc, but the sheer amount of young children story times and the fact that each group had 2-3 different story times a week tells me what that library focuses on. (They even have a sound proof story room, isn't that cool?) While that particular library is not representing a truly multicultural approach, they are doing programming that is needed for their area, and that requires reaching out to the children (of varying ages, colors, backgrounds) for story time. Nice post on Multiculturalism and Library Programming.
I agree with your point that ultimately, catering to the patron bases' needs is absolutely essential to quality library service. My library, as an example, provides a slew of intro, intermediate, and more advanced computer classes, along with resume help from librarians, courses in estate planning, and programs for investing in the post-recession economy.
Jillyan-Great point! I agree that getting books into the hands of those that cannot get out to the library is a necessity. I know that most counties offer resources for the blind and disabled through the mailing of audio books. My grandma is blind and uses this resource and loves it.
Virginia- I think most libraries offer a lot of story times for children because getting children hooked on books is vital to furthering their reading skills. And in this Internet based world we really need to make sure our children still appreciate a good book. Thanks for your input!
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