Library staff must network at every opportunity. Connections develop in strange and circuitous ways. While the focus should be on getting to know other people who work for and with children, all community connections might come into play at some point in time and prove beneficial for your library’s goals.
Be proactive. While it is wise to simply take advantage of all social or professional situations, also think about creating opportunities to talk with other professionals. Make a point to discuss issues, areas of need, legislation requiring quick action and suggest ways to collaborate in programming, grant collaboration or other ways to cooperate and support one another. Offer library services to adults who work with and for children such as basic research, referrals, materials gathering, etc. Host an open house for representatives from agencies or organizations. Bring in a speaker of interest to all or present a special program for targeted participants. Host a family resource fair at the library inviting various social organizations to participate. If such a fair already exists in your community, make sure the library is represented.
Some examples of organizations or groups to focus your energies on include, but are certainly not limited to:
Be aware of as many community resources and child/parent serving agencies as possible. Keep a file for referrals and library and public use.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 1995 fifty-six percent of libraries in America maintained a file or provided information or referrals regarding children’s services in the community. While gathering this information may take effort, it is not difficult to maintain, and is a wonderful service to offer adults in the community.
Other activities you can do to help connect your library to the community include:
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