Today I ran across two examples of libraries really being part of their communities, and I wanted to share.
The first is in County Carlow, Ireland:
"Carlow Care and Repair currently work with elderly people in the Carlow area, carrying out small repair work and DIY jobs for them and making weekly contact through the Care and Repair admin team." (How great is that? A government service that sends a team to help the elderly with small home repairs!)
But now, an addition:
"Those who benefit from the programme have expressed an interest in receiving library resources to their homes, and thus the Care and Repair team will visit these participants and bring collections of stock books, film, music and audio which will be provided by Carlow Central Library." So now the library is part of this service! And note: It's the residents who requested it.
The second is in Christchurch, New Zealand:
The city has been preparing to build a new central library -- with citizen input. I mean, serious citizen input!
"The Your Library, Your Voice campaign runs from Friday 21 March to Friday 2 May 2014. Take the opportunity to have your say about this exciting Council-led anchor project.
There are many different ways you can have your say - take part in a discussion forum, or fill in one of the quick surveys or polls. You can now also upload images of what you'd like the library to look like - inside or outside."
Click over and look at all the thoughtful questions the planner have been asking:
How would you use the New Central Library? How would you travel to it? What's most important to you? What would make you feel welcome? What are the must-haves?
What better way to turn everyone into active stakeholders who really care about the success of the library? What better way to build excitement, and to assure high usage before the place is even open? I'm really impressed.
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