Hope and a Future: Perspectives on the Impact that Librarians and Libraries Have on Our World: Volume 48

This chapter looks back over my more than 20 years as a librarian, considering how the often unexpected opportunities I’ve had to work with youth and families have been centered in connectedness, hope, and love. As a youth services librarian working in the library with families or providing outreach to the most vulnerable members of the community, and currently as a community college librarian, I can think back over my career in libraries, the people I’ve met, the experiences I’ve shared, and feel blessed. But there are also times I feel like Sisyphus, pushing the rock that continues to roll back on me. It is disheartening to see the same struggles getting worse in our communities, to have to fight to keep our doors open every time there is a budget crunch, to hear our work diminished by others. But I have come to understand that having hope doesn’t mean not understanding how trying times are or passively accepting the ways things are until they magically change. Hope means pushing through anyway, stubborn in our love for our patrons and our peers, in our belief that books and reading can help us through, in our faith that the world needs libraries.

Knowing your why is a powerful thing. As school librarians, an integral part of our mission is to ensure that students leave their K-12 education as information and media literate members of our society. In order for that to happen, students must also exit their K-12 years understanding how implicit and confirmation bias play a role in the way they view the world. That’s part of the basis of our why: (i) School librarians are critical, necessary, and integral to ensuring we graduate students who are not only college and career ready but also have a deep understanding of how bias affects perception when it comes to being information and media literate; and (ii) School libraries are the epicenter of information and media literacy instruction. Because school librarians have the expertise and the background, they are a first line of defense in the broadening landscape of misinformation and a key player in combating fake news. Additionally, school librarians are uniquely poised to assist students in understanding bias – in particular confirmation and implicit biases that may affect the student’s search for information. This chapter will address the power of the school librarian in an ever-evolving information landscape.

With the college admissions process under the microscope after allegations of bribery, fraud, and other malfeasance, it is even more imperative for public libraries to play a role in helping students reach their fullest potential. From collection development to programming to community partnerships, the public library has a critical role to play in the college admissions process, especially in low-income communities. In a society where many people feel that they are at a disadvantage applying to elite schools already, the public library can offer a path forward and a path of hope.

The changing demographics of the United States are reflected in the changing faces in universities and colleges across the nation. However, universities and colleges, including academic libraries, are still reacting as opposed to being proactive to these changes in their campuses. Academic libraries especially in the area of library resources are still grappling with the question of “How can we diversify our library collections?” In this chapter, the author examines the idea that one of the ways to reflect demographics on campus is for academic libraries to explore the concept of “belongingness” – the idea that students are seeing themselves on campus. This examination of belongingness hopes to answer the lack of representation of minority students in library collections through identifying gaps in the collection and acquiring diverse books and other resources. For minority students to see themselves in higher education institutions, academic libraries need to be proactive in helping students “belong” on campus.

The enhancement of technology and online access for libraries continues to be encouraging and convenient for all libraries and their patrons. However, there is so much that can be missed if we limit access to just online. Academic libraries offer key learning experiences and information that have become vital to its patrons, which can be missed if we are not being intentional about how we engage and interact with our patrons. Information literacy skill is identified as a key lifelong learning skill. This finding makes encouraging patrons to visit the library more important and yet challenging. This chapter will share some ideas and ways a small academic library increased their patron visits and usage of all resources by inviting patrons to “be our guests.” Creating various ways to invite patrons in to learn and have an enjoyable experience sets the tone for how the library will and can be used for the rest of the patron’s life. The quote by Charles William Eliot states that “The library is the heart of the university.” Just like the heart sustains life, the library sustains the need for lifelong learning. Librarians have the opportunity to be intentional about how we encourage and create access to information that will keep our patron’s moving toward academic success and the information literacy skills needed to become lifelong learners.

With the globalization of education and immigration, international students have become a large population group at universities in the United States. However, language issues, adjusting to a new educational system, and culture shock are still big challenges for most international students. As a former international student majoring in Library and Information Science, the author deeply understands the difficulties that these students go through to achieve academic success in the United States. Therefore, when the author began working as the Liaison Librarian for International Students at the University of South Alabama in 2014, her first goal was to develop a relationship with related departments on campus to provide library services for these students. This chapter will provide a glimpse of the library outreach program created especially for international students at the University of South Alabama. This chapter will also share the author’s professional experiences reaching out to different groups of international students and creating long-term collaborative working relationships with related departments on campus. The goal is to enable universities to create a welcoming library environment and provide services to support the academic success of all students.

Library programs for developmentally disabled adults are essential for community enrichment. When the author created a program for her local library in 2014, she was a little alarmed by how few programs existed. Over the past few years, the author has seen a greater interest in programming for adults with developmental disabilities, but librarians have questions about where to get started. There are programs currently that are already available for those who want to engage developmentally disabled adults; however, librarians may also opt to create a program from scratch. For librarians who have never worked with developmentally disabled adults, there is some training available although it may not be what librarians really desire or need. The best opportunity to create beneficial programs is to collaborate with community partners such as local day training centers and schools.

Creating inclusive youth collections that authentically reflect and empower our ever-growing diverse youth population is a discussion at the forefront of library youth services, K-12 classrooms, and youth advocacy and literacy organizations. This chapter highlights core strategies used to build inclusive library and classroom collections. These strategies include methods for finding, promoting, and evaluating diverse youth literature. The appendix provides a list of resources that support the core strategies and includes references for further reading and advocacy.

Information is the most valuable commodity in the world, but everyone does not have equal access to information. Lack of equal digital access is an information access desert. Libraries should be public spaces to meet the digital needs of the community. Due to socio-political neglect, urban and rural public libraries cannot always meet patron needs. There is a pattern where urban libraries are either closed or cannot meet the demands for digital access until gentrification when upper class people move in and demand new libraries with sufficient digital access. Rural libraries suffer a similar fate with insufficient digital access to meet the economic and educational needs of their communities. Information access deserts identify a crucial issue for equal access to all regardless of economic status.

This chapter examines the impact and influence of the visual and performing arts in sustaining thriving communities and highlights the essential role of libraries in providing access to arts and cultural programming and services. Creative and artistic intervention has become the imperative of our time. Creativity is required not only in design studios and workshops, but in all areas of work and life, both professional and personal. Places of artistic and cultural production are strongly correlated with strong local economies and sustainable communities. Libraries are public spaces that promote and maintain community, not only civic institutions. As such, the library plays a key role as incubator for the arts. Libraries advocate freedom: of ideas, communication, and information. Arts programming in libraries provides an avenue for people to communicate ideas and feelings through visual, auditory, or kinesthetic forms. But more than that, libraries are also about education, safe and welcoming spaces, community, and entertainment. Libraries support and promote the value of multiple perspectives and voices. Libraries can shape patronage of the arts and engage future generations by addressing social diversity and inciting inclusive participation in the arts. Many libraries are participating in the creation of new forms of understanding through arts programming, services, and resources. In an age where many of society’s most important challenges are related to our relationship with information, it is vitally important to include visual and performing arts professionals in the intersection between artistic practice and critical engagement with information.

Once synonymous with books, libraries now provide a growing number of community services. Simultaneously, autism rates have increased worldwide. Improved diagnostic criteria have given us a clearer view of autism’s ­prevalence. Once thought to primarily affect nonverbal Caucasian males, we now know that autism crosses racial and gender lines. As the diagnosis rate of autism grows, so too does the importance of ­libraries. Libraries are a vital community space – a place to safely interact with ­others and observe social norms. Libraries also house books and stories, which are critical to language and social development. As autistic adults age out of school-based programs, libraries provide access to technology and a sense of structure. Sensory-friendly libraries, with elements of Universal Design, are also benefiting the greater community – making libraries better spaces for all patrons. As the number of autistic adults grows, so too does the number of autistic librarians. Generations of adults who grew up in the library are understandably being drawn to the profession. They are comfortable in the workplace and ­especially skilled for the job. Their input in the field should be encouraged. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the importance of libraries to the autistic community and identifies libraries as a significant place that can help communities to better serve the autistic individuals in their area. Strategies and ideas for libraries will be shared. Libraries can also serve as a potential workplace for autistic adults, and more outreach should be undertaken to encourage autistic librarians.

National cultural heritage months often highlight superficial elements such as food, arts, crafts, and music, but behind these celebrations lie generations of pioneers who have shaped the historical and cultural heritage of America. Over the past seven years, in championing cultural awareness, the San Francisco Public Library has collaborated with the Asian American Studies Department at San Francisco State University, The Association of Chinese Teachers, and other community organizations to commemorate Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) Heritage Month every year in May. This annual program illustrates how efforts led by APIAs have contributed to the historical, cultural, and literary landscape of America, affording them the recognition they deserve. Multicollaborative efforts led to the creation of a premiere APIA Biography Project (apiabiography.sfsu.edu) – a digital repository of instructional resources that educators across the nation can adapt to their curriculum. By bridging collaboration, public engagement, and community partnerships, public libraries unify multiple constituencies to educate the public on the diverse communities they serve.

In a field where external factors can far too easily define who we are as professionals, it is up to us to prove our worth. Even when a position appears to lack opportunity for advancement, we can earn recognition through hard work and initiative. In doing so, we invite other opportunities to come our way. This chapter will demonstrate how the author developed his niche as classified staff in the Daniel F. Cracchiolo Law Library at the James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona. By showing initiative early and often, the author was afforded the opportunity to work on two important digitization projects at the library. The first project involved getting the scholarly work of students in the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program represented in the campus repository. The second project involved supervising a Law Library Fellow’s internship, which included resurrecting in-house digitizing equipment. In detailing these two undertakings, the author will demonstrate why libraries play an important role in digitization. Furthermore, the author will show how up-and-coming library professionals can demonstrate the power of the library, earn recognition, and set the stage for further professional opportunities.

Libraries are staples of the community. Yet, libraries are threatened everyday with the possibility of losing even more funding for staffing, services, and programs, or closing indefinitely due to budget cuts and decision-makers not understanding the value of libraries and librarians and library staff. While there may be fewer libraries in the future, libraries are here to stay. However, the role of librarians and libraries are changing. Whereas before, the library was a quiet place to study, a place to check out books, and a place to participate in storytime, libraries of the twenty-first century are becoming the place for all things related to people and customer service. Twenty-first-century librarianship is a business about serving the people. For the library to sustain itself, it must be the center of the community. Librarians must understand this notion. Library leaders must work collaboratively with community partners and citizens to transform their thinking and exceed expectations of the community. This chapter will discuss the role of librarians and libraries as change agents. This chapter will also share real examples of effective programs and services, why these programs and services are important, and ways one may implement these program models at their library.

Public libraries are great equalizers in a society that has become more divided between those who have plenty and those who can hardly survive. Anyone is welcome in a public library – there is no need to purchase anything or show identification to be there, and you can stay if you follow the rules and the doors are open. Public librarians use their skills and knowledge to help people find information to improve and enrich their lives. One way this happens is through community engagement. The more librarians become involved in their community, the better they can aid the community. This chapter explores how librarians can become more enmeshed within their communities, how libraries can transition from a traditional model of librarianship to a focus on meeting people where they are, both in terms of physical space and in overall skill, and how we can use technology to aid in these pursuits. The public library can be used as a bridge between the public and other services. Forward thinking ideas will help ensure the continued value that the public sees in libraries.