The program will describe how much-loved libraries help the communities they serve achieve their aspirations, including a sense of community, economic development, the education of their children, safety and health, recovery from crisis, and the articulation and realization of the community's values.

HELPING YOUR ORGANIZATION'S LEADERS MEET THEIR GOALS

FOR SCHOOL, ACADEMIC AND SPECIAL LIBRARIES

While this presentation is primarily about public libraries, I should also note that other kinds of libraries do the same thing, and splendidly:

• Serving education: the Colorado Virtual Library <http://aclin.org/>; Lisa von Drasek <http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6423416.html>; Susan Gibbons and her university's institutional repository, <http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA510567.html>; the University of Michigan Digital Library Production Service <http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/c/collsize/collsize>
• Serving corporate goals: BNA's Web Watch <http://www.bna.com/webwatch/>; The Virtual Chase <http://virtualchase.com/>
• Serving government goals: the National Library of Medicine, for both advancing medical research and for outreach to at risk communities - see <http://libraryjournal.com/article/CA510770.html>
  
  
  

  CREATING COMMUNITY

• One City One Book programs: Chicago Public Library's To Kill a Mockingbird promotion
• September Project programs <http://www.theseptemberproject.org/>
• Community festivals: Queens Public Library, <http://queenslibrary.org/>; storytelling festivals like Multnomah County Library's Tapestry of Tales, <http://www.multcolib.org/events/tales/>; Dia de los Niños /Dia de los Libros, <http://reforma.org/resources/ninos/dia.html>. See my column, "Party People," <http://marylaine.com/exlibris/xlib307.html>, and the outline for my "Party People" presentation, <http://marylaine.com/party.html>
• Intergenerational programs: MetLife Reading America program, <http://www.lff.org/TellingTheirOwnStories.pdf>, intergenerational reading groups, like Cuyahoga County Library's "It's a Guy Thing discussion group for boys and men; Bemis Public Library's veterans oral history project <http://www.littleton.org/history/mem.asp>
• Wilton Library's Community Calendar, <http://www.wiltonlibrary.org/calendar/calendar/>
• Wilton Library's community concert
  
  
  

  BY GIVING EVERYBODY A STAKE IN THE COMMUNITY

• Inclusiveness: extending services, programming, and exhibits honoring the heritage and/or creative work of ethnic groups, children and teens, seniors, new Americans, homeschoolers, people with disabilities (see King County Library's Access for All program, <http://www.kcls.org/usingthelibrary/ADA/index.cfm>
• Cleveland Public Library's SeniorsConnect, <http://www.seniorsconnect.org/>
• Helping people succeed: Queens Library
• giving teens a voice in designing and running their own space, <http://www.pps.org/tcb/teen_central.htm>, with opportunities to display their abilities and win the respect of peers and adults: poetry slams, film and video competitions, male mentoring program and cybernavigators at Chicago Public Library, Teen Leadership Assistants at the Free Library of Philadelphia, opportunities to learn film, video, computer and animation skills, etc.
• giving at-risk kids a chance to succeed - Austin Public Library's Wired for Youth, <http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA232351.html>; work with kids in juvenile detention centers, Johnson County Library, <http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA510771.html> and Austin Public Library, <http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6535110.html>
  
  
  

  BY CONNECTING PEOPLE WITH COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS AND ASSISTANCE

• Memphis Public Library's 211 service
• Community agency directories - Queens Library, <http://queenslibrary.org/index.aspx?page_nm=Community+Information>; Skokie Public Library, <http://www.skokienet.org/american/index.html>
• Providing training and resources for nonprofit organizations
• Providing web space for community organizations: Lakewood Public Library <http://www.lkwdpl.org/>
• Allen County Public Library's Area Artists Database; Multnomah County Library's Farmers Market Finder, etc.
• Partnerships with cultural organizations for programming, collection building (Harris County Library and the Mercer Arboretum, Chicago Public Library and the Chicago Botanical Garden, Indianapolis Public Library's InfoZone branch inside the children's museum), passes to museums, concerts, parks, zoos.
• Work with local social agencies and organizations: Christmas decorating with mittens and caps to be given to needy children; fines for food exchanges
  
  

  BY HELPING THE COMMUNITY ARTICULATE ITS VALUES

• Through focus groups, community meetings, online surveys, interactive blogs, to hire new directors, set goals for strategic planning, plan building programs
• Community forums addressing pressing local issues: Wilton Library, Fairfield (CT) Public Library's seminars on peaceful conflict resolution; numerous libraries working with the National Issues Forum, <http://www.nifi.org/news/news_detail.aspx?itemID=7241&catID=5153>; Johnson County Library's Community Issues 101 program series, Hartford Public Library's "Democracy in Action Week," <http://ctlocalpolitics.net/realhartford/2007/08/20/democracy-in-action-coming-to-a-library-near-you/>; Princeton Public Library's "Politics New Jersey" series of events
  
  
  

  BY TELLING THE COMMUNITY'S STORY - AND LISTENING TO IT

• Collaboration with local museums and historical and genealogical societies in programs, exhibits
• Digitizing local history - Tacoma Public Library, <http://wwwv3.tacomapubliclibrary.org/Page.aspx?nid=73>
• Gathering oral history, pictures, stories from residents - Picture Ann Arbor; Arapahoe Library District's Capture Centennial Photo and Poetry Contest; Stevens County Wiki, <http://www.scrldwiki.org/index.php/Main_Page>
• A Day in Allen County on Flickr <http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelsphotos/434085021/>
• Kankakee Public Library's promotional video about Kankakee, <http://lions-online-shesaidhesaid.blogspot.com/>
  
  
  

  BY PROMOTING CITIZENSHIP

• Citizenship and acculturation classes - Queens Library"s New Americans Program, <http://queenslibrary.org/?page_nm=NAP+-+Programs>, Hartford Public Library's The American Place <http://www.hplct.org/tap/TAP.htm>
• Voter and issue guides - The Informed Decision, <http://www.thelibrary.org/informed/index.cfm>; Minneapolis Public Library's Issues of Local Concern <http://www.mplib.org/list.asp?subhead=About+Minneapolis:Issues+of+Local+Concern>; Darien Public Library's Community Matters Blog <http://www.darien.org/communitymatters/blog/>
• Use of community rooms and cable for public issue and local interest programming: Princeton Public Library, Southfield Public Library -- soccer world cup matches, election night coverage, Indian Ocean tsunami coverage, Olympics, etc.
• assistance with e-government forms
• Giving local officials an opportunity to speak with citizens in formal and informal events
  
  
  

  BY PLACEMAKING THAT ENCOURAGES HUMAN CONNECTION

• Eleven Principles - Project for Public Spaces http://www.pps.org/info/placemakingtools/casesforplaces/11steps
  
  
  

  BY HELPING THE COMMUNITY COPE WITH CRISIS

• How Wilton Library helped the community deal with a racist incident
• September 11
• The Oakland fires
• Hurricane Katrina
• The Twin Cities Bridge Collapse
• "Emergency Responders," <http://marylaine.com/exlibris/xlib281.html>
• Missed opportunities - see my article, "One with the Community," <http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6471071.html>
  
  
  

  OTHER COMMUNITY ASPIRATIONS

  Jose Aponte says (<http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA281649.html>), "What do most people care about? Public safety, employment, housing, and education — and the library speaks to all of those needs." Crime? Libraries are a sanctuary for at-risk kids, on the loose after school lets out. Employment? Libraries offer help wanted ads and books and programming on job-hunting, résumé writing, computer literacy, and ESL. Housing? Libraries provide books and workshops on home remodeling, the home buying process, and financial planning. Education? Librarians teach children to love reading, provide homework help, and offer guidance on college planning, SATs, and financial aid."
  
  
  ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
  1. Physical presence as agent of downtown revitalization - Chicago model; Seattle Public Library; Kankakee Public Library, <http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA510557.html>
  2. Workforce training, career planning, resume writing, jobhunting.
  3. Research for small business and entrepreneurs - Brooklyn Public Library's entrepreneurship contest, Multnomah County Library's "Small Business Incubator," <http://www.multcolib.org/biz/>;
  4. Bringing outside funds, from grants and fundraising, into the community
  5. Making the community a more attractive place to live - Cerritos Public Library, Salt Lake City Public Library being used by realtors as selling points
  6. Nonprofit Resource Centers; grantsmanship programs and resources;
  
  
  
  SAFETY AND HEALTH
  1. safer neighborhoods: Near North branch of Chicago Public Library
  2. programs on health issues like the Medicare Drug Prescription plan, Southfield Library's Swinging into School Health series covering immunizations, nutrition, vision, dental care, etc.
  3. partnerships with local health agencies for cholesterol screening, blood pressure checks, flu shots
  4. Health information resource centers: Williamsburg Regional Library's Cancer Resource Center, <http://www.westcancer.org/index/index.html>, Boulder Public Library's Grillo Health Information Center, <http://www.grillocenter.org/>
  5. "Sick Kids' kits" - Cleveland Heights-University Heights Library

  
  
  
  HOUSING

  1. Programs on home ownership and home remodeling - Queens Library, Hartford Public Library, <http://www.hplct.org/homeownership/Homeownership_English.htm>;
  2. Tacoma Public Library's Building Index, and guide for researching your house's history, <http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/default.asp?bisc=1>
  3. Tool Libraries, and instructions in how to use them: Oakland Public Library and Berkeley Public Library
  
  
  
  EDUCATION AND PARENTING
  1. Parenting information: Lakewood Public Library's Parents Page, <http://www.lkwdpl.org/parents/>
  2. Early childhood literacy: Grow Up Reading, <http://www.growupreading.org/>; Books for Babies
  3. adult literacy
  4. ESL
  5. Homework Help
  6. SAT preparation and help with college and financial aid applications
  7. Collaboration with schools - Howard County Library's A+ Partners in Education, <http://www.hclibrary.org/partners/index.php>