1. Community-Led Librarianship: From the Ground Up

2. Traditional Outreach vs. Community-Led
Library goes out into the community to offer a program (e.g., storytime at a daycare)
Library tells the community about its programs and services without really seeking feedback or input
Community-Led
Library builds a relationship; helps to identify the community’s needs
Library investigates ways to work collaboratively; offers programs that aim to meet community’s needs
Adapted from: Community-Led Service Philosophy Toolkit (Edmonton PL, 2013)

3. By show of hands… Who here is already taking a community-led approach?
Who is thinking about moving from traditional outreach to community-led?
Who is thinking about thinking about community-led and hoping to learn more?

4. Key Takeaways from this Session
What will work for YOUR community?
Start where you are, with what you have
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
Richard Harwood

5. Community-Led at Milton Public Library
16 months of research & practical implementation system-wide
Hired September 2017
Part of a series of wider organizational changes at MPL
Our journey so far…

6. Stand on the Shoulders of Giants
The Working Together project
Vancouver PL
Toronto PL
Regina PL
Halifax PL
Edmonton PL
Markham PL
Ottawa PL

7. Resources: Toolkits
Connecting the Dots: A Guidebook for Working with Community (Vancouver PL) Community-Led Toolkit (Edmonton PL) Community Development Toolkit (Ottawa PL)
Community-Led Libraries Toolkit (Working Together) Index of Community Engagement Techniques (Tamarack Institute) The Inclusive Community Engagement Toolkit (Capire)

8. Resources: Books

9. Training Harwood Institute for Public Innovation Webinars
Virtual Public Innovators Lab (May 2018)
Webinars
Connect with other libraries
Successes AND struggles

10. Lean on Me
Strong working relationship with Halton Region public libraries:
Quarterly community librarian meetings
Region-wide strategies
Joint committee work
Truth and Reconciliation Circle
Halton Equity and Diversity Roundtable

11. Build Community Connections
Strengthening existing partnerships
Fostering a suite of community services to fulfill patrons’ needs
Developing a range of literacies
Health literacy
Legal literacy
Financial literacy

12. Community Conversations
Harwood Institute
Ask Exercise
Community Conversation Workbook
ALA Libraries Transforming Communities
Aspirations Tool
Meet people where they are
Teen Advisory Group
ESL Class Conversations
Develop formalized conversations using available tools

13. Collections Work World Language and language-learning collections
Children’s, YA, and Adult French (fiction & nonfiction)
Indigenizing the collection—putting greater emphasis on FNMI titles & authors
Revitalizing the New Readers collection

14. MPL Success Stories
Tech Librarian: Bringing Virtual Reality to Seniors
Children’s Librarian: Partnership with Women’s Shelter
Teen Librarian: Prism Book Club for LGBTQ+ Youth

15. MPL Success Stories Storybook recording at Maplehurst Prison
Kindergarten Readiness Program
Removing barriers to access
Food for Fines
Guest Passes

16. Challenges MPL currently undergoing strategic organizational changes
New leadership
New vision
New service delivery model
New branch
Opportunity to reinvent ourselves and our approach
Conveying information to management, front-line staff, librarians

17. Starting Steps Start where you are Play to your strengths
Meet people where they are
Milton District Hospital
Milton GO Station
Your library as a community hub
Programming and services that are responsive to YOUR community’s needs
Branch or neighbourhood specific

18. Some Inspiration to Get You Started
“When we commit to a vision to do something that has never been done before, there is no way to know how to get there. We simply have to build the bridge as we walk on it.” - Robert Quinn

19. Questions? Thank you! Emily Thompson B.A. (Hons.), LL.B., M.I.
Community-Led Librarian