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BC Library Conference 2020

F01 - Finding a Place for Community-Engaged Library Work In and Beyond the Academy.

vendredi 17 avril 2020 à 09:00–10:15 EDT
Meeting Room #1
Session Description

Public libraries and institutes of higher education are both anchor institutions in their communities. Both have ambitions of using their resources to contribute towards community well-being and both have seen an increase in positions dedicated to community engagement. While public libraries at least have distinct geographic limitations, academic institutions have a broader mandate that make their definition of community more difficult to define. How are academic libraries defining, serving and listening to communities beyond their post-secondary institutions? How might public and academic libraries work better together to inform and support such public service?

We are two academic librarians and one public librarian who all have the word “community” in our job titles. Over the last year, we have been getting together to talk about the community-led library service model and the extent to which it is applicable in academic libraries -- and to puzzle over our experience of the disconnect between the public and academic library worlds, our varied understandings of community, and the tensions and opportunities involved in this work in all kinds of libraries.

In this participatory session we will review the principles of various community engagement models including the community-led library service model used at many public libraries in Canada. Through the presentation of an initial environmental scan of the academic library community engagement landscape, we will consider how the work we currently do fits on the spectrum of community engagement. We will discuss the kind of language that supports this work in our own institutions and consider what barriers we might face in serving the communities around us. Session participants will contribute their own experiences and we will together imagine how we can cooperate cross-sectorally to support community needs.

Speakers

Heather De Forest, SFU Library
Biography

Heather is a librarian at Simon Fraser University. She leads the Community Scholars Program, which engages individuals working in the non-profit sector with research publications, and identifies and reduces barriers to accessing to this body of knowledge.

Aleha McCauley, University of British Columbia
Biography

Aleha McCauley holds a Bachelor of Arts (History) and a Master of Library and Information Studies both from the University of British Columbia. She currently works as a Community Engagement Librarian at the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. Aleha was honoured with the 2014 Achievement in Academic Business Librarianship. She takes great pleasure in spending her free time road tripping in the Pacific Northwest in her vintage trailer.

Adair Harper, Richmond Public Library
Biography

Adair Harper graduated with an MLIS from UBC’s iSchool in 2019 and now works as a Community Services Librarian at Richmond Public Library. With a Master of Arts in Public History and a professional background in museums and exhibition organizing, Adair is deeply interested in the ways that public cultural institutions can better support and reflect their communities.

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