BC Library Conference 2020

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.