Friday, January 18, 2019

Advancing Community Goals: The Evolving Role of the Public Library via ICMA


Advancing Community Goals: The Evolving Role of the Public Library 
ICMA: 11.26.2018 by Rebecca DeSantis

Libraries have always served as a resource and gathering place for communities, but their role is evolving as community needs change. Jessica Cadiente, ICMA member and library director of the Santa Barbara Library in California for just over three years, is actively helping her library fit the needs of the residents in Santa Barbara. "Local libraries are flexible and nimble," she states. "We joke that we are always in draft form because as our communities change so do we." 

When the Thomas fire hit the area in December 2017, the library sprang into action to help provide services for the community. Cadiente explains: "While everyone was trying to leave town and many other organizations, businesses, and community centers across town closed, our library team stayed. We knew it was an all hands on deck moment and everyone stepped up to extend services. We immediately added more programming, more classes, more events."

In both immediate actions and long-term initiatives, libraries across the country are working with the community to provide resources and services that meet the needs of each generation of library users. In 2016, ICMA partnered with the Aspen Institute and the Public Libraries Association to conduct the nationwide survey “Local Libraries Advancing Community Goals,” which focused on the evolving role of public libraries in advancing community goals. In this month's "facts and stats" blog, we pull out some of the highlights from this survey and what this means for libraries today.

> 53% of jurisdictions cited foundations and nonprofit organizations as part of their strategy to ensure financial sustainability of the library system.

> 73% of responding jurisdictions ranked “access to high-speed internet service” as an important or highly important role of their local library.

> 60.1% of respondents rate the level of public interest in library services in the community as “high” or “very high.”  READ MORE >>


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