Exercises and Assignments

Exercises:

Chapter 5: Our Communities. 

Where do adults in your neighborhood work? If they have a long commute into the city, this suggests a need the library can fill: audiobooks for learning and enjoyment. If they stay in the local area, perhaps there's an opportunity to work with local businesses. Where do adults go in their free time? Do you find them at church? In the bookstore? At home with their families? Regardless of what they do, there are many opportunities to serve those people, if you know what their needs are. 

• Using a tool such as SparkMap, identify areas in your location that have high rates of illiteracy. Collect as much demographic information as you can on one of these areas. 

• Using a tool such as SparkMap, see if there are any schools or health clinics in the area you identified. 

• Using a tool such as the phone book or your local government website, identify local businesses in the area you identified. How much information can you find about these businesses? Who would you contact to learn more? 

• Using a tool such as the phone book or local government website, identify a community service agency in your area. How much information can you find about this community service agency? Who would you contact to learn more?

• With a partner or alone, brainstorm potential options for extending library services to the area you identified. 

• With a partner or alone, identify potential partners in the area you’ve identified. 

Chapter 6: Financing Public Libraries

1. Locate your library’s budget. How is the budget communicated with the public? 

2. Find out if your local library is independent, municipal, city/county, etc., using the Library Search and Compare tool from IMLS. What else can you find about your library using the Library Search and Compare tool?

3. Does your library have a Friends group? A coffeeshop? A Foundation? In other words, does it have methods of generating funds outside of the taxes? How much funding does it generate, and what sorts of activities do they cover?

4. Has your library applied for grants for special projects? If so, who are the grants from?

5. Does your library charge fines? If not, find out when it stopped charging fines, and why. Use the Urban Library Council’s Fine-Free map to explore libraries that have eliminated fines and why they chose to.

Chapter 7: The Public Library Staff

• Find the organization charts for two libraries in your state or region. Compare and contrast those organizational charts, noting areas of similarity and areas of difference. How do community type and demographics influence those differences? 

• Find the Board of Trustees list for your local library. What can you find out about that group of people? Do they represent the community in terms of race, ethnicity, language use, or socioeconomic status? 

• Search ALA JobList (https://joblist.ala.org/) for two public library director positions. Compare and contrast those positions as they relate to external skills such as advocacy and fundraising. 

• Find two current job ads for the public library position you want to occupy (e.g., children’s librarian, reader services librarian, director). Compare and contrast those ads, noting areas of similarity and areas of difference. 

• Find two recent job ads for a public library, one seeking an MLIS-holding employee and one seeking a non-MLIS holding employee. What sorts of duties and responsibilities are required of each type of staff? 

Assignments:

History Paper:

During weeks 2 and 3 you will learn about the history of public libraries in the United States. Was there something that surprised you or challenged you in the assigned readings? Is there something that you want to learn more about? This assignment requires you to dig a little deeper into an idea, event, or concept that surprised, intrigued, or challenged you. Consult the references in the readings or use another method of 'digging', finding at least three additional peer-reviewed articles or a scholarly book about a subject or idea that you feel merits further exploration. Your paper should be 1500 words, give or take 200 (so between 1300 and 1700 words).

Looking for more inspiration? You might find some in one of these sources:

• LHRT News and Notes

• Wikipedia's History of Libraries site. (remember that the paper must be about U.S. public libraries)

• Digital Public Library of America

Decision-Making: the Big Picture.

Research a city or town where you have lived, currently live in, or would like to live and work in.

Note: larger towns and cities generally work better for this project, because they often have more data available on their websites. If you live in a small town and know where to look, though, that is fine.

Part 1 (1 - 2 pages, single spaced): Go to the American Community Survey and/or the Engagement Network, HealthData.gov, the Bureau of Economic Analysis Data.gov, the city's website, newspapers, community/neighborhood newsletters, blogs, social media sites, and other resources.

Find information about the community that would be useful for library decision-makers. How much can you find about your community? 

You must use at least five different sources (such as different databases, newspapers, etc.) for this assignment. Your facts:

• can be a list of bullet points

• should be logically organized (by resource, subject, etc.)

• should include social issues (e.g., languages spoken, socio-economic issues, health, availability of social services)

• might include problems that you find in the newspaper, etc.: what are residents complaining about? This should be backed up with evidence, not just your own experience 

• You can include graphics as well, like census maps, etc.

• Facts like percentage of male and female people probably is irrelevant, unless there is something unusual about the area. Please include interesting data.

Part 2 (1 - 2 pages, single spaced): Next, look at the public library's website, strategic planning documents, and/or personal interview:

• Include mission and vision; funding and service area, organizational structure, including outreach and/or partnerships if available.

• Include links to public communications channels (their website, social media, etc.). How does the library communicate with the public? 

• Rules and regulations, fees, and how to use the library guides...are they available in multiple languages?

• Anything else that you can find?

Part 3 (1 - 2 pages, or 500 - 1000 words). Informal reflective essay. Make several recommendations for library services based on any social issues in the area. You will choose one of these for the two future assignments.

Continuing Education: Responding to Community Needs

All librarians need to engage in Professional Development / Continuing Education (PD/CE). WebJunction is an excellent source for free PD for public librarians. This assignment requires you to explore a PD/CE resource that addresses a need that you have identified in your community. Begin with the findings/recommendations from your last assignment (Decision-Making). Next, go to the course catalog at WebJunction.  Find a unit that is related to the issue. If you have any problems with this contact me and I will help you find a unit. Note that some of these are long - they are courses. I don't expect you to complete a course! Describe the tactics that you learned about in the unit, and consider how you could apply them in your own community.

This assignment includes:

1. A 1-paragraph description of at least one of the community needs that you found in the Decision-Making assignment. (You are not married to the exact need--you can adjust it, but it will really benefit you, time-wise, to build on an idea).

2. At least 2 pages (double-spaced):

   1. Watch the recorded webinar(s) and read related materials in the unit; take notes.

   2. If there are materials to complete in the unit, look over them and use them as you can (some of them are group work, or require you to be in your library, etc.)

   3. Describe how you could apply what you learned in your own community. Who would need to be on board to implement it? What did it cost, what was their process, if they discussed it?

3. Reflection: connect the learning materials to course materials. (1/2 to 1 page)

New Library Initiative and Advocacy

Identify a social, cultural, economic, or informational policy or issue on a national or international level that affects a population that your local library might serve. Some examples to consider are prisons, access to health care, low literacy or access to tutors or learning materials, social support/loneliness, food deserts, etc. You can continue with what you learned in your previous assignments (Decision-Making and Continuing Education).

• Find at least two peer-reviewed, scholarly journal articles and at least two professional journal articles (e.g., from American Libraries, Public Libraries, etc.) that address how librarians have addressed the problem that you identified, or a similar problem. Note that you might have already found these; it is fine to use articles from the class or a previous assignment.

1. Write a brief annotation for each article (200 - 300 words). Describe the article and how it informs your project.

2. Create a one-page handout, web page, or other communication method about the program that you would use to communicate to your target audience. 

3. Record a 7 - 10 minute presentation using your favorite software (e.g., PowerPoint, VoiceThread, Canva...) for your Board of Trustees asking them to support your program. Include (not necessarily in this order):

• why the new initiative is needed (project justification). Include demographic and other information.

• how the initiative will affect the library staff, if applicable (what might need to be adjusted with workflows, etc.)

• a budget estimate. Include staff time, materials, space, etc.

• space and material requirements

• photos, graphs, etc. These might be from the articles that you found - they are your inspiration and show that it is worthwhile and feasible!

• A reference list

This is a culmination of what you have learned this semester, so you can include any of the semester's resources. Here are some pointers for PowerPoint - check it out please!