Joan C. Durrance, Karen Pettigrew, Michael
Jourdan, Karen Scheuerer
In: Nancy Kranich. Libraries: The
Cornerstone of Democracy.
Chicago: American Library Association,
2001.
Introduction
Public libraries are unique providers
of civic and government in the community. No other organization or agency
has responsibility to provide access to the broad spectrum of community
information. In recent years, building on the success of earlier decades,
of providing access to community information, librarians have made great
strides in using the Internet to greatly increase access to the information
that people need to function as citizens.
This article identifies some of the 'best practices' identified through two Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) funded research projects both of which are featured on the following project website. http://www.si.umich.edu/helpseek/ The first grant, "Help-Seeking in an Electronic World: The Impact of Electronic Access to Community Information on Citizens' Information Behavior and Public Libraries" was designed to gain a better understanding of how public libraries are poised to provide CI in the next decade and to develop the tools they will need to effectively evaluate their work. "Help-seeking, " funded by IMLS in 1998 is a multi-stage research project, including a two-stage national survey, active collection of best-practice data from a number of websites, and site visits to three communities with public library sponsored community networks. Librarians in our study have identified scores of ways that citizens, community organizations, and government agencies have benefited from library provision of CI. They sent us many examples both of agencies that rely on library CI to in the course of their service provision and of parents, students, job seekers, and others who have benefited from library provision of CI. The second study, "How Libraries and Librarians Help", based on extensive field research, instrument development and testing, will result (by the end of 2002) in a suite of context-based evaluation tools that are easily implemented, capture richness, and show patterns that reflect how digital community services affect people’s lives
The best practice examples below, drawn from this federally funded research, have been grouped into five categories to give readers an indication of a much larger body of research we have brought together in the project website.
The
Community Information File: The Foundation of Library CI
A lasting legacy of public library information
and referral services is the community information database. Our national
survey of CI librarians showed that the CI file continues to play a prominent
role in any community information service. CI files we were told have undergone
several iterations in the past 20 years, from paper to database, to the
OPAC in some cases. As software has improved the current iterations of
the many CI files are database driven with web accessibility. Below are
two of many examples CI files in our Best Practices site.
COMMUNITY RESOURCE DATABASE (CRD) (http://www.crdli.org/)
Funded and managed by a coalition of public
agencies, private foundations, and businesses the Community Resource Database
(CRD) of Long Island features more than 8,000 listings for community resources
and services. The Middle Country Public Library (MCPL) is the Central Manager
for the database, which is available via public access terminals at libraries,
and on a subscription basis elsewhere. What makes the CRD different from
many other community information initiatives is the way in which it looks
to the private sector as a source of ideas and funding. The staff at MCPL
has turned to a variety of private firms--such as banks and local corporations--for
financial sponsorship of the CRD. This, in turn, has given the library
credibility with the private sector while also addressing issues such as
long-term sustainability and potential overlap with services provided by
other agency databases. For more information about CRD, see our profile
at: http://www.si.umich.edu/helpseek/Profiles/CRD.html
COMMUNITY CONNECTION (http://sfpl.lib.ca.us:8000/SOCSER)
The San Francisco Public Library’s Community
Connection provides comprehensive searchable listings of social service
agencies, government offices, neighborhood groups, and nonprofit organizations.
The database is available online at all member libraries, via dial-in access,
and by telephone. The library also offers the AIDS Foundation Database,
a separate resource with information on HIV service providers. According
to Julie Beach of the Children's Council of San Francisco, "the San Francisco
Community Connection is an example of the smart use of the technology that's
particularly valuable to nonprofit organizations."
Approaches
designed to increase access to relevant local content including civic,
government, and job information
The library web site is the most effective
tool that librarians have at their disposal to increase access to civic
and government information. Even though community information has been
available within library walls for decades, most citizens had no idea that
it was available. Web sites, on the other hand, bring information to people
24 hours a day, seven days a week and can be accessed where people are—in
their homes, at school or work, at a community technology center, or on
a friend's computer. Library web site hits far exceed the more traditional
measures of in-house use and circulation. The messages that web sites send
help people understand the library's role in the community. In addition,
they potentially provide a vehicle for civic discourse.
Well designed library CI web pages enable citizens to find out what boards and commissions will meet this week and where, what business the city council will address next Tuesday, what the local schools are planning to do about student test scores, and what millage increases will be requested in the upcoming school election. Citizens who aren't able to get to these meetings can send messages to decision-makers. In addition, residents can find out about where and when to catch the bus, or how to get a dog license or a building permit. In fact, they may even be able to transact the purchase online starting with the local library's web site. Below are examples of how public libraries provide access to government and job information.
Government information.
WEST BLOOMFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY (http://www.wblib.org/commgov.html)
The West Bloomfield Public Library offers
an impressive web site of well-organized government information. This extensive
collection places an emphasis on community information pages and then extends
to global resources. The site lists community organization contact information
alongside content on transit routes, voter precincts, and school board
representatives. The library’s CI is not limited to local information however.
A thorough, annotated listing of federal and state agencies’ web links
is also provided. Additionally, the library features information from some
of the more well known international organizations.
ONONDAGA COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY (http://www.ocpl.lib.ny.us/
Equally extensive in scope is the government
information on New York state's Onondaga County Public Library web site.
In addition to state and federal government information, the library gives
users access to Web-linked legal resources. Visitors can find out how their
local Congressperson voted in the last election by accessing U.S. voting
records. The site also features links on political campaigns and bills
in the state legislature, as well as answers to frequently asked questions
about New York State.
These and many other 'best practice' sites by public libraries avoid burying local information deep within the web site. Public libraries that put an emphasis on how to get and use local information epitomize the role that libraries can play in citizenship education and civic engagement. The message to citizens is clear: the library is the place to come to get vital information not only about what's going on in the community, but about participating as a citizen.
Job Information.
One of the most sought after type of CI is business and employment information. The citizens we interviewed for our IMLS project repeatedly told us that they regularly sought and sometimes successfully obtained job information through library CI.
NEW HAVEN FREE LIBRARY (http://www.nhfpl.lib.ct.us/)
Job information is featured prominently
on the New Haven Free Library web site. Local recreation, entertainment,
education, health, and history pages are also highlighted. The site provides
annotated links in these subject areas in addition to library-compiled
data on topics ranging from crime to population, education to economics.
Moreover, in keeping with public library commitment to information access,
the New Haven Free Library provides a Spanish language version of its web
site.
CHICAGOJOBS (http://www.chicagojobs.org/)
Maintained by a staff member at the Skokie
Public Library, ChicagoJobs seems to be the definitive Chicago area job
and career guide. Indeed, this site not only points job seekers to classified
adds and web pages that match employers to job seekers, but it also directs
visitors to career counselors, and provides links to training resources,
resume tips, and salary guides.
CASCADELINK JOBS (http://www.cascadelink.org/jobs/index.html):
CascadeLink offers extensive job listings,
especially for government positions, as well as information job training
and employment agencies. When we conducted a survey of the users of Multnomah
County Public Library's CascadeLink, we discovered that a large number
of respondents rely on the site's extensive job resources. Users were effusive
in their praise. For example, a recruiter for the City of Portland noted
that she often refers people to CascadeLink for job information because
"it cuts through all of the garbage often found on the Internet, and gets
straight to the heart of the matter" with its thorough and easy-to-navigate
links. Another respondent told us that she, her husband, and her son had
all turned to CascadeLink to assist in job searches because it is a time
saver: "CascadeLink is really the best place to go because everything is
right there. Its saves a lot of time to go to this one stop rather than
having to go to each employer individually."
Designing
services to help immigrants and cultural minorities
Starting with the major waves of immigration
in the late 19th Century, libraries have served immigrants by
offering safe havens and equal access to learning. In the last hundred
years, libraries in major coastal cities have shown an ongoing commitment
to immigrants. Through the decades librarians have developed incredible
expertise in helping hundreds of thousands of new arrivals better understand
life in North America. Today's immigrant lives not only close to a border,
but all across the U.S. This means that more American public libraries
have the opportunity to provide essential lessons in citizenship to the
foreign-born in their communities.
QUEENS, N.Y.
"Nearly one in ten Americans is foreign
born! The U.S. Census Bureau says that between 1990 and 1998, the growth
in the foreign-born population was nearly four times that of the native
population. What do these figures mean for community information providers?"
asks Angela Napili in an article on the Community Connector website at
http://www.si.umich.edu/Community/
This fine article is an excellent profile of the way one public library, Queens Public Library in New York. has developed services designed to reach immigrants. New York City has long been a port of entry for immigrants from all over the world. Often, these new residents settle down in one of the outlying, more affordable boroughs. In Queens, for example, one in three residents is foreign born. The Queens Borough Library (http://www.queenslibrary.org/) has therefore responded to the needs of its diverse constituency by designing reference and collection policies that cater to newcomers to the US. The Queens Directory of Immigrant-Serving Agencies <http://www.queenslibrary.org/webcontact/contactsearch.htm> is a centerpiece of the library’s web site, and stands as a reflection of the library’s deliberate efforts to serve their diverse clientele. Librarians compiled this massive searchable database of organizations offering services to immigrants in over 50 languages. Organizations in the database provide everything from academic counseling to substance abuse counseling to disabled transportation. The directory is available in print as well, and it is a wonderful example of how, with some database knowledge and the right connections with the community, a library can manage to publish an entire reference work.
AUSTIN PUBLIC LIBRARY
The Austin Public Library (http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/default.htm)
features its New Immigrants Project http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/newip.htm
on the library's home page. However, this resource does not exist solely
in cyberspace. In an effort to serve Austin's "new, primarily non-English
speaking, immigrant population", three of Austin’s library branches have
incorporated New Immigrants Project Centers into their building space.
Visitors to the centers can learn English, study for the U.S. Citizenship
exam, identify community resources, attend classes, and check out books
and magazines in their mother tongue. Librarians also guide immigrants
to legal resources, local cultural organizations, or immigration services.
In addition, immigrants are given advice on navigating bureaucratic agencies
so as to fill out tax forms and apply for driver’s licenses and social
security cards.
SAN JOSE PUBLIC LIBRARY
The San Jose Public Library (http://www.sjpl.lib.ca.us/Outreach/cultures/multicult.htm)
has compiled pages on their web site catering to many multicultural groups
in their area, including people with disabilities, gays and lesbians, ethnic
minorities, seniors, and at-risk youth. On the Immigration Resources page,
visitors will find articles pertaining to immigration and naturalization
regulations in both English and Spanish. Among the handy features on this
site is a zip code identifier people can use to locate the closest social
security administration office or download an INS form. Also available
on the site is a bibliography of books, periodicals, and videos pertaining
to American immigrants and refugees.
Fostering
interaction with community information: Building Information Communities
through Community Networking
Community networks have been around in
one form or another since the mid 1980s. Public library involvement can
be traced back in most cases to the early and mid-'90s. Public library
Community Network initiatives focus on primarily on community information,
but may also include opportunities for dialog. Library CNs provide a variety
of ways to help citizens better understand the community, foster civic
participation, make it easier to volunteer, and engage in activities that
result in information and resource sharing by community organizations.
THE COMMUNITY CONNECTOR www.si.umich.edu/Community/
The Community Connector, our University
of Michigan comprehensive web resource for communities, has developed a
definition often used to describe this phenomenon:
"A community network is a locally based, locally driven communication and information system designed to enhance community and enrich lives." http://www.si.umich.edu/Community/faq/What.html
When libraries take action to foster interaction with community information they help to assure increased citizen involvement in the local community. This is a step beyond informing citizens that we have discussed in the sections above. One result of our IMLS research has been an analysis of various community network models. Below are brief descriptions of several library sponsored community networks. Considerable more detail can be found on our project website. http://www.si.umich.edu/helpseek/ follow the links to profiles and best practices.
TALLAHASSEE FREENET (http://www.tfn.net/)
The Tallahassee Freenet (TFN), Florida's
first community network and one of the nation's first library-community
network partnerships, was started in 1993 by faculty from Florida State
University (FSU). Early on, the LeRoy Collins Leon County Public Library
joined as an operating partner. Over time partners have changed, but the
public library has continued to be a primary stakeholder. TFN has ties
to county government, state government, the universities, the newspaper,
hospitals, and hundreds of community organizations. TFN seeks to serve
as "a catalyst for the educational, social, and economic growth of Tallahassee,
Leon County and Florida through online community networking." They do this
through involving community businesses and individuals as supporters, partners,
and volunteers who serve in a variety of capacities including acting as
editors of content web pages. (TFN Website)
DARIEN COMMUNITY INFORMATION NETWORK
(http://darien.lib.ct.us/)
The Darien CI Network is a notable example
of the role that a library can play in the creation of a small town's information
infrastructure. The library hosts the websites for town-related organizations,
such as the town hall, schools, library, and non-profit organizations.
Louise Berry, Director of the Darien Public Library, notes that "the library
has received increased financial and political support as a result of taking
the leadership role in technology for the town."
THREE RIVERS FREE-NET http://trfn.clpgh.org/
The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (http://trfn.clpgh.org/)
has designed a unique approach to building community using the Internet
through their community network, the Three Rivers Free-Net (TRFN). TRFN,
a fixture of Pittsburgh since 1995, interacts with Pittsburgh area non-profit
organizations and local governments. TRFN's mission is to facilitate "the
collection, organization and dissemination of Pittsburgh regional information
in a public space." The TRFN website, built with a librarian's eye for
organization, is divided into 20 carefully considered subject areas, ranging
from Cultural Activities to Employment to Social Services. Organizations
are often placed in several categories. TRFN uses electronic space to bring
together organizations by using an easy to navigate directory and template
design on the website. Its guidelines encourage community non-profits to
identify and link to organizations that do similar work thus strengthening
community ties. Not only does this make it easier for TRFN users to find
what they are looking for, it also helps unify Pittsburgh's non-profit
community. In addition, agencies that have yet to build a presence on the
Internet can look to TRFN's subject pages for inspiration. For more information
on the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and TRFN, please refer to our online
profile at http://www.si.umich.edu/helpseek/Profiles/TRFN_profile.html.
NORTHSTARNET http://www.nsn.org/
NorthStarNet (NSN) community network (http://www.nsn.org/),
a partnership between North Suburban Library System (NSLS) and Suburban
Library Systems (SLS), is designed to help bring Chicago's suburban communities
together in virtual space even though they are dispersed in physical space.
By linking together 124 communities, NorthStarNet makes life in Chicago's
suburbs more cohesive. While the various member libraries all share in
NSN's mission of using the Internet to build community, the specifics of
how they go about accomplishing this goal varies considerably from library
to library. This level of autonomy is a hallmark of NSN. And it pays off
because this freedom means that each individual library has greater flexibility
to reflect its community online. One result of library autonomy is that
NSN comes across not as one large site but rather as a gateway to a collection
of smaller community sites that are referred to as Communities on the Web.
Under the NSN umbrella you'll find links to sites like LaGrange Community
(http://www.lagrangeil.com/),
NorthStarNet Arlington Heights (http://ahkhome.northstarnet.org/)
, the Park Ridge Community Network (http://www.park-ridge.il.us/),
and SkokieNet (http://www.skokienet.org/).
All of these sites are housed on the NSN server and coordinated by Library
Coordinators at member libraries and yet they all have their own domain
names, their own look and feel, and, to a certain extent, their own policies
and procedures. For more information about NorthStarNet, see the profile
on the Helpseek Project website: http://www.si.umich.edu/helpseek/Profiles/NSN_profile.html
Fostering
Civic Engagement Among Today's Youth
A number of observers have realized that
young people have the potential for taking the leadership in revitalizing
American democracy. We have long known that values developed early have
a way of following an individual through adulthood. By providing kids opportunities
find out more about their communities, and to become involved and make
a difference in their communities, there is a chance that a new civic generation
will emerge. Robert Putnam found that "much of the decline in civic engagement
in America during the last third of the twentieth century is attributable
to the replacement of an unusually civic generation by several generations
(their children and grandchildren) that are less embedded in community
life." Wendy Lesko observes that youth constitute 26% of population and
have the potential for making enormous contributions to their communities.
Her project, Activism 2000, encourages teens to transform their ideas into
pragmatic proposals and participate in the policymaking arena.
Public librarians can play a valuable role in helping young children and teens better understand, become involved in and make a contribution to their community. Programs that foster civic engagement among youth are making an investment in future citizen activism and possibly a revitalization of democracy. A number of initiatives focus on involving youth in gaining the skills they need to become involved in and influence change in their communities.
Youth ACCESS is an after school program developed by selected libraries in conjunction with Libraries for the Future. <http://www.lff.org/> The program has been adapted by libraries in New York City's Harlem, Newark, NJ, Oakland, Ca., and Detroit, Mi. Youth ACCESS, like other emerging youth-empowerment programs in public libraries, is designed to enhance the educational, literacy, and employment skills opportunities of young people ages 8-18. Librarians who run programs such as Youth ACCESS structure the experience to help kids learn to work together, to learn about their community, to engage in problems and issues of importance to them, to communicate with the larger world by means of Internet-based media.
EASTSIDE CYBRARY CONNECTION of the Riverside
Public Library (http://www.cybraryconnect.org).
The mission of this project is to ensure
the opportunity for lifelong learning by providing free computer training,
information literacy and access to electronic information resources to
an at-risk population--Riverside's Eastside youth (Ages 10 to 14 ) and
their families. Students gain skills in the following skill areas computer
training, information
literacy, after-school homework assistance, and Internet access. The
program seeks to give the youth who go through the program life-long learning
skills to close the digital
divide gap by gaining computer and web searching skills. This project
is framed more broadly than civic engagement. However, these skills as
we see below in the Flint project) be used for civic engagement.
FLINT PUBLIC LIBRARY (http://www.flint.lib.mi.us/fpl.html)
The Flint Public Library has a solid history
of developing services designed to strengthen its community. FPL's youth
programs reach out to at-risk youth. Recent programs, some of which have
been collaboratively developed with the University of Michigan School of
Information include features found in such programs as Youth ACCESS. In
the early days of the Internet (1996) FPL staff worked with Flint teens
to develop Weblinks, a program designed to help at-risk youth learn about
organizations in Flint that are designed to assist youth by having these
young people develop websites for the organizations. In the process the
teen-agers gained skill in interviewing, learned about the services of
the agencies, and—along the way—gained the technical skills they needed
to create a website. Over the years, programs like this have been modified,
but always with the aim of providing teens the technology skills they can
use to make positive contributions to their community.
What
We've Learned
There are a number of exciting models
that show leadership and creativity by librarians in increasing access
to community information, which will in strengthen civil society. Most
of our findings are on the IMLS funded project website, <www.si.umich.edu/helpseek>
They are displayed so that they can be approached from a number of perspectives.
The project website provides a great deal of detail and many more examples.
This article has only scratched the surface. We chose examples for five
areas that contribute toward a more viable democracy.
Our data show that at present librarians
are unable to determine the impact of their community information services.
We are now in the process of developing the indicators of impact for these
and other digital community information services from the perspective of
the people who use them. The services we have described in this article
suggest that librarians are making strong contributions toward giving citizens
the tools they need to build a more viable democracy.
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