The Embedded Librarians Café

Process and timing — such boring concepts … and it’s essential to know them if you want to be successful in engaging with your community.

I was reminded of this last week at the Long Island Library Resources Council’s 23rd Annual Conference on Libraries and the Future, in Bethpage, NY. Our dinner speaker on Thursday evening was Michaelle Solages, New York State Assemblywoman and former access services supervisor at the Axinn Library of Hofstra University.

Ms. Solages’ talk was a review of the New York state budget process, with advice for librarians about the timing and process for effective advocacy. Afterward, one of the attendees who has been involved in library advocacy with the state legislature told me that the presentation contained important new insights that the library group could use to strengthen its advocacy program. … So, even when you think you know “the system” — it’s not a bad idea to check your knowledge and be open to new information at any time!

Thus reminded of the importance of timing and process, I returned home Friday night and began to catch up over the weekend with things I had missed while I was away. One of them was a notice about a series of meetings coming up soon to discuss a revised land use plan for the suburban community where I live.  Now, we have a nice little community library that is within the boundaries of this land use plan, and it’s in a building that’s pretty much the same as it was 30 — maybe 50 — years ago. But as I read through the planning documents, I found not one mention of the library! There was lots of talk about livable communities and community spaces and so on, but not one word about the library’s role in the re-envisioned community! How can that be? If the planning board doesn’t understand the community role of the public library (they should), then the county library board, and the Friends of the Library (I’m a member) should be telling them. This is the critical time for the library in our community. It can either be our hub for the next 50 years, or get stuck in the 50-years-ago past. Understanding and working with the process will be essential. Timing is “everything”.

Well, I’ve started some inquiries. I don’t think it’s too late … yet. We’ll see what happens.

 

This entry was posted on October 29, 2014 at 8:24 am and is filed under Public Libraries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.