2. Concept of Project
The Group Project in Question was “Community
Engagement in Public Libraries”. It consisted of:
Introducing schemes to create more understanding towards
different members of the community. Such as old age
pensioners and members of the travelling community.
Organising facilities for community meetings and gatherings.
e.g. Book clubs, resident association meetings and workshops
for adolescents.
Providing relevant information to the community with regard
to upcoming events.
Recruiting volunteers on a part time basis to help organise
events in a library.
3. My Particular Task
My task consisted of conducting a few questions that
were relatable to the topic.
In this case it was a questionnaire whereby the
audience could give their opinion and express their
feelings via open questions on the topic of
“Community engagement in Public Libraries”.
4. Problems I encountered within the Group
Project
Arranging meetings that did not cut across my time or
the time of my fellow members.
Finding relevant information on community
engagement in libraries that were concise. (some
online journals consisted of 121 pages)
Finding appropriate class tasks for the audience i.e.
Participatory questionaires.
5. How Problems Were Resolved
I viewed my emails in advance and if a meeting cut
across a time that I was busy I would email back with a
suggested time that would be more suitable.
I looked through many sites on community
engagement in public libraries for the most
appropriate sources and those that were concise.
Found a wonderful site with the MLA (Museums
Libraries and Archives) site
I viewed the appendices on a site my colleague Neil
Kettles gave me and found appropriate questions from
that area.
6. What I learned from the
Experience
I learnt a lot about community engagement in Public
Libraries, such as:
How libraries promote integration and social tolerance.
How libraries assist and facilitate different groups in society
such as residents associations and book club meetings.
How libraries organise and promote public events with regard
to poetry readings and festivals.
How libraries recruit volunteers for organising stock and
events that are promoted by the library.
