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Developing Effective Community Partnerships (December 2017)
This document summarizes a webinar about developing productive community partnerships for libraries. The webinar covered topics like outreach techniques that work well in communities, effectively fostering partnerships, and examples of successful partnership programs. These included a walking program partnership in Markham, art space partnerships in Topeka and Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library, and a community storytime room partnership in Lynchburg Public Library. Exercises had participants identify local outreach opportunities and ways to adapt partnership examples. The webinar provided resources on collaboration and highlighted steps to applying the partnership strategies discussed.
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Developing Effective Community Partnerships (December 2017)
- 1. An ALA PublishingWebinar with Paul Signorelli Writer/Trainer/Consultant, Paul Signorelli & Associates paul@paulsignorelli.com Twitter: @paulsignorelli, @trainersleaders Andrew Sanderbeck Trainer/Coach/Consultant, People Connect Institute andrew@peopleconnectinstitute.com Twitter: @PCIWebinars Developing Productive Community Partnerships
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- 4. How Partnerships AreDeveloped
- 5. How Partnerships AreDeveloped
- 6. How Partnerships AreDeveloped
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- 11. Exercise #1 What outreachtechniques are currently working well in your community?
- 12. Exercise #1 What outreachtechniques are currently working well in your community? What is one thing you can do to more effectively foster productive partnerships with other members of your community?
- 13. Partnership Examples andCase Studies
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- 15. Topeka & ShawneeCounty Public Library
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- 18. Heritage Public Library:Diligence (Programs in Schools)
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- 21. Exercise #2 Who, inyour community, can you reach out to in an effort to further the process of building a community partnership you want to develop?
- 22. Exercise #2 Who, inyour community, can you reach out to in an effort to further the process of building a community partnership you want to develop? What is one thing you can adapt, into your own work in developing community partnerships, from the examples we have just reviewed?
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- 31. Resources “Effectively Collaborating WithOther Libraries and Partners”: http://www.techsoupforlibraries.org/Cookbooks/Planning%20for%20Success/Communica “Public Partners/Collaboration,” TechSoup for Libraries, by Lisa Peet; Library Jo urnal, April 19, 2017 http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2017/04/schools/public-partners-collaboration/#_ “Ten Examples of Successful Library Collaborative Projects,” TechSoup for Libraries: http://www.techsoupforlibraries.org/planning-for-success/communication-and- partnerships/tools/ten-examples-of-successful-library-collabo
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- 33. ForMore Information Paul Signorelli& Associates 1032 Irving St., #514 San Francisco, CA 94122 415.681.5224 paul@paulsignorelli.com http://paulsignorelli.com Twitter: @paulsignorelli, @trainersleaders http://buildingcreativebridges.wordpres s.com Andrew Sanderbeck 284 Weatherwatch Lane Waynesville, NC 28786 727.409.2239 andrew@peopleconnectinstitute.com http://pciwebinars.com/ Twitter: @pciwebinars http://www.peopleconnectinstitute.com/
- 34. Credits & Acknowledgments (Imagestaken fromlickr.comunless otherwise noted): Title Slide: 1) Colorado Afterschool Partnership 2) Sandy Hutchins, Programming Librarian, ALA Public Programs Office Circle of Interconnected Hands: From MaryScheirer’s photostreamat http://tinyurl.com/lwtlcop Knocking at Door: From Eden, Janine, and Jim’s photostreamat https://tinyurl.com/y7kyaonz Biblio Turismo: From Rossco2008’s photostream at https://tinyurl.com/ybkr845s Markham Walk: From Markham Public Library Twitter account Camden County Christmas Tree: From Camden County Library Facebook account Heritage Public Library: From the Heritage Public Library website and Facebook account Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library: From the Montgomery Museum website at http://montgomerymuseum.org/events/exhibitions/off-site-art-galleries Lynchburg Public Library: Screenshot from WorkIt, Lynchburg, at http://www.newsadvance.com/work_it_lynchburg/news/new-storytime-room-in-lynchburg-public-library-officially- unveiled/article_f11bc748-ff9d-11e4-963d-c72d294383ba.html Ceramic-tiled Steps: Photograph by Paul Signorelli Question Marks: From Valerie Everett’s photostreamat http://www.flickr.com/photos/valeriebb/3006348550/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Editor's Notes
- #2 Welcome to Developing Community Partnerships. During our time together, we’re going to suggest up front that our efforts to foster partnerships and collaborations are personal—very personal. That’s the basic idea we’re going to spend a fair amount of time exploring throughout this session to see if it’s true for you and those you serve: *We start by reaching out—sometimes overtly, and at other times by simply doing what we do best: Connecting potential community partners (like artists and someone looking to improve a blighted part of an otherwise lovely neighborhood) We remember that regardless of our titles, we’re working at a very human, person-to-person level—this is our community, too, not some far-and-distant location that we appreciate solely at a professional or intellectual level. Our work is very much from the heart. *We see the requirements of our positions not as constraints but as opportunities—and when we do encounter obstacles, we realize we’re not alone in attempting to resolve them. And we remember that in many important ways, we’re never really alone. When we reach out to our communities—regardless of whether they are small or large, geographically constricted or spread over a relatively large county area, are primarily onsite or online or a combination of both—we have some of the greatest treasures and resources available to us: people like us who, given an opportunity, will work to develop something that is significant and sustainable within our communities.
- #3 By the end of our time together today, you should: Be able to cite at least three ways that successful partnerships are developed Have at least three concrete examples you can draw upon as you reach out to potential and current partners to define and work toward meeting community needs, and Have begun determining at least two concrete steps you will take within the next two weeks to nurture engagement and collaboration designed to address specific community needs We also hope that you’ll see the community of learners we have in this session as a fabulous resource; you’re going to be gaining from each other as much as from us as we all approach this as co-conspirators in the learning process, so we encourage you to look for ways to continue and expand the conversations and actions long after our 90 minutes together have come to an end.
- #4 *Collaboration implies the sort of give-and-take that unites us in ways that make impossible dreams feel a bit more possible. *Collaboration also implies participation—we are active contributors to the positive actions taking place in our communities, not just providers of information or onsite and online meeting spaces. *Let’s do a quick review of a few of the steps some of our colleagues are already taking in our communities.
- #5 *We’ve all seen examples of how small, medium, and large businesses support libraries within a community, and we’ll be sharing ideas about others during the webinar today. We can see another one on this slide, noticing that the partners included Dr. Pepper, Snapple, and the McCormick County Library. We’ve also seen plenty of partnerships between libraries and schools, libraries and nonprofits such as community museums or afterschool tutoring programs, and libraries and some of the business associations that are familiar to us in our own communities.
- #6 *If you’re in a large metropolitan area, you are probably aware of the possibilities available for working with local sports teams. In Florida, for example, the Miami Dolphins have partnered with the State of Florida Library system.
- #7 In San Francisco, the Giants have had a supportive relationship with the San Francisco Public Library summer reading program.
- #8 Andrew: Idaho Libraries [For those who are not in large metropolitan areas, there’s no reason to despair: you, too, probably have some local heroes—the small local sports team, the television personality or radio station announcer, the person whose use of the library made and continues to make a difference in his or her ability to do what he or she is doing—who could benefit from a partnership with you and those you serve. [You might be thinking how difficult it is to approach those people even in the best of times, and might be very effectively imagining words of rejection before you even prepare to make your first approach to establish a relationship with that person or that organization. That’s one of the first things we have to change—by building relationships well before our moment of need arises.]
- #9 *If we start looking at what we can be doing to meet those organizations’ and people’s needs based on what they tell us when we give them an opportunity to talk to us, we’ve taken an initial step that is far less difficult than we might imagine. And it begins with reimagining the potential results. *Carl Grant, former president and chief librarian for Ex Libris North America, provides an extremely concise and useful summary of what he believes are key components of successful partnerships between libraries and businesses: Clear and shared goals are established. Risks and rewards are real and shared. There is a defined time frame for the partnership. Agreements are in writing. *A Partnership for Creating Successful PartnershipsCarl GrantInformation Technology and Libraries, March 2010 http://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/ital/article/view/3151/2765
- #10 Beth Dempsey, in an article for Library Journal severl years ago, documented the fact that libraries continued to attract significant levels of support at the local community level in spite of one of the worst economic situations any of us had ever experienced. Part of what she reminded us was that “engagement builds trust.” [“Strategies from 2008 for an even tougher 2009” By Beth Dempsey -- Library Journal, 03/15/2009 http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2009/03/ljarchives/library-referenda-2008-libraries-build-the-case-for-voter-support/ Here’s a key point she makes: “Engagement builds multiple points of contact to gather feedback to create new programs that address community issues and ongoing opportunities to talk about that outreach. Just as important, those contacts are channels for quickly reaching and amassing an army of volunteers.” And that’s one of the major take-aways from our time together today: if we engage members of our extended communities on a day-to-day basis—not just answering their questions or quickly helping them find or learn what they need and then racing moving on to the next person who needs our assistance—we’re building something significant. We’re building relationships. Those relationships—the sort of relationship where all parties benefit—are the gold standard. They are not that hard to cultivate—but we do need to be attentive to the opportunities that come our way to develop them. And we need to think as much about what our potential partners gain from the relationship as what we gain from them.
- #11 *One of the many foundations that will serve us well is to think of ourselves as consultants for our organizations and for our communities. We need to be the sort of consultants who, through the very nature of our work, have a steady stream of information coming our way to help us identify key needs and ways to meet those needs. It’s important, then, for us to be aware of what we bring to our community and how important it is for us to connect those benefits to what we can our partners can accomplish when we work together. When we really listen to what our onsite and online users tell us they value and what they need, they’re helping us do our initial homework. Think of all the good will—and potential for bridge-building—that came out of the Motorcyling Librarians statewide “Biblio Turismo” tour in 2009 that we see here. It was an effort to raise awareness of county libraries in New South Wales, Australia. “The Motorcycling Librarians at the end of their tour hosted by Gosford City Library in New South Wales, Australia, which saw public librarians from across the State visiting and raising the profile of country libraries along the route of Mudgee, Parkes and Blayney and Katoomba, departing Gosford on 5 November. Blue Mountains Library was pleased to be the last stop this public library event, Biblio Turismo 4: the ‘Bat Out Of Hell Tour.’ “Katoomba was the last stop of the Tour, on Saturday 7 November [2009] with afternoon tea being hosted by Blue Mountains Library at the Carrington at 4.00pm. Vicki’s husband, Paul Edmunds, rode to meet the crew at Bathurst Library so he could escort them to Katoomba. The photo shows Paul (Blue Mountains), Alan Flores (Gosford Library Manager), Ross Balharrie (Manly Library) and Alan Arnold (Campbelltown Library).” Whether we’re interacting with them by phone or face to face or online, or whether we’re seeing them as we walk along the streets of the cities and towns where we or see them in local markets and other businesses, or on a motorcycle tour, we have a great opportunity to plant the seeds for collaboration through the simple act of listening to what they tell us about their unmet needs. When we step up to the plate and offer to be part of a community-based team to fill those needs, we’re beginning to establish the sort of relationships that later allow all of us to get things done by partnerships where everyone brings whatever they have that can help us reach whatever goals we’re trying to reach.
- #12 Andrew facilitating this discussion
- #13 Andrew facilitating this exercise
- #14 Andrew leading here
- #15 *From interview with Elizabeth Markham, Community Librarian, Markham Public Library: “What does everyone want their community to be? Walkable. They don’t want to have to drive. They want the versatility and the options to walk. They want a connected, vibrant, safe, walkable community. The question my community partner and I asked then, was, how does a community become walkable unless people start walking? And so we did. “The response that we got from the community was indicative of the desire to connect with their community, to connect with their neighbours. That’s the whole idea behind social media, isn’t it? Connection. Networks. What’s a neighbourhood? Who are your neighbours? That’s part of your personal network. By actively engaging with your community and taking action you are creating change.”
- #16 *Library staff reaching out to serve as community facilitators: Full story at http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2016/06/awards/2016-galelj-library-of-the-year-topeka-shawnee-county-public-library-ks-leveraging-leadership/#_
- #17 *From the Camden County Library District, 2015: Two loads of scarves, mittens, hats, and other items collected for donation to Helping Hands, a local homeless shelter From the Helping Hands website: “Helping Hands Serenity Homes shelter home parents are special people who provide guidance, love and stability to children and teens in need of a safe place to live.”
- #18 The value of collaboration… [Andrew]
- #19 Barbara Winters has described how the Heritage Public Library works with a public school system to offer programs including a book club and LEGO robotics classes in addition to the weekly pre-school story-time held in the library: “…it took quite a while to build a relationship with the public schools and to get to the place where they did not see our programs as being in competition with them.”
- #20 In the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library system, Paula Alston noted that a library partners with the local museum and art center to provide exhibition space the museum otherwise would not have: “They did not have enough room so we created an art wall in one of our branches and we display their overflow. We also partnered with them on a concert during the June 2015 for the Mountains of Music event and several other programs…. We put up an art hanging system and it has been full ever since.” As you might expect, it didn’t just fall into place, and it was far from a case of a library being solely on the receiving end in a partnership: “It took several meetings and lots of email. We did a majority of the work, which was good for their PT [part-time] museum director,” Paula notes. Link to Montgomery Museum and Lewis Miller Regional Art Center: http://montgomerymuseum.org/events/exhibitions/off-site-art-galleries
- #21 This one, from Marilyn Martin in Lynchburg, has it all in terms of matching a variety of interests and tremendous altruism in a very productive and rewarding way. Looking to create a new story time room in the children’s department of the library, staff attracted the following to serve community needs: St. John's Episcopal Church donated $150,000 for a room in honor of their centennial. Liberty University donated the land so the addition could be added to the Main Library building. Lynchburg City Council authorized $10,000 for the project. The Greater Lynchburg Community Trust granted $9,000. The Friends of the Library agreed to raise the additional funds to have the room built. Total cost of project was $440,000. “It brought community recognition and pride to all of the partners. The combination of an Episcopal Church, Liberty University, the City of Lynchburg, a Community grantor and the Library Friends was somewhat unique for the community. It was a great example of Church and State and community working together to improve the lives of local children….It is a lasting legacy for many,” Marilyn notes. And it gets better: the article you’re seeing here notes that a $100,000 donation to the Lynchburg Library project came from former library director Lynn Dodge. And the church that donated $150,000 “considered numerous possible recipients” before choosing the Library for having created the project that “would have the greatest impact on the youngest members of the community,” we also learn from that article. Link to article: http://www.newsadvance.com/work_it_lynchburg/news/new-storytime-room-in-lynchburg-public-library-officially-unveiled/article_f11bc748-ff9d-11e4-963d-c72d294383ba.html
- #22 Andrew facilitating exercise
- #23 Andrew facilitating exercise
- #24 We started out with some partnership basics, including the idea that collaboration is highly personal and begins with effectively reaching out as an equal partner among partners to identify mutual needs we can address together.
- #25 We explored a variety of examples, including that wonderful walk organized through a collaboration between members of Markham Public Library, in Canada, and members of the Muslim community there.
- #26 We also saw how members of the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library are reaching out as community facilitators to help nurture positive conversations the produce concrete results.
- #27 There was the example of how Camden Public Library staff and community members turned a simple tree-decorating project into something that provided much-needed clothing for those living in a local homeless shelter.
- #28 And we continually returned to the theme that opening doors starts with the simple act of knocking at those doors to open them to the richly abundant opportunities that exist within our communities. We clearly have plenty of examples of how we’re at the center of our community, with tremendous resources to offer in any partnership we pursue. Now it’s up to us to transform more of those dreams into a reality in which everyone is a winner.
- #29 Andrew leading this
- #30 Terry Provide a job aid to focus the trainee on important topics- I have different versions of the Bob sheet that I use depending on the training Example here – 1: Learning (can’t transfer what you don’t learn - learning) 2: Application (relates to “expectations” - behavior) How I Can Support You: 3: Action Plan (putting learning into practice) – provide time/opportunity 4: WIIFM (relates to “relevance”) 5: Self-management – obstacles and how to overcome (to prevent relapse to old behaviors)
- #31 A few highly-recommend resources…
- #32 A few articles we adore…
- #33 Our final wrap-up: Any questions about what we’re going to do next?