Arizona Libraries Engage Communities

Arizona Libraries Engage Communities

Success required learning new things and hard work

Shifts in Thinking

And Doing

Libraries:

• Found ways to change their daily interactions
• Tried new techniques and tools
• Develop new partnerships and programs

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Quotes from the Field

From the Field

• "I'm less scared of community engagement than I was before. I am really an introvert so it can be scary to talk to people I don't know. The workshop helped me see this as less scary."

More from the field

• "One thing that stuck with me about the definition of community engagement is that it means listening to what people have to say and want instead of telling them what the library has"
• "I'm keeping this in mind and listening more"
• "I switched from focusing on my goals to the goals of the other person."

Scottsdale

• "We've been partnering with our city Human Resources Department and it's been a great partnership."
• "I'm able to present information about the library system to our new employees at monthly seminars and presentations"

Yuma

• Formed a team to use the Partner Mapping Toolkit to reach out to new and existing partners:
• "We are getting out of the library"

Yuma cont.

• "I've been more generous on social media. Prior to the workshop I was just putting our (the library's) events on social media. Now I'm posting more about other organizations in our community. I've noticed some reciprocation. It is such an easy thing to do, and we'll see where it goes."

Ajo Salazar

• Developed materials to send out to organizations in the community asking if they were interested in partnering with the library and they got a lot of responses with ideas people were interested in.

Pinetop/Lakeside

• Recorded interviews with artists of community art which are now on the library's website
• Reached out to new partners to set up challenges for the summer reading incentives

Chandler

• Applied for and got a grant to promote Latino history and culture in their community with events in a series called "Sharing Our Heritage: Chandler Latino Voices"
• Did a survey of participants in a senior center about what programming they wanted -- and then created a new program which gave them what they asked for

Guadalupe

• The library partnered with City and Educational Leaders to: hold a parent summit, host a celebration for graduating seniors and their families, recognize teen volunteers, and housed the summer food program.

White Tanks

• Invited community leaders in the region to meet and discuss the region.
• They identified several shared goals and are creating educational events for people in the region

Camp Verde

• Library staff from the region met and discussed how they can partner with each other more to bring even more resources to the region.
• They identified several ideas and resources that they could use to help reach their shared goals.

State Library

• Library staff from the region met and discussed how they can partner with each other more to bring even more resources to the region.
• Partnered with United Blood Services to tie in the marketing campaigns of the Summer Reading Program and the Arizona Blood Drive.

Resources

• Partner Mapping Overview and Toolkit
• Six Secrets of High Impact Presenting
• Collective Leadership Resources
• Seven Norms of Collaboration
• Facilitation Tips
• Archived Webinars

Contact

• Donna Throckmorton, dthrockmorton@azlibrary.gov
• Wholonomy Consulting
• www. wholonomyconsulting.com