The Utopian Library

Tasha Squires, Young Adult Consultant, Shorewood Troy Public Library District

Author of Library Partnerships: Making Connections Between School and Public Libraries

Why should schools and public libraries collaborate?

• We serve the same “clientele” at school during the day and at the library in the evening
• We generally serve the same geographic community.
• Our goals and purposes overlap
• We may have the same revenue sources

Sharing information: How can we work together on projects?

• Blogs
  • can replace monthly newsletters
  • public library can offer to submit to school library blogs
• Wikis
  • school librarians are already using wikis; public librarians have some learning to do
  • any single project on a school wiki can be opened to a public library for collaboration (e.g., assignments, reference/research)
  • public libraries are based on numbers: cardholders, gate count, circulation stats, database hits, program attendance
    • watch those patron assistance numbers go up when the public librarians start helping the school find reliable Web resources!
    • if 5 students x 5 websites = 25 fence posts on that tally sheet!
  • public library can help with curriculum development (and be better prepared when students come in to work on homework and projects at the library)
• Podcasts
  • new teacher podcast talking about library resources for educators
  • quarterly podcast for school administration to tell share news of school/library partnerships
• YouTube
  • library can have a contest for schools to script and film a short movie for a “film fest”
  • all entries are screened at the library, kids vote, winner gets posted to YouTube
  • see Carleton Middle School Library Stop Motion
• Myspace
  • if the school blocks access to Myspace, invite the school to make a collaborative page with the library
• eFlyers
  • good for creating cross-promotional materials
  • libraries can promote school fund-raisers at the library and libraries can promote school resources in the schools
  • flyers can be turned into images for display as library computer wallpaper (and vice versa)

Resource sharing: How do we save money?

• Databases
  • taxpayers end up paying twice when resources are duplicated between schools and public library
  • library database access to cardholders (including students and teachers) allows schools to spend on other resources
  • work with vendors to set up fees based on schools and libraries as one entity that serves the same people
• Equipment
  • shared usage agreements for pricey resources such as digital cameras, video equipment, etc.
  • nonprint materials (digital downloads)
  • grants

Filed under: CIL2009, conference notes, librarians, libraries, marketing and outreach