Urban Library Initiative
At the June ACLPD meeting, members voted to approve the formation of an Urban Library Initiative Task Force to assess the needs of urban and urbanized libraries and provide access to tools and continuing education that reflect needs in their communities.
“CSL's top priority is to emphasize the role of libraries as anchor institutions within their
communities and to help librarians gain skills, knowledge, and resources in order to serve their
communities' needs. Building on the Aspen Report's themes of People and Place, CSL will help
public libraries cement their place as essential organizations that are central to the quality of life,
civic and cultural engagement and economic vitality in every municipality.”
“CSL will meet these goals through a combination of statewide services and programs, special
projects, and possible subgrants to libraries. Specific projects and activities may change in
response to state budget conditions and CSL's continual reassessment of library needs. As in
past years, CSL will continue to pilot and test new initiatives with libraries to determine through
data and feedback whether they will be useful to the statewide community. With limited
resources, CSL must conduct its due diligence and lay foundations before moving forward with
anything new.”
In the plan,
Goal 1
addresses the following needs identified in the needs assessment:
·
The library workforce benefits from ongoing training and professional support.
·
Librarians benefit from knowing how to develop and capitalize on community
partnerships in order to solidify their places as community anchors.
·
Librarians benefit from training, support, and tools for planning and assessment.
Goal 1.
Support the impact of libraries as community anchors with increased institutional
capacity, community partnerships, and programming focused on the seven literacies.
The formation of this Task Force is a key project to meet this LSTA 5 Yr Plan goal, and the activities the Task Force identifies, creates and implements will have a significant impact on urban library communities.
The first meeting of the Task Force will be scheduled for September.
