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Community

Overview

Belonging recognizes our commitment to and support of something larger than ourselves. We identify and recognize shared values, traditions, goals, and aspirations. Belonging requires transparency, accountability, participation, and collaboration. We feel welcomed, known, included, supported, and connected when we belong to a community.

Public libraries can play a key role in fostering belonging through: 

  • Asset Based Community Development
  • Community Analysis 
  • Strategic Planning
  • Advocacy & Storytelling
  • Partnerships & Collaboration
  • Programming
  • Outreach

 

Why it Matters

Belonging strengthens the social fabric, creating responsive and resilient communities. In 2023, the Surgeon General of the US released a report about a new public health crisis: the epidemic of loneliness and isolation, which results in people feeling isolated, invisible, and insignificant. Small and rural libraries serve populations facing both geographic and social isolation. Public libraries are community anchors, serving as community convenors and creating opportunities for connection and a culture of belonging.

As integral Third Places – informal spaces where random and intentional in-person relationships occur – public libraries have a role in creating culturally responsive programming and partnerships to encourage relationship-driven trust building.

Libraries, as part of the socio-ecosystem, support democracy and democratic practices, which may involve convening and facilitating difficult conversations. As Nancy Kranich, a librarian at Rutgers University, writes in Libraries & Democracy: The Cornerstones of Liberty:

"An informed public constitutes the foundation of democracy; after all, democracies are about discourse among the people. If a free society is to survive, it must ensure the preservation of its records and provide free and open access to this information to all of its citizens. It must ensure that citizens have the resources to develop the information literacy skills necessary to participate in the democratic process. It must allow unfettered dialogue and guarantee freedom of expression."

The National Issues Forums have created Asking Intentional Questions to Provoke Deliberation to help spark a conversation.

Foundation

Use the Pathways Tracking Document to document your learning journey.

Here are some exercises to help get you started:

Community: Each person defines community. Pairs come up with different definitions, but as a group, they create one encompassing definition of community. 

Common Ground Activity - In a group, you have to find 5 common things among everyone. Could be a hobby enjoyed, a restaurant all have visited. How long did it take to find common ground? How to scale that up to working with patrons? 

Alphabet Photo Challenge - While walking through the town/ neighborhood/ city of the library, individuals or teams have to find something that starts with every letter of the alphabet.  Discussion after a given time of observations, stores, and people encountered. 

ALA’s Ask Activity