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Unit 6: Public Libraries

The idea of building public will is more than just better promotion or communication, but Notes
getting people to see the library as a vital resource and then to act on that idea, to turn
belief into action. Building public will means using both grass roots and mass media tools
that connect people to issues through their own values, rather than trying to change those
values. Changes in attitudes eventually lead to changes in actions. Public will is achieved
through focus on an issue that leads to the formation of new or different expectations on
the part of the community. Libraries are usually worried about short-term day-to-day
operational issues, and therefore try to change the public opinion in the short term as
well. In contrast, public will based strategies focus on long-term change built over time by
engaging broad-based grass-roots support to influence individual, institutional, and social
change. There are five steps to building public will: framing the problem; building
awareness; sharing information; creating personal conviction; and evaluate and reinforce.
Building public will leads to long term and sustainable change, creating expectations that
libraries are necessary for flourishing communities. There is a vague unstated or assumed
purpose in this process: to connect what the library does to that to what the community
values so the community sees that the library is important. A purpose for the library, but
that well-funded and well-liked libraries are a part of the community in which they are
located, not only by providing resources and by services for residents, but by responding
in times of need, keeping records of community events and participating in community
celebrations. Again a library that has a community focus insures its survival but there is
no explicit connection drawn as to the purpose of role the library play in the community.
2. Values as Library Purpose: Libraries provide support in learning English, which allows
immigrants access to library programs and services as well as support for future education
and employment goals. Community language literacy provides the opportunity to
participate globally, to forge and reinforce connections and to support self-esteem. Even
though libraries and librarians play in granting access, this is not a purpose, but a value
that would support a purpose. Access for all applies to many roles or purposes that libraries
might choose, as the purpose would determine what they were able to access. The
transparent library practices open communication, both listening and talking, providing
multiple opportunities for communication in a variety of ways. The transparent library
scans its environment, looking for the next trend because responding to trends can lead to
innovation and improvement.
3. Library Services as Library Purpose: The future lies in providing new materials in new
formats and providing new services. New materials in new formats present challenges to
improving user access to those materials and formats. In fact, the user often turns to
Google or Yahoo! assuming equal quality rather than to the library’s databases because
the search engines are more user-friendly. Traditional library services such as face-to-face
reference and ready reference have been in decline. Users only consult the reference
librarian after trying unsuccessfully on their own to find the information on the Internet.
Librarians must then seek out new users in new ways, expand the library services and
ways they provide them.

Notes The future of reference is best summed up as high tech and high touch. Libraries
will continue to upgrade technology to serve their users better. They will also continue to
develop personalized services for each and every user, whether that user asks for service
face-to-face at the reference desk, by telephone, by e-mail, or by chat. Again, perhaps not
a purpose, but goals and objectives that libraries should aim for, in this case, in the name
of utilizing technology to provide different and better services for users, implying that as
long as that is happening, the library is here to stay.

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