How do you make your library the hub of the community? On this show Lacey Sudderth, Assistant Manager at McAlester Public Library in Oklahoma, talks about how to engage in relationships across our communities to create broad connections and involvement that can truly make our libraries the hub of the community.
Recommended leadership book by Lacey: Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
Transcript
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Adriane Herrick Juarez:
This is Adriane Juarez. You’re listening to Library Leadership Podcast where we talk about libraries and leadership, and speak with guests who share their ideas, innovations, and strategic insights in the profession.
How do you make your library the hub of the community? On this show Lacey Sudderth, Assistant Manager at McAlester Public Library in Oklahoma, talks about how to engage in relationships across our communities to create broad connections and involvement that can truly make our libraries the hub of the community. Enjoy the show!
Lacey. Welcome to the show.
Lacey Sudderth:
Hi. Thank you so much for having me.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #1: You’re welcome. Thank you for being here. Today we are talking about making your library the hub of the community. You say that libraries are more than just buildings filled with books. They are dynamic community hubs that thrive on engagement. Will you please share about this? 01:19
Lacey Sudderth:
Throughout the year, here at our library in McAlester, Oklahoma, we always keep an eye out for local community events to set up an information booth. Most events usually allow nonprofits, such as libraries, the opportunity to set up these booths free of charge, and it’s a great way to reach out to people in your community.
Be sure to bring your program calendars, informational bookmarks, and any other promotional material you may have, because this is a great way to not only get the word out about your library services, but also to invite other event attendees to be a guest at your library.
By inviting community members to be a guest, you can offer diverse programming. This may include author talks, beekeeping or gardening workshops, arts and crafts sessions, story hour for children, book clubs, technology classes and more. Speaking of technology, many libraries now offer access to technology resources such as computers, Wi-Fi, and makerspaces. They provide opportunities for digital literacy training, coding classes, and access to emerging technologies like 3D printers and virtual reality equipment. Maybe you don’t know all the details of these things, but other people in your community may be experts. Maybe not even experts—just a technology enthusiast. You can invite them to your library to host a workshop.
Libraries can serve also as venues for cultural and arts events, such as showcasing local artists, musicians and performers. Here at McAlester, we have hosted community art shows that’ve been very successful as well as poetry night. These poetry nights were so successful, in fact, that they’ve started their own poetry club, and that pretty much runs itself. We just provide space. Libraries already offer a wealth of resources and services to meet the diverse needs of their communities, but by including your own community members as program hosts, your libraries can truly flourish.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #2: That definitely shows that you’re making your library the hub of the community. And I know in doing this, you create partnerships and collaborations that make it happen. What does that involve? 03:48
Lacey Sudderth:
Your library should really identify potential partners within your own communities. These can include local businesses, schools, government agencies, other nonprofit organizations, cultural institutions, and other community groups. These partners should align with the library’s mission and goals, and their resources and expertise can complement the services and programs you already offer at your library.
Here at McAlester, we are in the Choctaw Nation, and therefore we have reached out to the Choctaw Nation Historic Preservation Department to host programs such as Choctaw Code Talkers. We’ve also reached out to the Pittsburg County Genealogical and Historical Society to speak about local history, and that’s just giving you some ideas. You can just look around your community and see what kind of connections you can make, and therefore you can ask them to come. They came to our library because we asked.
Establishing these strong relationships with potential partners is essential in building trust and rapport, which lays the foundation for a successful collaboration. Libraries and their partners should identify shared goals and objectives that they can work on together. These may include promoting literacy, supporting education, fostering community engagement, addressing social issues, or enhancing cultural enrichment. By aligning these efforts, libraries and their partners can maximize their impact and create mutually beneficial outcomes.
Partnerships involving shared resources, expertise, and knowledge–libraries can provide access to their facilities. If somebody just needs a space to talk about Beekeeping 101, you can offer them that space free of charge. You can offer them your book collection. Maybe you have books about beekeeping, you can provide those as a resource for their audience. You can provide your staff’s expertise.
While partners may contribute the funding, volunteers, specialized skills or access to their own networks—by pooling these resources and expertise together, libraries and their partners can achieve more together than they ever could individually. So, in essence, by fostering meaningful partnerships and collaborations, libraries can extend their reach, enhance their impact, and truly become integral hubs of their communities.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #3: I like what you’re saying about formulating these relationships by asking others to be involved. In addition, what library outreach work have you engaged in as your hub of the community? 06:38
Lacey Sudderth:
One of the most fun outreach activities that comes to mind is recently our library manager, Heath Stanfield, and I reached out to a local coffeehouse here in McAlester called Spaceship Earth Coffee. We asked if we could host a literary trivia night and it was a great success. Over seventy-five people attended. In between each trivia round, Heath and I got to have the microphone to talk about our library services.
We handed out all of our calendars, encouraged everyone to get library cards—thought it was important to find the most popular spot in our community, and just ask if we could be a guest out there in the world. Heath likes to say we’re bringing the library out of the stacks and into the world. I thought that was one of the most fun outreach events we’ve done, because having the support of this local coffee shop brings people into the library that may not have come in before.
I’ve also attended local kids’ fairs. I serve on several community boards, and I volunteer a lot of my time to a local city cleanup effort. I just love to be involved as much as possible in my community, and talking about library services is probably my most favorite thing to do.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #4: Out of the stacks and into the world. When you do this, how do you leverage local media support to raise awareness about these efforts? 08:13
Lacey Sudderth:
Leveraging local media support is a very effective way for libraries to raise awareness about their efforts and reach a broader audience. We have been in the newspaper countless times now, just because we’ve reached out and let them know we had an event. They’re always looking for stories and trust me, they want to hear from you.
Some things we’ve informed the local paper about is how to get a library card, letting them know we had volunteers available to help them with their taxes. We’ve also reached out about our new StoryWalk that we recently installed. They not only wrote an article about it, but came out to the park, took photos, and interviewed us for a very nice article. We have built such a good relationship with our local paper. They wrote an editorial piece called, Citizens Should Support the Library.
Libraries can craft press releases and media kits to announce these upcoming events, new programs or initiatives. These materials should highlight the impact of the library’s activities and provide key information for journalists such as event details, quotes from library staff or community members, and also include high resolution images. Libraries can offer ideas to local journalists to generate interest in their programs and initiatives. These could include unique events, partnerships with community organizations, or just trends in library services.
Having a good relationship with local media is very important—one of the steps I think people forget. But, there’s still a lot of library patrons that read the paper, the news, and it also serves as a sort of library history. I know I love to find old articles from previous years. So, never forget about your local paper. They are still relevant.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #5: And you’ve mentioned that small business partnerships are integral to making our libraries the hub of the community. Can you talk some more about this? 10:16
Lacey Sudderth:
Small businesses are integral parts of the community and can be valuable for libraries. Partnering with small businesses can provide additional resources, funding and promotional opportunities. Last year we began a program called Small Business Lunch and Learn, where we invited local businesses in our community to talk about how they got started, while we simultaneously promoted our new entrepreneurial training course, which is available on our website.
It proved to be very successful and helped us build many relationships with small business owners, such as Spaceship Earth Coffee House, who I mentioned earlier. We’ve invited a variety of groups such as the Southern Workforce Board, the Choctaw Nation Small Business Advisors, local restaurant owners, and more. We have built such good relationships that one local business owner even donated all of their prom dresses to us for our library system’s promo bill. So never underestimate the value of partnering with a small business.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #6: Lacey, do you have any advice for librarians who may just be getting started in this kind of work? 11:29
Lacey Sudderth:
I would say to take the time to listen to the needs, interests, and concerns of your community members. Engage in conversations with your patrons, community leaders, educators, and local organizations to understand their priorities and how the library can best serve them. Cultivate relationships with members and nonprofit organizations to establish trust. Rapport is essential for effective outreach. Attend community events. Participate in local meetings. Collaborate with other organizations to help build connections and networking. Familiarize yourself with resources, services, and programs offered by your library and be prepared to share that information and all of that with the community members.
Begin with the small scale outreach effort and gradually expand your outreach activities as you gain experience and confidence. Focus on building relationships, establishing trust, and making meaningful connections with community members, and celebrate your successes—and learn from your challenges along the way.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #7: Thank you. Is there anything else you would like to share? 12:48
Lacey Sudderth:
I did want to say if anyone listening today needs further guidance or questions about any of the things that we’ve talked about today, I’m available through my email address, which is lacey.sudderth@seolibraries. Or you can reach me at McAlester Public Library on the telephone at (918) 426-0930.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
That’s kind of you, Lacey.
Lacey Sudderth:
Yes. I’m always willing to help others be as successful as they can.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #8: Do you have any favorite management or leadership books or resources, and why? 13:30
Lacey Sudderth:
I would highly recommend Leaders Eat Last, by Simon Sinek. This book explores the principles of leadership and the importance of creating a culture of trust, collaboration, and support within organizations. He emphasizes the role of leaders in nurturing a sense of belonging and safety among their team members.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #9: In closing, what do libraries mean to you personally? 14:01
Lacey Sudderth:
As for what libraries mean to me personally, I would say they represent more than just a repository of knowledge and information, but they embody the spirit of curiosity, exploration, and lifelong learning. To me, libraries symbolize the transformative power of education, the importance of access to information, and of course, the value of community engagement.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
What you’ve shared today with our listeners gives meaningful connections in libraries to make us the hubs of our communities, so I’m grateful we got to talk about this today, Lacey. Thank you so much.
Lacey Sudderth:
Thank you so much. It’s been wonderful.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
You’ve been listening to Library Leadership podcast. This is Adriane Herrick Juarez. For more episodes, tune in to Library Leadership Podcast.com, where you can now subscribe to get episodes delivered right to your email inbox. Our producer is Nathan Sinclair Vineyard. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next time.
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