Wrapping-up

Joe McPeake reprised the earlier discussion about the importance of partnering with a leading agency in the city to provide better services to the homeless clients at Philadelphia Free Library, and the importance of seeing them as part of the library's mission, rather than a specific problem that needed to be resolved.

He's going around the room asking for attendees responses to the day.

A number of attendees are speaking about how some of the discussions today have crystallized their experiences from the library closing protests of last year, especially the need to make sure that the groups which came out of the woodwork and made sure the libraries stayed open are recognized and valued by the libraries, and that they continue to stay connected to these groups. Several people I spoke to today talked about how they didn't even know the people who were their greatest advocates- and in fact weren't even sure that they were library users! They are going to make sure that the relationship is nurtured. This level of community capital might not come along again in a lifetime.

Many were impressed by the keynote speaker's evidence-based claim concerning the positive effect of libraries as an asset that directly contributes to building a healthy community. Especially the finding that the assets were merely cumulative within a community- that is that even if there was poor family structure, bad education assets, etc. as long as their were a high number of other assets, a community could still be strong and negative behaviours could still be reduced. The study showed that no particular asset was any more important than another, it was the simple number that made the difference.

Importance of making sure to develop some sort of enthusiasm for the kind of subjects that patrons, especially youth, are looking for resources in- staff need to stay aware of what is going on- or at the very least should stay open-minded and display interest.

Remembering the importance of the negative impact that a single experience of library use can have for young patrons or first-time users. One of the morning panelists recounted her experience as a young person visiting a non-segregated library for the first time. The librarian was dismissive of her presence, so she stayed away for 12 years and that experience has been instrumental in her practice as a librarian since she joined the profession. Library staff can be one of the very few adults that young patrons speak to outside of their own families and teachers, and can have a tremendous impact.