Library Partnerships: Making Connections between School and Public Libraries

Citation

Yeates, R. (2009), "Library Partnerships: Making Connections between School and Public Libraries", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 43 No. 3, pp. 343-344. https://doi.org/10.1108/00330330910978635

Why is it that bottom‐up approaches to collaboration between library organisations so often go “bottoms up” (that is, fail)? Surely not just because a school class ran riot in the public library once; or because a public librarian was ridiculed while making a first attempt to talk to a class in school about books and the enjoyment of reading. One reason might be youthful triumph of enthusiasm over experience. Another might be an unrealistic strategy by those involved in making the overtures to libraries that are seen as potential partners. This succinct guide to partnerships between school and public libraries addresses both these problems.

The author started her career working with young adults in public libraries, but has trained to become a school library media specialist. Tasha Squires brings her authentic experience and a pragmatic approach to the wider question of how best to make connections between school and public libraries (and vice versa).

There are ten chapters of similar lengths, starting with “Relationships take work” and then outlining “Partnership basics” before proceeding to greater detail in a series covering timing, the scope of projects, use of technology and how to deal with people in various situations. The first chapter, for example, covers how to identify a partner and establish a connection, through to advice on rejection and how to maintain contacts. This advice should be useful to new professionals well beyond the book's scope of school and public libraries. Inspiration often comes from details that indicate experience yet to be gained by the reader: here we have a revealing list of questions to ask each other to identify partnership needs.

Most authors of this type of book might gather a set of case studies and report them in detail, perhaps leaving the overview and conclusions until the end. In that case, readers can be confused by a lack of consistency, order and direction to the argument. Here, however, Squires has refreshingly thought a great deal about the lessons to be drawn from her experience, and how best to impart them in a logical sequence. As a consequence, the messages are very clear and included checklists and personal testimonies which seem to add value at the appropriate times.

Evidence may not be convincing for outsiders, but should be inspirational for trainees and new practitioners. The simple but effective ideas for promotion, keeping in touch with partners, handing over arrangements when you leave your post and making use of blogs, e‐mail, home‐produced videos and public library stock have been tried and tested, and there are some useful tips attached here that may encourage adoption or discourage take‐up if that is inappropriate locally. The candid and frequent acknowledgements here that not everything will work or needs to should be reassuring. The overall message is certainly that experiment, recording of results and review are important. Readers are also wisely encouraged to share opinions and challenges with colleagues.

This book would make a good quick read for any aspiring public library senior staff as well as providing a more in‐depth manual for those working with children and young adults. Why does interlibrary co‐operation and collaboration activity beyond basic interlibrary loans so often seem to be an afterthought or peripheral to mainstream policies? Perhaps this is because the benefits are social, often geared to assisting specific targeted communities, whereas the associated effort is so often dependant on individuals. That is why the practical approaches outlined here have been proven to work better than grand strategy and overarching corporate policies in this field.

Well‐executed small steps to interlibrary collaboration tend to lead to well‐founded successes, whereas top‐down major initiatives risk becoming mere temporary fads or even infamous failures. But that is no excuse for obstruction and lack of encouragement from management staff, who should be aware of the benefits, opportunities, sense of wider purpose and even the possible magic presented here.

The work is US based (including all the recommended reading), reducing value in the UK in some ways. UK readers will miss a discussion of formal school library services and their decline in the UK, but the practical advice and inspiration should be just as relevant everywhere.