Building a Library Outreach Program Through Community Engagement

Abstract

In its simplest form, community engagement is a process whereby an organization works with the groups and individuals it serves to transform a shared vision into actions that ultimately benefit them. This chapter presents a framework to assist library managers and administrators in reimagining their outreach efforts from a community engagement perspective where users actively shape their shared experiences with the library. Although there are resources that discuss how libraries can structure these initiatives through the ACRL Library Marketing and Outreach Interest Group, the Public Library Association, and publications such as Marketing Libraries Journal, some of the literature surrounding community-based work is not as directly tied to outreach. By reading this chapter, libraries will find information related to defining their role within their communities, outlining strategies for collaboration, conducting needs assessment, gap analysis, asset mapping, and identifying a variety of outreach activities and their accompanying assessment strategies.

Citation

Ippoliti, C. (2022), "Building a Library Outreach Program Through Community Engagement", Crowe, K.M. and Hélouvry, J. (Ed.) Building Community Engagement and Outreach in Libraries (Advances in Library Administration and Organization, Vol. 43), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 33-47. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0732-067120220000043002