Subject area: How libraries can respond to loneliness and isolation

Format: Webinar 

Length: 1 hour

Audience: library professionals

Organisers: WebJunction

Presenters: Brooke Doyle (Senior Project Coordinator, OCLC) and Jennifer Peterson (WebJunction Community Manager, OCLC)

 

Reflection:

The objectives of this webinar were to better understand the global epidemic of loneliness and social isolation and the role that libraries play in responding to this health crisis. As an aspiring public librarian, I see public library’s as already embodying the ethic of empowering communities and fostering community belonging in their mission and being uniquely positioned for continuously finding more accessible programs and services that create creative and educational opportunities to connect with others.

The webinar provided a framework for social isolation and loneliness that situates the problem as being rooted in community’s design, social norms and systemic injustices. This framework allows professionals to challenge and reduce the stigmas and hyper-individualism that often place the onus of social isolation on individuals. Some initiatives being employed by Australian libraries in Victoria include a strategic plan to address loneliness, staff training programs, and deep research to illustrate the impact of public libraries on community health and wellbeing. Author Priya Parker who writes extensively on how organisations and communities can deepen social connections highlights that all programming aimed at communities should have a strong and well considered purpose. The ‘why’ of why we gather can ensure the right execution and planning around programs to achieve desired outcomes. For example, a storytime that places equal importance on parents building rapport with each other can indicate strategies to foster parental interactions and less emphasis on children paying attention to the story.

The learnings I gained from this webinar were valuable as it offered a plethora of creative ideas around library programming that have emotional resonance and provide frequent high-quality opportunities to connect with community, in trusted safe, welcoming, and genuinely inclusive spaces. These included death cafes and how to promote this program in a welcoming manner, self-directed community engagement that puts forward questions for the community to work through themselves, and ideas for intergenerational programs such as collaborative colouring. The webinar made me better understand public libraries as natural places for social connections where the creative possibilities to offer people these deeper opportunities for connection are endless.