Public Libraries Victoria Children’s and Youth Services Special Interest Group Seminar Mapping your community: outreach, in-reach, and uncovering partnership opportunities
I attended the 7-hour Mapping your Community Seminar, organised by Public Libraries Victoria, for a chance to see what programs other library services have been involved in and to engage in discussions with other library professionals about their STEAM and outreach programs. Community engagement, partnerships and outreach are a huge part of my Digital Literacy work so gaining any new information or ideas in this area is always of great use.
Nine speakers from different library services presented on different programs they had run at their libraries. Many involved partnerships with businesses or educational institutions.
It was interesting to hear about the many partnerships that other library services have been able to utilise and have seen benefits from. Particularly, for me, the partnerships formed between libraries and higher education institutions seemed like they provided new avenues for partnerships that my organisation had yet to explore. It was also nice to hear that many other libraries face the same or similar challenges and barriers that we face and be able to gain some ideas for how they could be overcome.
There was also a fascinating presentation from Abdi Aden, Libraries Change Lives Ambassador, who spoke about his life and what the library has meant for him and other young people he has worked with. He has quite an incredible story and is an excellent speaker and advocate for libraries.
Finally, there were round table discussions on community engagement, partnerships and STEAM programs. It was great to learn more about programs and partnerships other library organisations have been involved in and to hear the barriers particularly around school engagement and the difficulty connecting with schools and older school children and how different library services have approached this.
By the end of the seminar, I felt as though I had somewhat of an information overload but it was an informative and interesting day that helped to emphasise the value of the outreach work we do and I went away with greater knowledge to be able to advocate for libraries and outreach. The seminar also provided encouragement to seek out more partnerships and outreach opportunities.
Since this seminar Eastern Regional Libraries and the Digital Literacy Team have connected with the Yarra Ranges Tech School and partnered with them on a number of events, we continue to value this partnership and hope to work on more events and programs with them in the future. I was also able to use a connection made at this seminar with one of the neighbouring library coordinators to attempt a joint competition for International Games Day.