Public Libraries Seminar Discussion #4: Adult Services
17 September 2024
De la Pena McCook and Bossaller (2017) open their adult services chapter by stating, “The value of public libraries is measured by many services beyond distribution of print materials” (p. 257). This is clearly the case as libraries offer more and more services that are more book adjacent than book focused, in an effort to provide services that expand on the social role in “helping adults survive, flourish, and create” (p. 258). With this in mind, libraries strive to meet the needs of every patron. Our research focus was on adults with the following special needs: neurodivergent, senior adults, adult learners, unhoused adults, and immigrants/refugees/asylum seekers. We found quite a bit of research that focused on children within these special groups, but we feel it is important to remember that the adult population may want to retain the same access they had as children as they grow up.
ALA developed a list of special needs and underserved populations. While not fully comprehensive, it is a good place to start when identifying those who may need special attention in your library. Despite the best intentions of all involved, we discovered that several ALA resources that are already outdated though they date as recently as 2017. The special needs groups are listed, but the links lead to error pages. The pages referencing immigrants and asylum seekers have a few current resource links, though other links lead to nowhere. This speaks to how quickly information can become outdated, and how relevant the information we’re seeking remains.
While special groups need easily identifiable services, it is important to remember that these groups are just adults who desire the same access as any other groups of adults. This does not necessarily mean that special groups need special services offered more often, but rather they need to be able to access the library just as easily as anyone else. It may be a simple matter of ensuring that there are translations, signage, ramps or large print or braille books available. Through these simple steps, an answer for adult programming may make itself apparent.
Our text concludes with this statement: “Sometimes it is assistance with the technology we offer at the library…But often it’s more involved…E-government has landed squarely in the library’s lap, and we’re finding that citizens regularly need help utilizing government sites” (de la Pena McCook & Bossaller, 2017, p. 281).
After going through the annotated bibliography, answer the following questions:
• What are some services your local library offers to adults? Does your library offer adult programming at all?
• Brainstorm some additional services or special event programming that you would like your local library to offer to one of the special groups we’ve mentioned here. Have fun with it!
When it comes to CRRL's adult programming offerings, there is definitely a diverse array of events to attend. Going off the first page at the time of writing, filtered down to the four major branches in the system, we have: three different art shows, a therapy dog session, a mahjong club meeting, two ESL/ELL classes, a Spanish conversation group, a queer book group, a knitting group, a general-interest art group, and a plant clinic (Central Rappahannock Regional Library, n.d.). Very much a book-adjacent-over-book-focused, "flourish and create" selection, but nothing too unexpected, I think.
Regular adult services are about the same as any other moderately large library: computers, printing and copying and faxing, research assistance, notary publics, a local history and genealogy center. Thanks to beneficial arrangements from our Friends of the Library foundation and some government funding, printing, copying, and notary services are completely free, along with free (rapid antigen) COVID tests distributed by the circulation department at every branch to boot. Suffice to say, these services are tangibly used by every facet of CRRL's population, be they young, old, queer, an ethnic minority, or homeless. Of course, since nothing that isn't deliberately targeted is explicitly designed for minorities, the actual reach and word-of-mouth knowledge about these services are limited.
Implied structural barriers aside, all the aforementioned groups and those listed in the discussion are freely able to move about and visit the library to access CRRL's services, save one: the incarcerated. If the impediments to other groups range from too-tall staircases to head-high fences, then incarcerated people are walled in by a barbed wire fence that is more than just metaphorical. A simple web search can pull up a bevy of authoritative sources discussing how illiteracy is an epidemic among the prison population; though I recommend Sainato's (2017) and Pate's (2022) articles for the unfamiliar.
Prison literacy is an that has long been known and addressed by public library systems with the wherewithal to do so—as linked in the ALA's resource page (American Library Association, 2020), the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) has a whole Jail and Reentry Services department, providing free access to eResources, mail reference services, and an in-person library service each week (San Francisco Public Library, n.d.). With less than half of a population and not nearly as much cultural or financial capital, CRRL almost certainly does not have the resources to get any of these off the ground without at least very generous grant. But, if we were given the opportunity and funding to try, I would love to see CRRL try something like a Prison Books Program (n.d.) that's based in the region. According to the SFPL's map of library services provided to prisons, there are three books to prisoner programs running in Virginia, along with one in Washington DC. The Friends of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Madison, located in Charlottesville, seems to be the main driver of these efforts, delivering books to prison around the state without any trouble (Friends of the Jefferson Madison Regional Library, n.d.). A localized entity, though, would be able to get very specific about what information needs incarcerated population in the Rappahannock region have, and easier access to filling those needs.
References
American Library Association. (2020, October 19). Library Services to the Justice Involved (LSJI). Retrieved September 17, 2024, from: https://www.ala.org/advocacy/diversity/services-incarcerated
Central Rappahannock Regional Library. (n.d.). Events. Retrieved September 17, 2024, from: https://librarypoint.bibliocommons.com/v2/events
Friends of the Jefferson Madison Regional Library. (n.d.). Friends of JMRL. Retrieved September 17, 2024, from: https://jmrlfriends.org/
Pate, N. (2022, July 18). The path to prison is often paved by illiteracy. Yet many prisoners aren’t being taught to read. USA Today. https://tangent.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/education/2022/07/18/literacy-issues-prisoners-need-reading-help/10029749002/
Prison Books Program (n.d.). Mission. Retrieved September 17, 2024, from: https://prisonbookprogram.org/about/mission/
Sainato, M. (2017, July 18). US prison system plagued by high illiteracy rates. Observer. https://observer.com/2017/07/prison-illiteracy-criminal-justice-reform/
San Francisco Public Library. (n.d.). Jail and Reentry Services (JARS). Retrieved September 17, 2024, from: https://sfpl.org/services/jail-and-reentry-services