User Services and Programming Discussion #5: Community Partnerships
26 March 2025
You lead a library program or service. You'd like to find some organizations from the community to partner with in order to have a larger impact.
How does the goal of the program effect who you'd consider? How about what each party wants out of the partnership?
What kind of conversation might you have with an organization to determine if they will make a good partner? What kinds of things would you look for in a community partnership?
Considering both of my suggestions in the idea generator, both a book club and an educational class would both be vested with the unsaid, yet implied goal of becoming indefinitely-occurring staples of a library's offerings. In the former's case, unless there's a super-tight premium on space or time or resources, I'd figure there's little-to-no need to seek out any new partnerships beyond adding it to the litany of promotion that'd already be done at the local high school that the library's been working with forever.
But in the latter's case, an informational class based around what is relatively specialized knowledge in digital literacy, is one that will take a lot of serious decision-making to even get up and running. I'd doubt the libraries that need this kind of program the most would have half the in-house resources afforded to traditional literacy programs (which probably isn't much in the first place). A single session would require a space large enough to accommodate up to 20 or so people, and, for the most comprehensive learning experience, enough computers and peripherals for each participant, likely with staple software such as Microsoft Office installed as well. Dunno what public library has something like that on hand without taking some of its floating laptops out of circulation.
A service like this isn't getting done without partnering with an outside organization with plenty of technology to provide, and given the increased funding coming along with the ballooning population in the region, there are bound to be a few out there. As guidance such as YALSA's Partnering to Increase Your Impact (Bohn et al., 2017), has emphasized, there are dozens of capacities to consider for potential partner and the library itself to ensure a mutually beneficial relationship. What can a potential partner provide for the library, and vice versa? Would the program created by the partnership benefit or appeal to just the audience of one organization, or both? Is there already an existing alignment between existing needs, as described by Giangregorio (p. 8)?
CRRL is fortunate enough in the latter regard to have a past partnership with an organization that would likely take little to restart: in 2018, the system provided services at a campus ran by the local Germanna Community College, which lasted just before the location was closed early last year (2024). Both institutions are designed to reduce barriers to access of their resources, both institutions profess their commitment to quality education as part of their mission and vision (CRRL, n.d.; Germanna Community College, n.d.)—yet only one is devoted to providing its services at no cost to its audience. As much as their missions might align, the fact that Germanna's primary objective is maintaining and/or increasing to cover its operating costs would undoubtedly affect the outcomes for the library or its participants. At minimum, any discussion would have to mitigate any costs that might fall on a budget that has little to spare.
References
Bohn, R., Burton, D., Dawson, M., Moffett, B., Schuldner, D., Stea, B., & Strock, A. (2017). Partnering to increase your impact. Young Adult Library Association. https://www.ala.org/sites/default/files/yalsa/content/170508-yalsa-partnering-to-increase-your-impact-toolkit-print_0.pdf
Central Rappahannock Regional Library. (n.d.). Strategic plan. Retrieved March 26, 2025, from: https://www.librarypoint.org/strategic-plan/
Central Rappahannock Regional Library. (2024, March 11). Director's written report: Illustrating elements of CRRL's strategic plan. https://www.librarypoint.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/03/Consent-Agenda-2-Directors-Written-Report-March-11-2024.pdf
Germanna Community College. (n.d.). About Germanna. Retrieved March 26, 2025, from: https://germanna.edu/about-germanna