A catalyst council is ...
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This document discusses the role of libraries in developing social capital within communities. It outlines different roles libraries can take, including being a community hub, catalyst, or facilitator, depending on the needs and existing infrastructure of the community. As community hubs, libraries help affluent communities organize themselves, while as catalysts they provide support to deprived communities. As facilitators, libraries help emerging communities build networks. The document also discusses how librarians can become active community leaders and provide programming to meet community needs. Finally, it notes that libraries must be learners to adapt to changing community circumstances and seize opportunities.
A catalyst council is ...
- 1. What it means to be a catalyst council – our journey so far 1 Grace Kempster Customer and Libraries Manager, Customers and Communities Luiza Morris-Warren Strategic Planning Officer, Business Improvement and Performance AB
- 2. The model 2 8 features;5 delineators;6 success factors AB
- 3. CATALYST • Climate setter • Acuity • Trust • Alliance builder • Letting go • You • Sustainability • Tapering 3 AB
- 4. Climate setter • Sets the conditions for facilitating communities to help themselves and each other • Sets the expectation of self reliance and the commonality of inventiveness and innovation • Sets the ambition of targetted deliberate intervention so the outcome is “they did it themselves” 4 AB
- 5. Acuity • “acuteness or clearness of vision” • Using deep insight and understanding to judge the required intervention • Knowing how far and how fast to go • Evidence based approach with clear intervention and expectation of outcome • Vital ingredient to retain close understanding and clear sightedness of the county’s communities 5 AB
- 6. Trust • Trusting people to come up with their own best solutions • Underlying belief in and respect for others • Faith in what people might become, their resilience and goodness • Trust as preferred organisational style 6 AB
- 7. • Brings together the right ingredients for success • Understand that all the elements in the right quantity and timing are needed for the chemical chain reaction to work • Demonstrates a wider connectedness and forges excellent and mature partnership working 7 Alliance builder AB
- 8. Letting go • Got to give up power to empower – and empowerment has to be accepted • Courage to see things as they could be not as they are • Underpinning long term view • Replacing professional superiority with creative insight and focussed intervention 8 AB
- 9. You • All public service effort seen as with you not done to you • Whole effort is on success – for you, your family, your community • Focus on your resilience, your latent talent • Involvement is a continuum that grows and deepens 9 AB
- 10. Sustainability • Builds in resilience and strength • Strong principles of self regulation • Timely intervention to re-start the reaction • Understanding the principles of oscillation in community life 10 AB
- 11. Tapering • Support and investment with the end in mind • Commitment to the tapering down of state and tapering up of communiities • Dealing with dependancy • Stopping well 11 AB
- 12. A catalyst council is NOT • Patronising • Our world not yours: focussed on itself rather than its impact • Words only: delays and give lip service to letting go in particular • Effortless or easy : recognises the role is not simplistic or naïve • Risk averse: rather risk managed and launch and learn approach 12AB
- 13. IMPACT critical success factors • Ingenuity – forges cunning alliances and connections • Moderator role is strong with deep listening and insights the success of others • Pace – excellence in the timing of interventions • Action oriented • Collaborative – ace at connections management • Tough on those who won’t let go 13 AB
- 14. We have challenges • Flexible working and creative thinking to meet financial restrictions • Ready to learn from others • Evaluating what works and what needs improving • Valuing everyone’s contribution • Putting our customers needs and aspirations at the forefront of all we do • Holding fast to the model 14AB
- 15. Libraries and communities What works? The role of libraries in developing social capital 15 AB
- 16. ‘Know your customers’ or ‘Know your community’? • A survey carried out by the Carnegie UK Trust shows that while 47% of respondents in England find libraries essential or very important to themselves, 74% consider them essential or very important to the community • How many people use the library and for what? • What does our community values, needs, aspires to, expects from a library service? • Community = individuals + infrastructure + social capital 16AB
- 17. Libraries and communities • Community involvement in libraries • independent community libraries • community managed libraries • community supported libraries • commissioned libraries • volunteers running/ supporting libraries • Libraries involvement in the community • provide the best possible service to the local community in an appropriate way, which shows an in-depth understanding of community make up and needs • different libraries for different communities 17AB
- 18. Libraries and social capital • Social Capital = the totality of networks, social interactions and opportunities for involvement which exist within a community, based on reciprocity and an interest in mutual development, and development of the socio-cultural and economic environment • Different things to different people • Takes different shapes in different communities • Library use is significantly associated with community involvement (University of Western Ontario, Canada) 18AB
- 19. Why are libraries ideally placed to develop social capital? -a safe and welcoming environment -trusted professionals -a ‘neutral’ setting (people don’t associate libraries with the local authority in the way they might do social services or highways services) -technological skills -people from different socio- economic backgrounds -customers of all ages -non-judgemental or discriminatory environment -wide range of information and activities attracting a wide variety of customers 19AB
- 20. The role of libraries 20 • affluent community, with high levels of social involvement and adequate infrastructure in place • the residents have the skills and time required to self-organise, identify and meet need • apt at organising themselves and putting in place the right measures to develop and maintain social capital Community hub • deprived communities, with high numbers of transient residents and low levels of involvement in charitable and volunteering activities, usually with inadequate or insufficiently exploited assets • set the scene and provide the practical support • heavily reliant on big organisations delivering services on behalf of the local authority, with little input in terms of developing skills and resilience Community catalyst • new and emerging communities • emerging networks and relationships in the absence of existing infrastructure, and significant opportunities for self-governance • more innovative approaches to networking and addressing needs, and they tend to take the shape of social media fora, created around need or interest, rather than location alone Community facilitator AB
- 21. The role of the librarian • ‘I believe community involvement is as much a competency for the library profession as literacy instruction or information retrieval’ • Become an active member –or even a leader– in your community (e.i., your arts community) • Long-term, being a leader in your arts community is the most efficient, rewarding, and all-around beneficial way for a librarian to position themselves to provide excellent programming services to their community (The ‘Library As Incubator Project’, USA - http://www.libraryasincubatorproject.org) 21AB
- 22. • village community • group of youths • intimidating, anti-social behaviour • reduced visits • reduced activities • circumstances change naturally • negative impact: segregation The library delivering change: • small town community • group of youths • disruptive, unsafe • risk of impact on visits and activities • Youth corner • problem as opportunity • positive impact: cohesion, participation, inclusion 22 The library affected by change: AB
- 23. 23 “In times of change, it is the learners who will inherit the earth, while the learned will find themselves beautifully equipped for a world that no longer exists. Libraries are for learners.” (Al Rogers – a pioneer of the use of computing in education, quoted in Learning from experience: guiding principles for local authorities, For Arts Council England and Local Government Association, January 2013) AB