How can you engage and empower your community as a librarian?

In my experience, getting to know the parents and caregivers on a personal level is important. It’s that connection that can help you know and understand the community you serve.

People support that which they create. Giving your community a voice in how the library operates in service to them, will increase their investment in the success of your programs and initiatives.

A core element in understanding the needs of your community begins with reorienting your thinking about the community itself. Moving away from a deficit perspective and towards an asset perspective can help you discover underutilized assets and untapped potential that sometimes lie dormant or ignored in a community. Engaging in such a process moves you away from asking question that are centered on needs and towards questions such as "what can I celebrate and build on?" which can lead to unleashing powerful new opportunities to explore.

As a Librarian, first of all you need to understand your culture each country is different from another, so choosing books are not easy at all , and you have to understand their needs and which topic they love to read about it, despite all the technology around us you will never feel the pleasure of reading a book online rather than in your hand

By creating a welcoming environment, developing community programs, offering diverse resources, embracing digital outreach, and collaborating with various stakeholders, you can ensure a vibrant and empowered community. The impact of an engaged and empowered community goes beyond the walls of your library, creating a positive ripple effect on the overall well-being and development of the society you serve.

libraries and librarians play a pivotal role in the lives of the community they serve, by engaging and profiling the user community, a librarian will be able to pinpoint the needs of the user and provide targeted dissemination of information. sometimes it is prudential to go out of the norm to meet community needs. create an environment of inclusivity in service delivery and make the library that safe space your users crave

Providing diverse and inclusive services as a librarian in the Peruvian jungle means adapting to diverse local cultures and languages, offering materials in languages such as Yanesha, Ashaninka, and Nomatsigenga, and celebrating cultural richness. It is also essential to promote education and digital inclusion, considering geographic and transportation conditions. Collaboration with local organizations and constant feedback are key to meeting the changing needs of the community and making the library accessible to all.

My experience as a long-serving librarian is that, the?library settings have evolved from places of silent reading to places of learning exploration. Libraries have evolved from a storehouse of books to a one-stop shop where citizens may access information and stimulate learning, becoming information hubs that supply material in both print and nonprint formats and facilitate knowledge transfer. Our goal is to make the library a place of empowerment and inclusion. Libraries serve as equalizers, ensuring that no one in the community falls behind. Citizens learn abilities that are not taught in traditional education. In this aspect, innovation is crucial in knowledge diffusion.

In my experience, the best way to encourage is to always have contact with the users since this creates a more stable relationship with the user and can be more flexible when it comes to making them understand how the new technologies that help the library work. virtual, virtual books, etc.

In a previous part of this article, I mentioned the importance of developing an asset-based lens by which you view your community. One wonderful benefit that I've seen with this approach is a shift in mindset of the community away from a solely transactional view of the library ("a place where I go to get") towards a more relational view of the library ("a place where I can also go to give"). This opened up the opportunity to explore oral storytelling festivals and community-driven "share-a-thons" where the community co-organized the events and the library was simply the host.

From my perspective, fostering learning and creativity as a librarian is a crucial step in empowering the community. Libraries play a vital role in stimulating curiosity, critical thinking and the acquisition of new knowledge. By providing an environment that promotes learning and offers varied resources, libraries become centers of empowerment. Additionally, by facilitating creativity through activities such as workshops, writing clubs, or access to technology, it encourages users to express themselves and develop new skills.

To have true community, you need to have a forum for patrons and stakeholders to connect with you, the library and each other. This is where the magic can happen if you're open to feedback and making space for community members to champion initiatives they've helped to create.

Effective and regular communication with users through various channels such as social networks, newsletters and blogs is key to understanding their needs. Involving the community in decision-making and planning shows that their opinions are valued. These connections strengthen the library and make it more relevant to the community, allowing for better response to changing user demands.

As a systems engineer and librarian, the work of advocating for the library and the profession is essential in the context of a university library. My background in technology allows me to implement advanced digital systems and resources to improve access to information and user experience. By demonstrating the value of these services and their impact on the academic community, I can help ensure the support and resources necessary for the library's growth and excellence. Additionally, in promoting the librarian profession, it highlights the importance of our experience and skills in information management, research, and supporting higher education.

In my personal experience, I must emphasize that training is one of the most beneficial things because it gives us new knowledge and helps us stay updated. In my case, I usually take courses that the National Library of Peru gives to librarians.

I would like to add that the habit of reading is one of the best things and that each user is independent of whether they want to do it or, worse, inspiring them to do so is an objective that every librarian must keep in mind since it drives the continuous improvement of the library.