Connecting with your community might be a little trickier now than when everyone can get together in person and everyone is open for business a little more.  But it is still possible, and even if you can’t quite figure it out right now, you can learn about some resources and plan for it!  Here are some things to get you started:

Toolkits:

Many of you have already heard about Libraries Transform Communities and the Harwood Institute’s resources for libraries now available through the American Library Association.Now’s your chance to delve in and check it out!  Bonus:  if you have a printer, you could print off some of the resources and give your poor eyeballs a rest!  There are several online learning opportunities (recorded webinars and the like) available, too.

Here at IFLS we created a Google Document for you to copy and use–a road map of people to connect to in your community to help you, particularly in your efforts to serve people who are experiencing economic hardship (an exponentially-growing number of people right now, unfortunately).

Webinars:

Responding to All:  Developing Relationships with Key Constituencies, a WebJunction webinar with Jamie LaRue and Sharon Morris.  This was my favorite webinar in the past year, and I’ve participated in a LOT of good webinars.  I cannot recommend this one enough for inspiring you to develop relationships with your board, your staff, your community, and your SELF.

Planting Seeds and Anticipating Blossoms: A Community Engagement Model, with Adriana McCleer (Appleton Public Library) from this year’s Wild Winter Web Conference, has some great ideas!

Building Family Engagement Systems Within and Across Library Services with Elena Lopez and Margaret Caspe from the Global Family Research Center has some great ideas for connecting with families in a meaningful way and getting their input.

Celebrate. Serve. Collaborate.  Partnership as a Strategy for Immigrant Engagement is an Infopeople webinar with Jessica Moore, Immigrant Specialist with the Indianapolis Public Library.  I haven’t had a chance to view this one yet, but it sure looks useful!