Member-only story
being present, being ubiquitous: connecting with our users
OK, stop me if you’ve heard this one: You’re at a gathering, meeting new people, and the inevitable What Do You Do question goes around.
“I’m a librarian,” you say.
“Oh!” they say, “Does that mean/I remember/Do you just…”
Actually, I’m just going to stop right there, because you’ve probably heard every book-related, childhood-related, and shushing-related response I could possibly list out.
Plenty of the people I meet have stereotypical and totally inaccurate ideas of what I do, and furthermore, what a library does today.
But! I’m not interested in any of that — except to the extent that it relates to this question:
What opportunities do most people actually have to encounter our services/programs/resources/spaces?
Ah! you say, you’re talking about outreach! Um…well, hold that thought. What I’m talking about is integration.
Here’s another question: what do many people in our society and local communities have in common right now?
How about this: we sure do love going online. According to a recent Pew study, 77% of Americans report going online on a daily basis, and of those, 26% say they go online “almost constantly.”
