Citizen vs. Hermit
Librarians in a small, rural community often work with many survival issues prevalent on a daily basis: solo professionals or paraprofessionals; single libraries serving a patron base diverse in regard to education level, literacy, interest, age and abilities; small budgets; and ongoing competition for funds with other agency units which also provide public services. Frequently there is professional isolation; limited opportunities for professional development and peer exchange; insufficient guidance on the job; and too often a lack of formal professional training or poor initial training in the field. Other disadvantages may also include too little operating funds for adequate materials and equipment; low pay; poor physical facilities with little space for collection, equipment, and computers; and not enough help. For these reasons, small town librarians share the same potential for falling under one of two categories of librarianship: that of Citizen or that of Hermit.
A Hermit lacks certain Citizen qualities and cares little for public relations for the purpose of building up goodwill within a community. The Hermit is content with administrative duties on the inside and building institutional organizational structures usually bound by traditional teachings, hierarchies or stereotypes. Institutions operate in an environment consisting of other institutions. Every institution is influenced by the broader environment through what is known as "institutional peer pressure." The main goal for institutions is survival and legitimacy. And although institutions clearly have the capacity to grow and adapt, they also possess the habit of being prisoners of their own institutionalized history whether calamitous or otherwise. For a librarian in a small, rural community library, this type of Hermit behavior will not only hinder any possible relationships within the community, but will also limit the role the library plays in the lives of its service sector.
In the small town library, a library professional guides the library in building an image in the minds of the community in order to assure the local library the best place in community life. Even the smallest library needs at least one paid staff member designated as director to automatically instill the sense of responsibility necessary for a successful operation, and provide a sense of authority with staff members, the library board, and volunteers. This leads to smoother operations, more stable personnel relationships, as well as giving the library direction. As a Citizen focused on community goals with a mission toward outreach, the librarian in a rural community must possess the knowledge, skills, and fortitude to make the library an integral player in the lives of residents.
If rural communities are to develop an adequate collection of information materials and provide effective library services, it is vital that community leaders hire library and information professionals who have the knowledge and skills to make the library an integral part of the overall effort to educate and build relationships inside and outside library walls. How the librarian deals with the local community as a Citizen is, to a large extent, the responsibility of the individual librarian.
At some point in their careers, public librarians must walk down Main Street as a Citizen of the community. For the trained librarian, networking and collaborating is an answer for collection development and a source of communication in the rural community. However, it is up to the rural public librarian whether he/she becomes an engaged Citizen or an institutionalized Hermit.
Citizen Librarianship
Thomas Jefferson once wrote to James Madison that a public servant should be constantly at his post. The Citizen librarian of a public library is a public servant whose post stretches beyond the confines of the library building as a representative of the community at large. The first step outside the traditional boundaries of librarianship is also the first step toward success: the commitment to the goal of making library services available to all.
“Perhaps the single largest error librarians working in small libraries make is that they attempt to do too much of the job alone. There are many resources available to assist them in their development if they can open up and avail themselves of opportunities, especially from nearby larger libraries, the systems, the state library agencies, and associations. When small libraries cooperate and affiliate with other libraries, they might continue to do more than exist. They might even thrive.”
This “off-site approach” offers librarians the opportunity to open up communication about the library and its services on the “user’s turf” and beyond. It gives librarians the opportunity to observe and listen to the population intended to be served so that barriers can be overcome. Bringing a library outside its ‘walls’ “clears the way for the library to function as a critical access point for information and personal development resources, and [to be] perceived as a source of personal empowerment by its users.”
There are three major attributes that all Citizen librarians need to capitalize on:
• The first is accessibility.
The Citizen librarian will be known and approachable by the service population whether it is inside the library facility or outside in the rural community.
• The second attribute is openness.
In a small community rumors, misconceptions and fears can run rampant. The Citizen librarian keeps the doors of communication open and humanizes community residents in each individual service segment.
• The third attribute is that of educator.
The Citizen librarian teaches community residents the role of the public library and offers them resources to enhance their lives.
Outreach
All libraries have some segment of the population in their service areas which are misunderstood and therefore underserved. Outreach service is one of the techniques that librarians employ to help reach isolated groups. In exercising Citizen strengths, librarians create partnerships with community entities for expanded services as well as promoting public awareness and understanding toward the needs and issues of the rural population. Through this relationship, community groups and organizations band together to form a cadre of support for community administrators and librarians as they seek to improve library services for all as well as providing a friendly response to prevalent issues facing this segment of librarianship such as professional isolation, lack of training, and limited opportunities for peer exchange.
Through Citizen Librarianship the libraries of rural communities have the opportunity to play a distinctive role in many lives through up-to-date informative legal resources, life-changing programming, reading materials and services, and census and government information educating the general public. And for the librarians employed by these organizations, Citizen Librarianship offers an opportunity for professional sustenance and advocacy and personal support.
Katz, “The How To Do It Manual,” 70.
Williams, “The Big House,” 72.
Image: http://libguides.emporia.edu/participatorylibrarianship
