Libraries and library workers have a fundamental mission to meet the needs of the communities they serve.<\/p>\n
This is not only about developing a collection that is relevant, but also designing services and even spaces in a way that maximises the good that libraries can do.<\/p>\n
This is made clear in the IFLA-UNESCO Public Library Manifesto<\/a>, and beyond.<\/p>\n But to respond to needs, you need first to understand them.<\/p>\n Especially at times of budgetary constraints, ensuring that you\u2019re focusing your resources where they will count is particularly important.<\/p>\n Being able to show that there are challenges that need to be addressed can also support you in your advocacy for adequate support.<\/p>\n So for our 42nd<\/sup> 10-Minute International Librarian exercise, assess your community\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n Clearly, this can be a process that takes a lot longer than 10 minutes!<\/p>\n But you can already think about your own experience and local knowledge, what your users tell you, or available statistics.<\/p>\n Are there challenges around internet access, digital literacy, broader literacy or a lack of space for civic activities?<\/p>\n Are these areas where you are in a position to provide a response? If not, could you do so with additional support?<\/p>\n There are some ideas of how to start in IFLA\u2019s Storytelling Manual<\/a>.<\/p>\n Let us know what needs you have identified in your communities in the comments box below.<\/p>\n Good luck!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This idea relates to the\u00a0IFLA Strategy<\/a>!<\/strong>\u00a03.3\u00a0Empower the field at the national and regional levels.<\/em><\/p>\n As we publish more ideas, you will be able to view these using the\u00a0#10MinuteInternationalLibrarian<\/a>\u00a0tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA\u2019s\u00a0Ideas Store<\/a>! Do also share your ideas in the comments box below.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Libraries and library workers have a fundamental mission to meet the needs of the communities they serve. This is not only about developing a collection that is relevant, but also designing services and even spaces in a way that maximises the good that libraries can do. This is made clear in the IFLA-UNESCO Public Library […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":810,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26868,20946,26654,33376,26664],"class_list":["post-2983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-10minuteinternationallibrarian","tag-community-engagement","tag-community-needs","tag-needs-assessment","tag-storytelling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ifla.org\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ifla.org\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ifla.org\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ifla.org\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/810"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ifla.org\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2983"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ifla.org\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2984,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ifla.org\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2983\/revisions\/2984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ifla.org\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ifla.org\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ifla.org\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}