Title of story short and sweet not too long or wide but there is room
Title of story short and sweet not too long or wide but there is room
OPPORTUNITY
The San Francisco Public Library – Mission Bay branch was unsure how to reach out to systemically marginalized groups. They didn’t know how to recruit kids into their Summer programs who could really benefit, lacked diverse community connections, and wanted to know if their existing programs made sense for the whole community.
IMPACT
One year after BEBS training, the library now has firm partnerships with 3 local groups who helped them to shape programs and continue to act as a sounding board and to help with recruiting program participants. Summer program participation rose 14% over the previous year, largely due to these efforts.
As soon as we were talking to community partners and hearing the real issues their groups are facing, we all felt the energy around what we could do together.
HOW/WHAT WE DID
We reached out to a handful of churches and community groups and clubs. Many were happy to help and three were especially committed. They painted a really clear picture of what their groups were feeling on a daily basis. We brainstormed together around what might prevent their members from seeking out library programs.We also knew that recruitment was a biggie and they immediately gave us ideas and direct offers of help.
Right photo: this caption tells us about the photo on the right.
WHAT WE LEARNED // TIPS
- Look for large churches in communities of color. We had the best response when contacting the associate pastor via phone when possible.
- Think about meeting with no more than 2 or 3 partners at once, at least at first. Our first panel was too large and awkward. Smaller was better for us.
NEXT STEPS
With support from community partners, the library identified two community needs which could improve equity of services if addressed in library programs: food security and lorum ipsem. These two challenges are expensive to fund and will involve special oversight to execute. Efforts are being made now with hopes of a staged rollout beginning in the Summer of 2023.
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