Blog post author Lynn Williamson is the chief of the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Neighborhood Library Services Division, the project manager of Skills for Community-Centered Libraries and a participant in Cohort 6 of the trainings. Read more about the Skills for Community-Centered Libraries project at theirÂ
Meredith McGovern is a librarian at the Free Library of Philadelphia's Falls of Schuylkill Library and a participant in Cohort 3 of the Skills for Community-Centered Libraries trainings.
Claire L. Hand is an adult/teen librarian at the Free Library of Philadelphia's Wynnefield Library and a participant in Cohort 2 of the Skills for Community-Centered Libraries trainings.
Chera Kowalski is the assistant to the chief of staff at the Free Library of Philadelphia and a participant in Cohort 1 of the Skills for Community-Centered Libraries trainings.
Sa-de Brown is a library assistant at Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library and a participant in Cohort 2 of the Skills for Community-Centered Libraries trainings.
"Life is a journey, not a destination." — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Joe Shemtov is a special collections coordinator and primary source specialist and a participant in Cohort 1 of the Skills for Community-Centered Libraries trainings.Â
Tuesday Chalmers is an adult/teen librarian at McPherson Square Library and a member of Cohort 1 of the Skills for Community-Centered Libraries training. In this post, she explains the project she worked on after attending the workshops.Â
“We are the leaders we have been waiting for." -Grace Lee Boggs, philosopher and activist
The Free Library of Philadelphia is full of leaders, and so are the neighborhoods in which we are located. To foster collaboration with community members and organizations, we are building staff capacity in two ways:
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” — Xun Kuang, philosopher
Imagine trying to learn to knit. Would you learn best by reading a book about knitting? Hearing a friend talk about knitting? Watching an expert knitter? Or learning the basic steps and actually trying to knit?
Our first cohort of staff members participating in the Skills for Community-Centered Libraries training recently learned about and explored team roles and dynamics. Staff reflected on their own strengths and what attributes they bring to a team. Are they great at keeping everything running smoothly? Do they enjoy providing in-depth knowledge?Â
