Ask a programming librarian what a typical workday for them entails and you’re likely to get a long and varied list of tasks: meeting with partners, handling event logistics, working with budgets and creating marketing materials.
The ALA Public Programs Office has released a report outlining the findings of an intensive research study that explored the characteristics, audiences, outcomes and value of U.S. library programming, as well as the competencies required to succeed in the field.
As U.S. libraries transform to meet the needs of a changing nation, public programming is rising to the forefront of daily operations. While libraries have always had a broad educational mission and an esteemed role as collection holders and lenders, the 21st century is witnessing their rapid transformation into centers for lifelong experiential learning, hubs for civic and cultural gatherings, and partners in community-wide innovation.
As U.S. libraries transform to meet the needs of a changing nation, public programming is rising to the forefront of daily operations. While libraries have always had a broad educational mission and an esteemed role as collection holders and lenders, the 21st century is witnessing their rapid transformation into centers for lifelong experiential learning, hubs for civic and cultural gatherings, and partners in community-wide innovation.
Our National Impact of Library Public Programs Assessment (NILPPA) team is back from ALA Annual in New Orleans, where we presented some of our findings, conducted more research, and learned more about some of the awesome things happening in programs that occur across all types of libraries.
Here are a few of the sessions we attended relevant to program design, development, and facilitation in libraries.
Planning public programs is a skill that’s more and more important to library work, and we wanted to know: is that reflected in the curriculum? As part of our comprehensive review of the library programming landscape, we explored requirements in library degree programs across the US.
“My event planning, volunteering for 16 years doing cultural events for my school district, and my theater/musician training helped a lot.”
“These are basic life skills learned by parents (e.g. doing homework in grade school, planning a birthday party, etc.).”
“Working in a very high-scale restaurant as a server and working in a public museum on the visitor services side of things helped me gain skills in good customer services and event planning.”
"What skills or abilities do you think are necessary to successfully run public programs at libraries?”
More than 1,200 library professionals from all around the country and from all types of libraries weighed in on this question last fall as part of ALA's National Impact of Library Public Programs Assessment (NILPPA) research. As we read their responses, we found nine categories of skills that came up time and again.
ALA’s Public Programs Office has received a $512,000 National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for
a research project to understand and document the characteristics, audiences, outcomes and value of U.S. library public programming.
