The Europe Challenge

How do you work with your team, in the library?

We are very much public-facing in our libraries. We do a lot of things, and the staff knows the people well. Our public participates in many of the activities we offer. For example, we have a gardening group, a raising group, we offer well-being activities, and have groups for children. There is a thing in Scotland called Bookbug: it is a program with story songs and rhymes for under-five-year-old kids, and we host that every week. We also work a lot with schools, especially in Danny’s library, which is a rather quiet place.

What is important for your community?

They want somewhere welcoming. They like to know the staff. Sometimes, for older people, there is a bit of social isolation, and they like to have a place they can visit to meet a known face, to have a chat, and meet somebody who will ask how they are. It’s all about being there for people whenever they need something from us.

We do our best to reflect what the community wants. We have a standard core of activities that we organise in all our libraries, but some of the things we do are tailored to different communities.

We would happily respond to communities saying they wanted particular groups, but they don’t tend to come and say what they want directly, so usually we have to ask them. We reach out to them maybe once every five or seven years: we go out and ask the community what they would like to see in the libraries.

What has your community taught you?

That we have to be adaptable. We have tried things, and they haven’t worked, and we then tried to find out why they didn’t work. That can be tricky, in part because it’s hard to know why people don’t show up to specific events or enjoy one project rather than another.

So, we listen to what people say. Then we try to reflect trends in our community. For example, for the Europe Challenge we organised a gardening project, and that proved quite popular, so we are trying to develop it further. Now we have gardening clubs in the libraries, and we have seed libraries.

“Libraries need somebody who can care, somebody who takes action, somebody who has a vision, and who has the will to make things happen.”

 

So you see, we respond to the needs of the community. If the public likes something, then we tend to see if we can build on it. We’re hoping to open a sort of “make & mend” hub, so people can come and they can borrow tools and things.

And after you have done that, you have to make sure that people, your fellow citizens, know what you are organising. Especially when promoting events, we need to make sure that we have posters and publish social media posts. In short, that we have done as much as we can to let people know what goes on in the library and that we listen to their preferences.

Do you think that this is the path that libraries are taking it?

I think we have to remember core business is still books, because reading is important. But we can also do a lot more. Many digital skills are necessary to help people access IT and related resources. Not everybody has a smartphone, not everybody has a computer in the house. When the council puts new material online, we have to be there to help people access it.

Complete this sentence for us: “Every library in Europe should have someone who can…”

“…care about their community. Somebody who can care, somebody who takes action, somebody who has a vision, and who has the will to make things happen.”

As a mentor for BUDDIES, is there anything important that you learned from your mentees?

Adaptability. If something didn’t go the way we want, we need to figure out how to make it work.  For example: one of the teams wanted to get garden growers from Macedonia. But when they looked in a bit further, they realised that there is no market for organic fruit. So it turns out it’s a bigger issue. Then, they decided to change tactics and see what they can do to help the producers find a market. The problem didn’t put them off; instead, they adapted to what they needed to do for their community.

And what about what you try to bring as a mentor to them?

I was there just so they could talk out loud and think. My team members are not based in the same country. So it gave them an opportunity to chat things over and bounce ideas. When they were talking about what they were doing, it could suggest other ideas that they maybe didn’t consider. Talking with colleagues and team members often leads to new options.

What was your experience with Europe Challenge and the European Cultural Foundation?

It was very enjoyable to be able to meet other librarians. Certainly in Scotland we sometimes meet other Scottish librarians, but you don’t get to meet international colleagues. So it was very important.

I also find out how different libraries work. You assume that libraries work in the same way. And then you find out that they’re very, very different. It makes you appreciate what you have. So when you’re complaining that you don’t have enough money, you realise that maybe you have more money than somebody else. You just have to make better use of what you have.

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BUDDIES is a project funded by Erasmus+, working with The Europe Challenge to support library and community workers through mentoring, networking, and policy recommendations. It is coordinated by the European Cultural Foundation, in collaboration with Aarhus Public Libraries, Comicdom Press and Public Libraries 2030, and cofunded by the European Union.