CASOS ATENDIDOS

As an institution the public library is stuck somewhere between influencing social structures and being subject to them. The difference individual librarians make is of course important, but at the same time libraries establish service roles to ensure impacts are more sustained and regularized beyond any given individual. Much of this text so far has focused heavily on libraries that are making advances in library services in ways that are flexible, unusual, and driven largely by the unique innovations that individuals within those libraries and communities produce. It’s worth considering, and examining, however, the cases when libraries are unable to do this, either against their best intentions and attempts or as a result of entirely different conditions and perspectives. A SLIGHT VARIATION ON CLASSES

Belle Terre Public library is representative of the former. Located within one of the most impoverished areas in the state, the library is more like a rural location in some ways than a small town. The director and staff told me about their arrangement of computer classes, which were enabled largely as a result of savvy grant writing:

“Well the adult programs we’ve had – we got an EDD grant – Eliminating the Digital Divide. I’ve been working with a group from [acronym], we work with [college], and they

teach classes, and they’re rather expensive but it was kind of nice because they bring laptops from the outside and then we set up a computer lab, and I have people sign up for classes. Last year I think they taught 10 classes, and I think I’m going to do the same thing this year, because that’s really helping the community a lot, because a lot of people come in here and they don’t know how to turn on a computer, how to create an e-mail, they just need so much attention, very little background.”

These classes were nothing out of the ordinary, just covering the typical computer basics encountered at most libraries—word processing, e-mail and internet—but they were somewhat unusual for a library of this size because they were taught by external organizations that were brought in and participants were provided laptops for use during the class, making it possible to do without having a specifically dedicated lab space in various parts of the library. The director required that staff lacking computer basics skills also attend so that they could better help patrons one-on-one later on. The staff noted to me that they not only learned about the various software programs in the classes but also how to best teach the concepts to learners – leaving space for questions, organizing the presentation of information logically, providing handouts, and more. When I inquired about the composition of attendees I was led to understand that the context they were dealing with was different than many libraries. The participants weren’t always the elderly typically encountered in computer basics classes in many other settings. Instead they were often impoverished individuals who needed the experience badly to get jobs—some of whom might have also been elderly. She explained:

“Yes, I sign up something like twenty because I’m lucky if 12 come. I understand why airlines overbook flights, because so many people never show up, and I call them and remind them that class is happening tomorrow and they say “oh hey I’ll be there” and then they still don’t come. I guess because it’s free they don’t care as much.”

She said it was a challenging mix—she would call patrons in advance to remind them and find that their phones were disconnected. They’d be able to make one class one day but not get off work to come on another. Part of the reason she chose to bring in outside help was that they could provide a certificate showing that participants had learned something, an item very prized amongst individuals who were quite desperate to find jobs. She said she wasn’t even sure that all of them

were going to be able to use their newly learned skills without practice but just having the sheet would provide some measure of confidence. The library staff explained to me the kind of patrons they often worked with:

“Some folks – we have a literacy program here – what you have is that they don’t have a GED yet and they have children, so when they come in to take their tests they’d be about 2nd _{or 3}rd _{grade level abilities that are adults now, that’s the hardest part, when they’re real}

low level. A lot of times when they’re filling out applications they don’t understand what’s being asked, besides knowing how to get through the program or knowing what it is. Reading itself might be difficult for them.”

In other words the library wasn’t just providing services for a diminishing generation of elderly persons, but a steady stream of people who had been underserved for much of their lives. This matched my experience working with libraries locally in Champaign, where some of the folks who would need help went beyond just a lack of familiarity, but actually faced learning disabilities and a lack of literacy to start. This isn’t to say the users felt all that disempowered; in fact they also behaved in ways that matched the teens I encounter on a daily basis:

“The computers are so slow, and then what happens, is they’ll click-click-click until it freezes entirely because they think it should be going faster, or they’ll get out of something because they think it’s not going to go, they don’t have the patience sometimes. Or they jump from computer to computer because they think another one might have faster internet and we have to explain that they’re all on the same system.”

What’s notable in this series is that the library faced an audience that altered the ways we might talk about fostering digital literacies. Patrons needed opportunities to develop confidence, establish cognitive models and learn to effectively problem solve, but they found these within just the realm of computer basics. There was no advanced video editing, deployment of e-readers, comprehensive digital archiving or anything like that, and yet the library could still be said to be tackling part of the question of digital literacy.

STIFLED COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

Not every library has the advantage of a collaborating local university or other supply of talented volunteers. The director had made some efforts to engage the local high school for help, but had not found much support:

“I’ve been trying to set something up with the Kiwanis here in town but it hasn’t gotten very far. A lot of the people coming in to the library want to write resumes and apply for jobs online and don’t have a clue what to do and so I’ve been trying to get something out to them, because they’re always looking for something for their high school kids, and I’d say ‘High School kids they know all about computers, they were raised with them’ so what I wanted to do is have a clinic and have people come in to the clinic and have the high school kids sit with them and help them apply for applications. So far it hasn’t gotten very far, but I thought that would be a mutually beneficial thing.”

It wasn’t clear how much she had actually continued to pursue a collaboration, but it was apparent that the perspectives of the individuals in question mattered. It wasn’t an issue of if high school students had the requisite knowledge (if they were ‘digital natives’ or not, an implied assumption), it was an issue of motives to volunteer in the first place. Much of the town seemed reluctant to fully engage in the library, despite the director’s efforts to reach out to them. Another example was explained when the director spoke about a digital camera they had been provided from a grant to promote small business:

“D: I try to play up the library, I went to the Chamber and told them about all of the equipment I have, and they said that was good but nobody from there has contacted me. J: What did that look like? Was it a meeting full of people you didn’t know, and it was hard to present?

D: That’s kind of what it was, I just made an announcement, and they almost brushed me off just saying ‘alright that’s good, thanks.’”

It seemed that she may not have been taken very seriously by this group. All of the reasons are of course not entirely clear—it’s possible partnership would require long-time relationships or perhaps these organizations had different needs, but the librarian was at least trying to be pro-

active. This led me to wonder about the general reputation of the library. When I asked the director about her perspective I unearthed a really important exchange:

“J: Do you think the role of librarians is going to change? From being like archivists who are just book providers from behind the scenes to public librarians who have to connect to people actively in their service. Do you think that’s going to be the change?

D: I think that’s going to be more part of our future than it used to be. We’re not just going to sit behind the desk and stamp the dates anymore, we have to enhance their lives in a different way rather than offer them different reading materials.

J: You sound a little sad about that.

D: No I’m not sad, it’s just scary. Now, I worry about that in our community, that I’m not reaching enough, that I’m not feeling their needs enough.”

This moment seemed to represent what I felt when I visited many libraries around the state. The library was a long-standing institution in most places I visited. It had a brand, a reputation and a way of doing things. Even when a given librarian or director wanted to cause a shift, they were still doing this amidst their surrounding conditions. This director certainly felt pressured to find ways to alter their services and community connections, and indeed she had overcome much of the funding barrier through assistance from grants, but she still faced other structural issues. I continued by asking her about the differences between the library staff and her patrons:

“D: I wish I had more African American employees, because the ethnic make-up of the village has changed so much, it’s 75% African American now and I only have one person on my staff that’s African American.

J: Is that more about number of people applying? Why do you think that is?

D: A lot of people just haven’t left. I’ve been here 7 years and I’m the newest member of the staff, we just don’t have much of a turn-over. One woman is 80 and she’s worked here 35 years.

J: Wow.

D: I have another woman that’s 76 and she’s worked here over 20 years. A lot of people have been here over 10 years. So I mean the community has changed since then, but… whatever. Most of the people are local.”

This seemed to suggest a partial answer to my inquiries about the library’s struggles. On the one hand it was a place of stable employment for people who had been living in the town for decades. They had invested in this place, made it their own and established its meaning in the eyes of their community. On the other hand it meant that when the community rapidly changed around them it caused a significant gap between employees and patrons, certainly in terms of race, but also quite possibly in terms of class, age and education as well. Likewise while the community changed demographically the job market and knowledge economy shifted as well. Computers, the internet and cell phones had become parts of daily life and information access—but only for some, it was not even throughout this community. Understanding the varied needs of the individuals and connecting these up with rapid technological change was therefore difficult. The director was aware of this, and tried to find ways to reach out, retrain staff and otherwise guide the library, but this was all in the face of a confused array of conditions subject to fluctuating community composition and broader social norms. This particular case of attempting to overcome structural hurdles was a good reminder that the redistribution of money and personal agency is not always enough.