Noah Lenstra

Discover the best way your library can work with community leaders, allies, and collaborators to create lasting and purposeful partnerships. People are often burnt out in libraries right now. This feeling emanates in part from the feeling that we’re the last public institution standing, and therefore have to pick up whatever is falling through the cracks of a failing social net. This book focuses on the proactive strategies that can change this reality. If public libraries are feeling alone, public libraries need to find partners, allies, and collaborators. This book walks librarians through the various types of partnerships and includes information on models for developing, sustaining, and discontinuing partnerships; tools and tips for partnering with purpose; pointers on finances and record keeping; and more. This book prepares the reader to develop transformative solutions to systemic problems no institution or sector could address on its own.

Discover the best way your library can work with community leaders, allies, and collaborators to create lasting and purposeful partnerships. People are often burnt out in libraries right now. This feeling emanates in part from the feeling that we’re the last public institution standing, and therefore have to pick up whatever is falling through the cracks of a failing social net. This book focuses on the proactive strategies that can change this reality. If public libraries are feeling alone, public libraries need to find partners, allies, and collaborators. This book walks librarians through the various types of partnerships and includes information on models for developing, sustaining, and discontinuing partnerships; tools and tips for partnering with purpose; pointers on finances and record keeping; and more. This book prepares the reader to develop transformative solutions to systemic problems no institution or sector could address on its own.

This down-to-earth guide introduces readers to community-led planning, a method for putting equity and inclusion values into practice through programs, services, spaces, and decisions that center and empower communities. Libraries want to be more responsive to their diverse communities. Yet many libraries lack the structures, cultures, and mindsets to sustain community-led methods. This book lays out an evidence-based, twelve-step process that will help you transform your library in ways that serve your unique community effectively. Whether you're an administrator, middle manager, or a front-line library worker, the concrete strategies presented here will show you how to integrate community-led planning into your day-to-day activities. Anchored in original research by its authors and bolstered by real-world examples, this bookintroduces the foundations of community-led planning, including what it means, why it matters, and how to do it;takes you through a twelve-step process, adaptable to libraries of any size or budget and serving any type of community, to fundamentally shift your organization towards more equitable and community-centered ways of thinking;presents strategies for success, pitfalls to avoid, lessons from case studies, and key takeaways for each step; andoffers tools to assess your organization's capacity, evaluate your progress, adapt, and troubleshoot.

This broad-ranging resource is for librarians who want to begin a new program or incorporate healthy living into an existing one. From garden plots to cooking classes to StoryWalks to free yoga, more and more libraries are developing innovative programs and partnerships to encourage healthy living. Libraries increasingly provide health and wellness programs for all ages and abilities, and Healthy Living at the Library is intended for library staff of all types who want to offer programs and services that foster healthy living, particularly in the domains of food and physical activity. Author Noah Lenstra, who has extensive experience directing and advising on healthy living programs, first outlines steps librarians should take when starting programs, highlighting the critical role of community partnerships. The second section of the book offers detailed instructions for running different types of programs for different ages and abilities. A third section includes advice on keeping the momentum of a program going and assessing program impacts. Lenstra offers tips on how to overcome challenges or roadblocks that may arise. An appendix contains resources you can adapt to get these programs off the ground, including waivers of liability, memoranda of understanding, and examples of strategic plans and assessment tools.