Libraries & Social Media: Libraries as Social Hubs by Carlos Bulling

     Unfortunately, public libraries can't seem to shake the image of being a castle full of books, with the sacred texts guarded by a stern librarian and security guards watching the gate! While some of this may be true (sadly), libraries rely on so much more than physical books and library staff, who are more akin to community service ambassadors (or teachers) than custodians of knowledge. Most of all, actually, the library relies on its community: visitors like you! Which is why its comforting to know that successful libraries are focusing on using their public space as a third place by promoting their local community.

     What is the importance of libraries as social hubs? Brendan Howley explains, "Why libraries? Libraries expand the commons. Public libraries are one of the last truly human places in a homogenized, digital world. We live our daily lives in a digital media Jacuzzi, where everything feels new and novel. Except it isn’t. Libraries matter because they’re the cornerstone and touchstone of shared stories—they embody and set free the culture in which we live" (Howley, 2018). Picture this, you walk into your nearest public library, and you get asked by the library staff if you need any help, and you see the latest bestseller display, check the bulletin board for local activities and events. Maybe you will pick up a San Diego reader or whatever magazine is in your locality, then even be brought to the local market or businesses on your way out! Libraries help connect you to your community, where you may otherwise be working or studying from home or playing games on your smart phone!

    It astounds me how it's never tiring talking about libraries as social hubs. It probably was the libraries themselves, in that physical, quiet space sense, that brought me to library science. Inspired by a career path I never followed up on, and visits I took to the public library with my mom when I was a boy, I chose to work toward a library technology certificate. But it was the people, the locals, that ran the library that I went to, and taught us about the index card system, showed us the stamps -- for me it was the Lemon Grove County Library. Without this sense of community, even if it's only subliminal, the library dies. Dale Larsen et al. explains, "Public libraries have edged closer toward fulfilling this particular community need for decades and continue to do so as makerspaces, book clubs, wellness resources, and board/electronic gaming are finding their places in libraries. Consequently, communities are connected to those spaces" (Larsen et al., 2019). While Brendan Howley scowls at the digital divide, as he has the right to, there still are some of these community resources online as well. It makes even more sense that, a public library, away from the school (or close to it, such as the current Lemon Grove Library) would have some activities such as board games to include the public. It also doesn't exclude students from these activities as well. A room for students to practice music in, or a free movie night or private film screening for a religious or secular group are just some ideas.

    All these notions and more involve the reality of libraries as social hubs. It extends beyond makerspaces, too. Take Phoenix, Arizona, for example. An article by Library Journal, states, "The Phoenix Public Library’s (PPL) hive @ central is all business. While many public libraries offer amenities such as meeting rooms, business publications, and databases, free Wi-Fi, and other resources that local entrepreneurs will find useful, hive brings these amenities together in a 2,500 square foot coworking space on the second floor of PPL’s Burton Barr Central Library and encourages networking and idea sharing with meet-ups, business expos, and mentors from the local business community and a comprehensive, recurring series of workshops called the “Business Roadmap Program" (Social Spaces, 2015). Not only is this a social activity, but it's also a professional one, mixing up a social activity with business networking. This is just one of many potential examples, but I hope it serves to remind you the next time you step into your local public library, or academic one, to consider all the community activities and social functions that are the bread and butter of libraries after the recent social distancing of the latest pandemic.

References

Howley, B. (2018). Libraries as values-driven participatory culture hubs. Information Today, 35(5), 15–16. https://login.ezproxy.palomar.edu/login?auth=shibboleth&url=https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.palomar.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=130182780&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Larsen, D., Wallace, S., Parker, A., & Pankl, L. (2019). From cubicles to community: Reducing library anxiety through critically reimagined social spaces. New Review of Academic Librarianship, 25(2–4), 408–423. https://doi-org.ezproxy.palomar.edu/10.1080/13614533.2019.1615966

Social Spaces. (2015). Library Journal, 140(12), 26–29. https://login.ezproxy.palomar.edu/login?auth=shibboleth&url=https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.palomar.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=103629982&site=ehost-live&scope=site