Entry 7: Geek the Library: A Community Awareness Campaign

(Not entirely sure who to attribute this article to. Web source here)


The entirety of this reading was something like 108 pages, so I did tend to skip around a good deal. I may actually end up breaking this into sections, as there was a great deal to take in and a great deal that caught my attention.

What hooked me first about this campaign was the use of the word “geek” as a verb used to simplify the object of this campaign. To be a geek about something is to compulsively love or obsess, pretty exclusively, over one thing. It’s the love of an object or a craft or a hobby or an anything that, when effort is put forth into the object of geekiness, one can see great returns—like investing in stocks. So to “geek” a library or to be a geek for a library is to put a great deal of dedication and love into the organization. It would seem, however, that there is not much return or growth in the area of libraries for the geek. They don’t seem to receive the attention they deserve, being always in the public eye. But libraries seem to be getting something like the billboard effect, where a public billboard may always be in sight, but could lose meaning or relevancy to the eye the more one sees the same billboard. They’re matter-of-fact and they can be ignored, consciously or unconsciously.

“Geek the Library” wishes to put libraries back into public vision in a big way, and not in the way a billboard works. The report spells out exactly what could bring about public awareness for libararies:

“A successful community awareness campaign has to do three things:
1. Wake up potential supporters to the fact that the library is relevant in the 21st century
2. Put libraries squarely in the mix of important community infrastructure, alongside fire, police and schools
3. Activate conversations about the vital and transformative role that the library plays, and its value to the community.”

Point number 2 seemed especially significant to me. The report mentions often the necessity of opening up a dialogue about libraries with those on a level kind of “outside.” That is to say, it would do no good to raise awareness about libraries within the library infrastructure itself—that’s just preaching to the choir. Instead the initiative should be taken to all facets of the community, and made relatable to those who don’t necessarily “geek” libraries.

It’s the way in which the campaign seeks (sought?) to make libraries relatable to everybody—to find out what people “geek” about—and show how libraries support all kinds of geeking.

All of this geeking was for the goal of generating funding for public libraries. A point is reached in the report where I admit I was reading more and taking notes less, so I’m not certain how to summarize or explain how the campaign was first launched. It seems that what contributes most to campaign success starts first with some kind of voting, and the categorization of voters who would be less or more helpful toward success of the campaign. On page 13 of the report, there is a run-down of different ways in which people support libraries and the perception of this support, and some actually surprised me. If I’m interpreting this correctly, it seems most people would rather support their library financially from a distance—that is, without actually using the library. Perceptions of librarians themselves also seem to factor into financial support of a library. However, of the voters mentioned earlier, many do or would support their library.

What I love about this campaign is that it is not a “poster campaign”—these librarians want people talking about what is important to them and how the library can support that.

One thing I’ll admit to not quite understanding—maybe because my own perceptions of public libraries are rather skewed—is the reason why public libraries required additional funding (something really noticeable in 2005, the report says). According to the report, funding was required because of the demands being placed on libraries. My own perception has always told me that libraries are kind of a dying thing, and library awareness was something necessary to resuscitate them. However, the report talks about heavier demands on resources, staff, and so on, which makes me think that people must be utilizing their libraries fairly well for the demand being created. There’s something in the middle here I believe I’m missing.

I’ll stop here for now and pick up on this article later, as it is kind of a demanding read. I’ll post a part two to this later on.