Library out reach services: a noble service

Library outreach programmes are still relevant in the information age than before and have taken a new dimension at a faster rate than expected. Library outreach is the activity earmarked to promote library services to the underserved communities and mostly the non users. Library outreach programmes aim at identifying and promoting library services that support equitable access to the knowledge and information stored in our libraries.

The underserved community is a challenge to library staff who is concerned about making information accessible by all at minimum cost in the best possible time. The advent of technology in libraries has made it easy to reach out to underserved communities. This however, has forced librarians to acquire more  IT related skills in web designing, blogging, setting up wikis, using social media, and definitely to spend more time sprucing library web pages with all sorts of links that avail information to users from around the globe. So, library outreach are no longer limited to the physical geographical areas but has transcended that due to technology.

World over libraries are a cornerstone for valuable information that promote democracy, human rights, good governance, education and sustainable development. The traditional outreach programmes involved sending a library material through mobile library services to prisons, schools and remote communities as well as the elderly. With budget cuts getting into librarians nerves such services have been discontinued and fears are that information accessibility has been threatened. Outreach programmes have benefited libraries through PR, new patrons and high visibility.

Gut (2010) noted that outreach typically serves those who would not get library services any other way and are a wonderfully endless source of feel good stories. It is an advocacy tool used to create harmony with the community and one should be able to relate the how impressive an outreach programmes is when more the disabled, terminally ill and focused groups are reached.

Library outreach is designed to bring in new patrons. Gut (2010) asserts that outreach brings the library to people who had no previous service. Definitely it should bring more users to the library to utilise wealth information stored in the library. Possible outcome of outreach programmes are an increased influx of user in the library and rising check out statistics within a period of time. New patrons require additional library materials so the library should be prepared to add new books and to design more interactive programmes to share with the increased users. Perhaps the outreach staff may update the library web page with more open access resources, consider information literacy skills training, and discussion for the library to remain relevant. Social media platform such as Facebook, You tube and perhaps a blog may be used to keep users posted on latest developments in the library. This is not only limited to public libraries but academic libraries can also do outreach programmes to ensure maximum utilisation of resources that the librarian spend thousands of UD dollars acquiring reading resources.

Libraries should resuscitate the outreach programmes in order to obtain new users and fight competition with other information providers, to maintain goodwill with society and to improve on visibility that may have a positive bearing on budget allocation. The more instrumental the library becomes in a community the more management realise the need for increased financial support. Libraries have long been neglected but outreach services provide an opportunity to regain visibility.

Librarians should start to do more outreach programmes the traditional way and also using emerging tools on social media. Try to open up a Facebook page for your library or hey start a library blog to market your library service.

Further reading

Gut, Rachel A. (2010) Selling Outreach – Internal Advocacy for your patrons and services http://olos.ala.org/columns/?p=143