Managing the Maze - Part 1
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The world of social services can be a bewildering maze for the vulnerable populations it seeks to serve – ex-offenders, returning veterans, the homeless, immigrants, and people with disabilities. With a community resource guide, public libraries become local information clearinghouses. Make a difference in your community! Using a real-life model, learn how to compile, print, and distribute a highly accessible resource that points toward housing, jobs, education, medical help, transportation…and even the library!
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Managing the Maze - Part 1
- 1. Managing the Maze: Creating a Community Resource Guide for Ex-Offenders and Other At-Risk Populations PART 1 of 3 Melanie Colletti Librarian Community Technology Center, Denver Public Library Erica MacCreaigh Correctional Libraries Senior Consultant Colorado State Library, Department of Education
- 3. Knowledge of how to compile content for a community resource guide
- 8. Organized
- 9. Communicates well in person and in printA mutually beneficial relationship!
- 10. First Things First: Project Plan Who is your target audience? What geographic area will you focus on? Where will your funding come from? How will you present the information? When will project milestones be completed?
- 12. Research
- 14. Detail-oriented
- 15. Design
- 17. Web design/contentWho will be involved? MLIS students? Partners? Project manager?
- 18. Timelines & Time Be flexible! Keep things on track Keep stakeholders & interested parties informed
- 20. 12 hours – drive time and tours correctional facilites
- 21. 45 hours – visit and select agencies
- 22. 10 hours – write content
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Quick intros
- Discuss restorative librarianship – this knowledge should help you prepare your arguments in favor of this kind of project.Compilation, format, print, and distribution – this knowledge will help you implement the project.
- EricaMaking information accessible and keeping it current for people in dire need is not easy, but it does fall well within ALA’s charge to us as library practitioners.ALA policy manual states, “The broad social responsibilities of the American Library Association are defined in terms of the contribution that librarianship can make in ameliorating or solving the critical problems of society.” Restorative librarianship posits that librarians have a civic responsibility, as part of the function of our libraries, to challenge social problems that compromise quality of life in our communities. As urban dwellers and urban librarians, Melanie and I both strongly believe in this concept and one of its applications is toward the problem of mass incarceration which we will be using as our case-study example during this presentation. MelanieIn keeping with the concept of restorative librarianship, wewould argue that libraries should be involved in creating these types of resource guides. Yes, other government agencies and departments, or private companies can create them, and they do. So why libraries?Libraries have a reputation for being free and open to allPeople understand that libraries will not discriminate against themPeoplehave warm, fuzzy associations with librariesSimply put, libraries connect people with reliable information, so creating a resource is in line with what they’re expected to doGoing back to that idea of the happy feelings most people associate with libraries, I was the perfect person to knock on doors of the agencies we listed. I got a positive reception most of the time, once the peopleI approached discovered that I was: a) a student; b) not associated with the Department of Corrections; and c) an employee of a public librarycollaborating with the State Library.You might get some push back from higher-ups who might think that this kind of project could be done by someone else. But hopefully by the end of our presentation you’ll be able to make the case for your library to create a resource guide of its own!
- EricaSeveral years working with offenders, immigrants, and people with disabilities has convinced me that nobody has any idea how to find the social services they really need. You get outside the state level agencies, which often aren’t the most effective at meeting needs, and you’re lost in a sea of non-profits and tiny charitable organizations that no one knows about. I could see libraries as the information clearinghouses best positioned to find and provide that information in an easily accessible format. The question was – how? We had a manpower problem - who was going to do this?We had a project management problem - what exactly is this going to entail?The solution to both of those problems was Melanie's capstone practicum to complete her MLIS.
- Managing the Manpower – MelanieA project like this is ALL about collaboration!Erica – is a consultant with the Colorado State Library (Department of Education)When we started this project, I was an MLIS student at DUBoth of us had the support of the agencies we represented, which is extremely important, especially for Erica. This project was part of her regular work schedule.Erica had a plan for this project long before we met (Erica speak to this?)She also had to supervise my work according to DU’s practicum guidelines, so I would receive credit for my work and provide necessary documentationErica provided me a reading list so that I’d have some general knowledge about the ex-offender population: Getting on After Getting Out, NYPL Website, and the Essex County Smart BookWe had tentative deadlines (butthis was all brand new, so nothing was really set in stone, and we weren’t sure what setbacks we might encounter)Erica introduced me to a few key contacts over the phoneAnd she provided oversight and direction throughoutErica also managed the funding, distribution, and printing of the guide, among other things, which she’ll tell you about in more detail in a little bit
- Erica and I worked very well together, so of course we strongly encourage you to find a student, the right student, to work on your project.That student should:Be willing to make phone calls to complete strangersConduct interviewsHave skills to organize the information he or she collectsBe able to sort through that information, find the good stuff, and communicate it accurately and succinctlyThe advantages of working with student interns:Most students will have fewer biases or preconceived notions. It’s possible they’ll be open to discovering information . In other words, they’re not necessarily looking for answers to support what they alreadybelieve, whereas someone in the field for a long time may come to conclusions prior to doing the research.Students just entering the field are usually enthusiastic and have a new-found passion for their workSometimes people will be more welcoming and more honest with a studentStudents work for the joy of it, for experience, and to boost their resume! The relationship is mutually beneficial. A service learning opportunity like this is great for the student, and in fact, this project changed the direction of my career.I learned real-life skills, from networking to changing focus to meeting deadlines. -- and I did it for free! Or KIND OF for free…Erica: Before taking on a practicum student, I got my supervisor’s approval and made sure I knew exactly what the University of Denver required of practicum advisors; if you’ve never supervised an internship or practicum, believe me, you’re not getting something for nothing. Practica, work studies, internships all require reporting – so you need to know up front what the school requires before you commit. After the practicum was completed, I checked with my supervisor again, outlined what remained to be done to turn Melanie’s considerable data into a published document, and got her approval to work on it until complete. At the time, I figured we were nine months out; I was off by about four months.Melanie – (transition to next slide)In addition to finding a student to work with, if you can form a team or task force you really might be able speed up the process. But whether creating your resource guide take three months or two years, you need to set deadlines.
- There are a few important questions to ask as you start developing a project plan:Who are you helping? The fact that you’re attending this webinar indicates to me that you’ve probably already got a target audience in mind.Literally what boundaries on the map will define your service area? This project can really snowball so geographic area is very, very important!Of course, funding will be an issue…Theprint vs. electronic debate. These are things to think about for now, and later Erica will discuss funding and format in a little more detail.Establish deadlines Short-term milestone markers, anda final deadline will help keep you and your team (if you have one) on track -- things don’t always happen as planned, but at least have dates to shoot for
- You’ll also need to be sure to: This project will require a special skills set -- we discovered that you’ll need:someone to oversee the project and coordinate efforts someone with good research skills someone not shy and with good with people someone detail-oriented to edit someone with design skills to format the document someone to research, locate, and liaison with a printer if you’re making it accessible online, you’ll need someone to manage the web design and contentsomeone to secure funding Answers to the preceding questions will inform the answer to this one: Who will be involved?Which staff members will you include? Do you have volunteers with an interest in the population you’re writing for? MLIS Students?Who are your potential partnersWho is going to oversee the project?
- I mentioned timelines a few slides ago. Of course you’ll have to have some idea of what kind of time commitments everyone involved will make, but you’ll also have to be flexible!Deadlines keep things on track and allow you to monitor your progress as you check in with stakeholders, like for us it was primarily DU & the Colorado State Library. We also had to let the printer know how the creation of the content for the guide was coming along. So once you have figured out everyone who will be involved, keep them all in mind as you try to establish deadlines.To start, you’re going to have to take a guess at how long things will take. You may have some deadlines or time commitments that are not flexible. For example, my practicum required I spend 100 hours on this project by a certain date. That wasn’t negotiable. And I had to report my hours regularly. What was negotiable was that I ended up working on the project for a while after my practicum was finished.
- I want to give you an idea of how much time I spent doing what, although each situation could be very different. Before I started my work, Erica created a kind of “schedule” for me that broke down that 100-hour commitment I had with DU. On that document, we guesstimated it would take:25 hours for background research and required reading12 hours for drive time and tours of the three correctional facilities in Pueblo45 hours to visit and select agenciesAnd 10 hours to write content. (We had also written in 8 hours to format a template and figure out the organization of the guide.) When all was said and done, the breakdown was pretty accurate. I did not do a great job keeping track of my time once I graduated, but I probably spent an additional 25 or 30 hours.The take-away here is that things happen. Be ready for detours! After Erica and I had submitted required paperwork and planned a whirlwind prison tour, it snowed bunches, and neither of us could get to Pueblo, so we had to reschedule. You’ll run into these types of things, so just be ready to make adjustments.
- Quick intros