THEory
into ACTion
A
Bulletin of New Developments in Community Psychology Practice
August, 2015
Facilitating Engagement in Our Communities
Tabitha Underwood
Missouri Campus Compact, Missouri
State University
Little Free Libraries are the product of a nonprofit
organization aptly titled Little Free Library that seeks to provide everyone
easy access to books. Their mission is “
to
promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges
worldwide and to build a sense of community as we share skills, creativity and
wisdom across generations”. Initially,
the organization set out to exceed the number of libraries built by Carnegie
(2,509) and has done so by leaps and bounds. A Little Free Library (LFL) is a
small structure, typically placed in the front yard of a home or business,
containing used books spanning a variety of genres and age groups. The idea is
simple “Take a Book, Return a Book.” (see website for more information:
http://littlefreelibrary.org/)
Little Free Libraries have the potential to (1) help
community practitioners engage in their own communities and (2) to facilitate
engagement in the communities within which practitioners work. As a community
psychologist and practitioner, I have found Little Free Libraries as a way to
engage with my community outside of the work environment. Many of us work
within the realm of community engagement every day, helping others find their
place and connection in the world. However, what do we do in our own
neighborhoods? Does our own engagement as community psychologists stop when we
leave the office? Little Free Libraries are an avenue for involvement within
our neighborhoods, while also espousing the competencies and values of
Community Psychology. They are also both an engagement and a literacy tool to
be used by community practitioners to help others improve their communities and
potentially improve educational outcomes through access to literacy. As John
McKnight has stated, Little Free Libraries are an easy and accessible intervention
because they do not require a lot of effort or resources (Aldrich, 2015).
Little Free Libraries (LFL) have a natural connection to
many of the Community Psychology competencies as outlined by the Society for Community
Research and Action. The following provides examples of these connections
(SCRA, n.d.).
●
Sociocultural and Cross Cultural Competence: The LFL
helps us to get to know other cultures through books. You can learn about
others’ reading preferences and sometimes worldviews through what they take and
leave from the library; however, this knowledge can really only be acquired by
combining the library with actual discussion (either online or in person).
●
Community Inclusion and Partnership: LFLs are an easy
way to include others in neighborhood initiatives. For the library to function,
residents need to come together to supply the books and use the library. The
library provides a passive way for residents to become involved. Anyone can
take or leave a book without judgement or sometimes even notice.
●
Resource Development: The collaborative nature of this
project requires you to involve the resources of others. This project often
takes more than your own resources to be successful. You must rely on others to
leave or donate books in order to keep a rotating, fresh supply for the avid
readers in the neighborhood. Once they see a lack of turnover in books, what
will keep them returning?
●
Program Development, Implementation, and Maintenance:
This might be the simplest competency of all to practice. LFLs are programs in
and of themselves. You can flex your program management muscles through the
planning, building, placement, maintenance, and even evaluation of your own
small library.
Little Free Libraries also help us live out one of our
greatest values as community psychologists, that of building a sense of
community. As we know, Sarason (1974) proposed that sense of community was the
core to our field. Indeed, this is the entire focus of the Little Free Library
initiative. It is a way for residents to get to know one another, grow a sense
of belonging and connection, and rely on one another, even if only for reading
material. The newly published Little Free Library Book (Aldrich, 2015) sheds
light on this outcome. Stories of LFLs across the world show how they have
helped neighbors get to know one another and develop a connection. The book
outlines “Building Community” as an essential use of the libraries.
Little Free Libraries have great potential for our work as
community practitioners, not only because of their inherent connection to
community psychology principles and practices but because of their associated
outcomes for the individuals and the communities in which we work. Through
their exchange of resources (books), LFLs help neighbors connect, facilitate a
love of reading, make books more accessible, serve as a common space and an
anchor to other community activities, demonstrate creativity and innovation,
and ultimately build social capital (Aldrich, 2015). They also have the
opportunity to build neighborhood leadership. As Todd Bol, the founder of
Little Free Library, says of library stewards, “they are the perfect concerned
citizens, ready to pick up the charge, improve their neighborhoods, and ensure
that all their neighbors read well and often” (Aldrich, 2015 p. 2)
Beyond being a tool in our community practice arsenal, I
would argue that Little Free Libraries are also a way for community
psychologists and community practitioners to engage with our own neighbors and
practice what we preach. As we work day in and day out as practicing community
psychologists, helping others to find their voice, work together to solve community
problems, and improve quality of life, what do we do for our own personal
growth and development within the realm of engagement? I propose that Little
Free Libraries are one way that we can serve as role models of the principles
of community psychology in our own life.
This is what Little Free Libraries have done for me as a
community practitioner. A few years ago, we purchased a house in a neighborhood
that was just getting started with its organization. A group of interested
residents were in the process of setting up a community watch, there were
discussions of reopening a park that had been closed, and a neighbor had
started to organize regular neighborhood gatherings. Community engagement is my
passion and my work, but with an incredibly demanding schedule at work, I found
it difficult to find the time, and quite frankly the energy to engage with my
neighbors as fully as I wanted. However, the Little Free Library provided an
answer. It was a resource I could provide my neighborhood and became a way to
start conversations with my neighbors. Our house became know as the one with
the little book exchange in front of it. When meeting new neighbors that was
the only defining feature I needed to mention to explain where our house was
positioned in the neighborhood.
Once we moved cross country and settled into our new home,
it was time for the Little Free Library to once again work its magic and help
me get to know my neighbors. As my husband and I worked to level a small patch
of land in our yard and place the cinder blocks as a base, our neighbors took
notice. Almost immediately our neighbor to the right came out to see what we
were doing, which initiated a conversation. Another neighbor across the street
brought over her toddler grandson to take a peek. In the evening when I return
home from work I find people walking with their dogs and those pushing
strollers searching for that next great read. I should mention that our neighborhood
does contain other Little Free Libraries, so some people are accustomed to
their presence and understand their purpose. However, our library has given us
an opportunity to teach the occasional passerby about this common good. These
interactions are not unique to our library. There are countless stories of this
same phenomenon occurring in neighborhoods around the world (Aldrich, 2015).
In all, my Little Free Libraries have helped me to meet new
people, provide a resource to my neighbors, generally observe neighborhood
behaviors, and build my own sense of community. Through the two libraries that
we have placed in our yards, I have witnessed first-hand what they can do for
me as a practitioner and how practitioners working in other communities may
help others utilize Little Free Libraries as an engagement tool. I don’t
pretend to claim that Little Free Libraries will change the world, but they may
in fact add to the quality of life of neighborhoods, help build relationships
with neighbors, and provide a venue for you to live community psychology
practice at home.
References:
Aldrich, M. (2015). Little
free library book: Take a book, return a book. Coffee House Press.
Sarason, S. B.
(1974). The psychological
sense of community: Prospects for a community psychology. Jossey-Bass.
