Community at the Center of Connected Learning

Working with other community members can expand what a library can provide for teens and create with teens when it comes to media literacy education, and this will give teens the chance to connect to others who can play a valuable educational, informational, and personal role in their lives, especially in relation to workforce preparedness.

— Linda Braun et al. in The Future of Library Services For and With Teens: A Call to Action

It may seem drastic to say that without community-centered services connected learning is not possible. However, if connected learning is the foundation of teen services, and not just an add-on, then community does have to be at the center of each and every aspect of those services.

Teen interests and community-centered services

Library staff are able to learn about teen interests from the teens who come into the library. However, that is a limiting view of what teens in a community or neighborhood like to be involved in and with. To effectively learn about and build services focused on teen interests library staff need to be a part of their community outside of the library building. This does not mean simply going into schools and talking with teens and teachers about what teens like to do or would like to see from the library. It means talking with teens in spaces which they hang out about how they spend their days. What gives them joy. What they wish was available in the community and so on. It also means spending time with community members and stakeholders asking them what they see as teen interests and passions. It might even mean spending time at community events, baseball games, concerts, and so on so that through observation and conversation you get a real-life picture of teen interests throughout the community.

Relationships and community-centered services

Relationships are mentioned several times in this module and that’s because without community-centered relationships it’s not possible to build connected learning services. Connected learning is built on relationships with teens AND relationships with community members and stakeholders. In order for library staff to build those relationships staff must spend time getting to know community members and stakeholders and get to know them outside of a library context. Relationships can grow from spending time drinking coffee with a potential community partner or by going to meetings, listening and learning through that listening, and asking questions about the community instead of just talking about the library and what it has to offer. Once relationships are in place with community members and stakeholders those relationships can be leveraged to build teen services in which teens can build relationships with those community members and stakeholders.

Opportunities and community-centered services

When library staff learn about community members and stakeholders and understand the assets in a community, it’s possible to begin to connect teens with opportunities. For example, if library staff have learned about assets in the community centered on building the capacity of low income families to eat nutritious meals, teens who have an interest in helping their community to lessen the impact of food insecurity can connect to the identified community assets. The opportunity to learn with and from community assets, that are understood as a part of a community-centered approach, is powerful.

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