“How would you suggest I reach out to library staff?”
This is the question I was asked the other day by a scientist leading a new participatory science project. He had recently rediscovered the incredible resource that public libraries are, and was inspired by mention of libraries as partners in the NASA Citizen Science Handbook.
He found my answer useful, so I thought I’d share it here. Here is my five-step advice for how to begin:
Do some research to understand what your local librarians have on their current plates: what public programs do they run? Is there a science librarian on staff? Is there an adult programming or teen librarian on staff? What can you learn from their website and calendar about what they offer and who does what? Which librarians on staff might be the most likely to be interested in sharing a science project with patrons?
Check out the Toolkit for Librarians that librarian Kara Reiman and I put together this summer. You can find it and a recording of Kara and me introducing it in an online webinar. It includes all the elements that Kara knew that librarians would need. For simplicity’s sake, we focused on Daily Minor Planet (we explain why in the toolkit), but it would not be much work, I think, for you to create a new version focused on your project.
Go to your local library and chat up the one or two librarians you’ve identified as likely to be interested. Find out all your can about what they are 1. required to do, and 2. the part of their job that they love to do… See if you can align your pitch with both of these things!
Make an offer aligned with all you’ve learned. I suspect that if you offer yourself as a partner in creating and co-leading an event at the library at a time and day appropriate to the audience, you’ll be making an offer that’s hard for them to refuse.
If you do lead an event, treat it as a learning experience. No doubt what you learn in working with a librarian for the first time and leading a public event will give you ideas for how to make your next event better for you, for the librarian, and for all the folks who join you.
Science away!