Libraries Transform Communities

SOUTH SIOUX CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY RECEIVES NATIONAL GRANT FOR SMALL AND RURAL LIBRARIES

$3,000 Grant Will Help the Library Work with Residents to Discuss Equity, Inclusion, and Barriers to Success.

 [South Sioux City, NE] — South Sioux City Public Library has been selected as one of 300 libraries to participate in Libraries Transforming Communities: Focus on Small and Rural Libraries, an American Library Association (ALA) initiative that helps library workers better serve their small and rural communities.

The competitive award comes with a $3,000 grant that will help the library plan conversations all over the community.

“We are so proud to be chosen for this amazing opportunity,” said Library Director Cicely Douglas. “This grant will allow our library to get to know our residents better and help us build a happier and healthier community for our families. Using these funds, we are arranging workshops and conversations with the community about how else we can establish the library as a resource that reduces the barriers to success. Libraries provide access to information and can help address barriers that hold people from success. We have so much more than books! We have online databases, teach computer classes, hold workshops, help people answer research questions, provide a comfortable place to just relax, and more!

As part of the grant, library staff will take an online course in how to lead conversations, a skill vital to library work today. Staff will then host a conversation (online or in person) with residents discussing specific goals such as citizenship, information literacy, laws, or any other subjects that surround barriers to individual and collective success.

If you are interested in getting involved or taking part in the conversation, please contact Cicely Douglas at cdouglas@southsiouxcity.org, or call (402) 494-7545 for more information.

Check the website for a schedule of when these conversations will happen near you!

Since 2014, ALA’s Libraries Transforming Communities initiative has re-imagined the role libraries play in supporting communities. Libraries of all types have utilized free dialogue and deliberation training and resources to lead community and campus forums; take part in anti-violence activities; provide a space for residents to come together and discuss challenging topics; and have productive conversations with civic leaders, library trustees and staff.

“Libraries Transforming Communities: Focus on Small and Rural Libraries is an initiative of the American Library Association (ALA) in collaboration with the Association for Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL).”

Comments are closed.

  • Archived Posts