Posted on behalf of Dr. Jennifer Dean, Director of the Thompson Library.
At the start of the academic year, I had a package delivered that looked like a book and thought, "I didn't order a book." Receiving unsolicited books is a librarian career hazard, so I let it sit unopened. Fortunately, my husband pays better attention to the mail than I do! It was a copy of Strengthening Library Ecosystems: Collaborate for Advocacy and Impact. My colleague from MSU, Assistant Dean for Faculty Engagement Rachel Minkin, and I had written a chapter for this book on academic libraries, called “Academic Libraries Need the Library Ecosystem.” This was a fun project. Rachel is amazing to work with, the editorial team brought the whole idea to life and made this book happen, and I believe wholeheartedly in our library ecosystem–the idea that all libraries serve the same people at different points in their lives and experience shared barriers to doing their best work for the people.
The idea of the library ecosystem has long fascinated me. I was fortunate to serve as Michigan’s representative on the American Library Association’s (ALA) Council as the elected Michigan Library Association (MLA) Chapter Councilor, a role I held for four years. My time as an ALA Councilor was eventful. Allegations of prejudice and bias in the Council and on the ALA board, concern over the association’s budget, a new ALA executive director, and finally Covid-19 meant my experience was marked by constant upheaval. One constant throughout this experience was the collegiality of my fellow Chapter Councilors. Unlike Councilors elected at large from ALA’s national membership, who were required to develop a platform and engage the broader ALA membership, Chapter Councilors were elected or appointed by their state association based on their reputation in their state. As representatives of our state chapters, we had similar concerns. We met separately at ALA conferences to share our experiences and support one another. It was at one of the gatherings for Chapter Councilors that I learned about ALA’s ecosystem initiative. A representative from Maine shared a story about a challenge one of her colleague libraries faced, and how library workers from around the state, from libraries of all types, rallied to support the library and its community.
Michigan is fortunate to have a strong library ecosystem. From our network of public libraries; to our varied school, college, and university libraries; to agencies that support libraries like the Michigan Academic Library Association and the Library of Michigan, we share a common goal–to create community by connecting people to high-quality sources of information and entertainment and to each other. The children who use their school library for a book report become teenagers who visit their public library to join a gaming group, who become young adults attending college and studying in their university library. We all serve all the people at different points in their lives, and we share similar challenges. Libraries have always faced challenges, as we do now, from funding shortages to book banning efforts. Library workers tackle these challenges to ensure access to information for their communities, and we support each other. We are stronger together.
University of Michigan-Flint
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