Advance learning in libraries: an American approach.

Having just read the very exciting article entitled: 4 strategies in advance learning in libraries http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/blog/4-strategies-advance-learning-libraries. This paper was written in America and it is fascinating to read, several library leaders came together over 2 years to identify impact and outcomes of funding for libraries. Though this paper looks at federal funding, and examples are American. This is something useful to take from our state side information professionals. Having attended many conferences over the last few years, it has always occurred to me that America is somewhat ahead of the game. Having introduced a national Information Literacy month... yet the UK lags behind.

So to return to the summary article on these meetings. Though the meetings covered many topics, and looked at a variety of information professionals settings, 4 main themes were established. A full report is accessible https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/publications/documents/imlsfocuslearninginlibrariesfinalreport.pdf which on my reading list.

In brief, for now, here are the 4 topics

1. Connect LIS education and professional development to 21st century librarianship- starting and progressing from school librarians, this section looks at creating a new space and new services fit for the 21st century. Librarians should be embedded within the community that they work with. 
2. Pursue research that connects with library practice- connecting research that informs and is informed by practice. Working with others, and ensuring dissemination needs to be optimal for impact and influence. 
3. Designing participatory learning programs that demonstrate innovation and scalability- Design and develop library programmes that aid patrons over their lifespan.
4. Develop cross-disciplinary collaborations that advance library services nationwide- Engage with other non library organisations on a national level, to broaden the service of the library to new audiences.