1

Community Connection Report

John Pickens

MLIS, University of South Florida

LIS 5937: Community Engagement for Librarians

Dr. Kathleen McCook

March, 25, 2022

2

I attended Brooker Creek Preserve’s “Book Time at Brooker” event on March 24th. Book

Time is a weekly event for pre-school aged children and their parents held in the Education

Center at the Brooker Creek Preserve in Tarpon Springs. Each session is led by a Booker Creek

volunteer who reads a wildlife themed short story, followed by a craft. I found tremendous value

from attending this event, leaving with several new ideas of how libraries can connect with the

community and a few new connections myself.

The volunteers were very accommodating to me and, to my delight, a couple of them

were retired librarians. Before the event, I was given a tour of the Education Center. There were

many museum-like displays throughout the Center along with offices, a gift shop, and meeting

rooms. One of the rooms, fittingly enough, was once a library run by the Preserve. They had

computers for guests to use as well as books to checkout. However, when no one used the

computers or returned the books, they decided to sell books in the gift shop and repurpose the

computers.

After my tour, I spent some time speaking with the gift shop volunteer, who was a retired

librarian. She had a diverse career, working in public, academic, and corporate special libraries.

After discussing my background in sales and marketing along with my aspiration to pivot my

career into public librarianship, she told me about the John Cotton Dana Award. This award is

presented annually by the Library Leadership and Management Association (a division of the

ALA), to libraries that demonstrate “outstanding effective strategic communication campaigns

that show results” (ALA). The marketing campaigns of winning libraries are shared to serve as

inspiration to libraries nationwide. One of my favorite examples featured on the ALA website is

Craighead County Jonesboro (Ark.) Public Library’s “Meme your Library” campaign. The
3

campaign positioned the library as modern, fun, and engaging- resulting in an increase in mobile

site visits by 118 percent and program participation by more than 100 percent (ALA).

During the main event, children and their parents gathered to learn about foxes. A

volunteer presented a poster with fun fox facts, showed a taxidermized fox, and read a short

children’s book. There were 12 children in attendance and 5 parents. I was surprised by the level

of interaction from the parents- they asked just as many questions as the children. After the story

time, the children were given supplies to make a paper cutout of a fox to take home with them.

Many of the participants were regulars to the Book Time program. Several families had

been participating for years, and often spend time walking in the Preserve before and after the

event. Many families have established relationships with each other and with the volunteers

through the Book Time program. A couple of the families recommended guided hikes and

webinars from the Preserve that they participate in as well.

Before I left, I spoke with a couple Brooker Creek Preserve employees in the

administration office. They shared with me that they had partnered with the East Lake Library

during the library’s recent remodel, lending them space for events. The partnership was mutually

beneficial, as both the Preserve and East Lake Library gained exposure to new audiences. The

Preserve also partners with the Palm Harbor and Pasco libraries as part of the Preserve’s

Extension Specialist’s lecture series.

This experience helped me to see community engagement and strategic partnerships from

another point of view. Like Brooker Creek Preserve’s Book Time, there are many organizations

offering programing that are analogous to library programs. These are opportunities for libraries

to form partnerships to share best practices, resources, and gain exposure to new patrons.
4

Resources
“John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award.” John Cotton Dana Library Public
Relations Award | Awards & Grants, American Library Association,
https://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/awards/438/apply.

Pinellas County Florida - Brooker Creek Preserve - Annual Events, Brooker Creek Preserve,
http://www.brookercreekpreserve.org/annual-events.htm.