On June 12, Ronald van Steden and David Oldenhof gave a workshop on the role of libraries for vital society at the National Library Congress. The theme of the workshop was "Public libraries as places of meaning." With a full room of about fifty library professionals, we reflected on how libraries contribute to local social cohesion, community formation and meaning.
"Citizenship is also about meaning, the feeling that matters and belongs to it," Van Steden explained. It's about participating in society. That libraries play an important role in this was supported by all present. That's exactly why I switched from the commercial world to the library, said a library clerk. To feel that your work makes sense.
Participants shared experiences of meaning and meaning in their daily work and considered where it sometimes sheds. Our task of connecting and letting people engage in conversation is difficult to measure, while there is much emphasis on quantifying things. There can be a sense of despondency if too many social problems reach the library. Several library professionals indicated that insecurity plays a role in this: Due to the low threshold and openness of libraries, people who exhibit aggressive and/or confused behaviour regularly enter. However, this does not prevent them from doing their work with enthusiasm day after day.
What is driving library professionals in their work and what gives meaning and meaning to their work may be discussed more. In this way to talk to our personal motivations and experiences we do far too little!So, a woman enthusiastically shared at the end.