Programming Partners: University and Public Library Collaborations

Communities with universities and public libraries have a unique opportunity to collaborate on programs and services for students and local residents. In our small university town, two academic librarians have successfully collaborated with the public library to provide a civil rights lecture series and summer reading programs to a town of 10,000. While informative programs are often held on university campuses, by collaborating with the public library on grant programming, activities were taken into the community to reach a broader and more varied audience. Likewise, summer reading programs are a significant programming component of the public library. Hosting additional programs on the university campus allows for children to visit a university campus and participate in educational and fun programs that coordinate with the public library’s programming. Crucial to this type of collaborative programming is setting up points of primary contact between the university library and public library. Regular meetings and communication are essential to build programming that coordinates in content and exemplifies the services provided by the two types of libraries. The poster describes the collaborations and provide guidelines for approaching this type of collaborative programming.