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School and public librarians both strive, to otter resources a nd services to their com munities, often with limited budgets. School and public libraries offer different business hours, diverse resources, different online databases, unique facilities and makerspaces, and varying services. Both also collect materials and provide programming for many of the same patrons. It is well established that collaboration between libraries can connect patrons with more resources and services. Through collaboration, school and public librarians can increase opportunities to serve their patrons, ensuring their serv ices and resources are used fully, which would not be possible while working independently. The end result is better service to the community as a whole.
The problem is that even though many school and public librarians share a common goal to serve their community, they seldom work together to share resources and services. In School Library Journal's 2018 Spending Survey, only 18 percent of school librarians indicated that they had a high level of partnership with their local public library (Jacobson 2018). There are many legiti mate reasons for this. For one, school or public libraries may have inadequate funding, resources, or available staff to dedicate to collaborate with the other library. School librarians are often needed in the library or school for most of the day. However, some of these same reasons are exactly why school and public libra rians shou ld collaborate.
In a Knowledge Quest blog post on school and public library collaboration, Elizabeth Pelayo described how public and school libraries share a common goal in that they both want children and young adults to get excited about reading (2019). She suggested that librarians make an effort by e-mailing and finding time to get together in person. She was able to see exactly how the two libraries could collaborate after one visit to the public libraries teen section.
Why Collaborate?
Librarians often want to work with other librarians to help the people they serve. School librarians are motivated to collaborate with others not only for the learners but also to improve their own job satisfaction. Library collaboration can create friendships, inspire new ideas, and develop supportive advocacy networks when it is desperately needed. It also can help secure the support needed for resources, such as funding,...