The Roeliff Jansen Community Library Turns Outward

Community Conversations – Findings – HERE

In 2019, the Roeliff Jansen Community Library joined a handful of other libraries in the Mid-Hudson Library System in a yearlong project called Turning Outward, which uses tools and techniques developed by the American Library Association’s Transforming Communities program. These tools and techniques help library staff and trustees put the community’s interests at the center of library services and strategic planning and decisions. They help us learn what YOU want, not only from your library, but for your community.

In April through June, the Roe Jan Library facilitated a series of Community Conversations designed to get people thinking and talking about their aspirations for the community—what sort of community do we want to live in? Are there things that could be improved or changed that would make the Roe Jan community a better place to live? How can we begin to make that change happen? And what are the obstacles to creating the change we want?

We reported on what we learned to the town boards of Ancram, Copake, and Hillsdale, and at a meeting open to the community here at the library in September, where we heard from even more of you. We hope to hear from more of you still, as we keep talking about what makes our community special, and what we—the library and the community—can do to make it even better.
A summary of what we learned is available HERE. Please let us know your thoughts!