“Assessment of Rural Library Professionals’ Role in Community Engagement in the Southern and Central Appalachian Region: Mobilization from Change Agents to Community Anchors” (CA2CA@SCA-RL) partnered with state, county, university, and other types of libraries in the Southern and Central Appalachian (SCA) region to research community engagement efforts and create a strategic action plan for rural libraries to further community-centered activities and processes.
The overall project included the following: Phase 1: Collect quantitative and qualitative feedback from rural librarians in the SCA region about their perspectives and experiences in community engagement and what past/current role rural libraries have played in these community-centered processes; and Phase 2: Develop a Community Engagement Framework & Strategic Action Plan for rural libraries in its conceptualization and operationalization based on the above research. These grant deliverables were also informed by feedback provided by an advisory board of library professionals during project planning, design/implementation, and during a CA2CA@SCA-RL summit with 20 rural librarians/key SCA partners.
Participating partners represented in the advisory board (amongst others) included: 1) Blount County Public Library, Maryville, Tennessee; 2) Clinch River Regional Library, Clinton, Tennessee; 3) Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia; 4) Sevier County Public Library System, Sevierville, Tennessee; and 5) Wiggins Memorial Library, Buies Creek, North Carolina.
CA2CA@SCA-RL served as a pilot experience and assessment test bed to expand using similar strategies for rural environments nationwide based on availability of additional funding in the future. The SCA region was an ideal location to conduct this preliminary research on community engagement needs because the entire Appalachian region as a whole has traditionally faced challenging economic, social, and cultural conditions that have adversely affected the population living in these areas. Very little research has focused on how the library can play a central role in community engagement and building sustainable economic viability of communities in this region. This grant provides exploratory research in filling the gap.