Each LACL forum attendee wanted to make a difference in their community, yet a concern that they often expressed was about starting a conversation in the library with both coworkers and the public about the library’s role in supporting people who want to change their drug or alcohol use. Some library staff and communities will be more receptive than others, but demonstrating a need is a good universal first step. From there, proponents can discerning what role their library can and should play.
Each community looks different, and one way to determine where the holes in services are is through a community analysis: find out who is already going work in this area. A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis follows. Finally, the library can form a team to coordinate efforts.
Community Analysis
Many librarians are aware of substance abuse problems in their community because they see it every day – often combined with mental health or other social problems. The people at the University of Kansas who create and maintain the Community Tool Box explain that their mission is “to promote community health and development by connecting people, ideas, and resources.” The section “Understanding Community Context” includes methods for Understanding and Describing the Community; Developing a Plan; Collecting Information; and Analyzing Community Problems, including the root causes of the problem. They have been adding to this resource for the past 30 years – it is comprehensive, and used by nonprofits around the world.
They point out that a community is “any group sharing something in common — place (such as a city, neighborhood, or school district), experience (such as shared experience of racism), or interest (e.g., a community’s concern about poverty or violence prevention).” For our purposes, we will focus on interest: groups that are focused on improving the health and wellbeing of the community. What existing groups are in your community that already serve the people who you want to extend services to? Write all of those down, along with their missions, costs, leaders, etc. Reach out to leaders and meet with them so that you can learn about their perspective, and share the library’s as well.
SWOT Analysis
Next, you might perform a SWOT Analysis to determine the library’s position in the landscape: what are the library’s existing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in regards to expanded programming for this population? The SWOT Analysis should be conducted as part of the strategic planning process so that the new initiatives are integrated into the fabric of the library, rather than than as an add-on.
Laurence Minsky and David Aron (2021) explain that the SWOT should start with external factors (the threats and opportunities), and don’t limit yourself to one or two words in your grid. Be explicit and write full sentences and paragraphs so that you can generate recommendations from those internal and external factors.
Your efforts will yield a concrete list of problems and possible solutions that are tailored for both your community and the library. Importantly, the list takes into account what others in the community are already doing. You might find that there are many people working in this area but that there is no coordination between the groups. In this case, the library might serve as a hub. If there are few services in your area, the library might need to play a more substantive role.
Forming a Team
New initiatives need a champion, but that person can’t be successful without the support of a team. Who in your library might be interested? Consider people who work in all of the library’s departments, such as circulation, children’s services, outreach, as well as public service librarians. They will all have different perspectives and ideas. Are there other libraries in your state or region who are also working in this area? If so, reach out to them for and form a larger coalition for mutual support and idea-sharing. Set up a way to share ideas and collaborate – Google Docs? Slack? Discord? What works for your group?
References:
Minksy, L. & Aron, D. (2021, Feb 23). Are You Doing the SWOT Analysis Backwards? Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/02/are-you-doing-the-swot-analysis-backwards?
University of Kansas (2025). Community Tool Box. https://ctb.ku.edu/en