What commonalities do the community building goals of the Faith and public libraries share? How does librarianship conceive of human nature, and in what ways do these conceptions align with or pull away from conceptions found in the Writings? How does an historical view of librarianship evolve to meet the current needs of the Faith’s work in building community? How might access to information in a public library play a role in community building? This seminar will explore the library as a social institution, its varied structures and functions, as well as its interaction with the community and with other institutions. Using conceptions of the library found in the writings of the Guardian, and comparing these conceptions to recent literature in librarianship and information studies, participants will elaborate a vision of the role of libraries in community building. Community building is a core value of librarianship and of the Bahá’í Faith. The library is a space where this value can be expressed both through direct Bahá’í educational activities and through contributing to conversations within the profession. Identifying connections between conceptions of community building drawn from librarianship and drawn from the conceptual framework of the Faith will strengthen our ability to make these contributions. Librarians have an opportunity to learn how insights from the Bahá’í Writings and the framework for action can be expressed in the many social spaces afforded through the profession of librarianship. The library is one among many institutions that make up the fabric of a society. Learning to analyze and imagine new directions for these institutions is one aspect of how we can contribute to the transformation of society in a more coherent way.
