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Step 3 - Harvesting the bounty This step is focused on documenting and celebrating what comes out of the work you and your partners have put into nourishing your seedling, or your idea. We are focused on that moment when a seedling becomes a fruitful plant. In the language of libraries, Read More

Step 4 - Rest and planning  Step 4 - Resting the garden and preparing yourself and the soil for next season - is focused on reflecting on the journey you, your partners, and your community have been on. It is also focused on looking forward. It is critical to take the Read More

Toolkit Additional Resources This toolkit is the result of nearly 130 interviews with roughly 70 library workers and 60 community partners in 18 United States communities. In addition to the narrative toolkit, we have also developed a suite of images that illustrate the process of cultivating the relationship-driven library. Those Read More

Step 2 - Nurturing the seedlings This step is all about nurturing the partnership seeds. It involves setting seedlings up for success, and nurturing them after they're in the soil. In other words, this step is about all the work you and your partners put in to bringing ideas into Read More

Step 1 - Planting the seeds This step is about exploring your library and community to find seeds (a confluence* of need and interest), identifying where to plant them (the partnerships you need to get ideas going), and then planting them (talking up the ideas to those you need to Read More

Toolkit introduction: Prepping the soil Why should you be a gardener of community relationships and partnerships? You may be saying "I have enough on my plate just keeping the lights on and the doors open." This page introduces the "why" behind this work. To get this work of building and Read More