Better Together MIS

My MIS comes from our reading, Better Together. It can be found on page 42 right at the top. It goes like this, "In a community liek Cabrini Green, starting with a library sends a very different and much more positive message than starting with a police station". I chose this for my MIS because it's such an interesting concept to me. Rather than telling the community you don't trust them and they are so out of hand that they need another police station, you put in a library. Telling them that you do trust them and that you have faith in that community. Giving them a library gives the impression that someone out there cares about them and that you believe they only need the access to more resources to bring more success. A library is another form of education, so what an excellent way to bring more education to a community that is struggling with their educational system.

Better Together

My MIS for this week is from the article Better Together in the first paragraph under the "Other Neighborhood Branches" section.  The sentence I picked reads as follows: "And because nearby Humboldt Park has lakes stocked with fish, the library keeps a rack of fishing rods near the circulation desk, lending them to anyone who has a library card, with or without books on how to fish."

This quote is a bit random, but I think that it epitomizes the argument that libraries are becoming more than just a place to grab a book, but a "third place" for citizens within the community.  By renting out fishing poles in the library because there is a lake close by draws in a whole new crowd of people, whose original intent to come to the library was just to get a fishing pole, now checked out a book as well, and vise versa.  It is a way to connect to the surrounding community and embrace popular activities in the area.  I live right on the shore of Lake Michigan, and our library was just built right on the shore as well.  I think an idea such as this would be an excellent way to tie our library in with our community.  When libraries offer such services as this, it not only changes people's view of their library, but their community as a whole.

MIS

My MIS comes from page 45 in "Better Together," "Clark says that the first public act of many newcomers in the city is to get a library card. It is the first official document that connects them to their new home, that makes them part of the place. They can get one even if they do not speak English, and they do not have to prove anything except that they live in Chicago. Mary Dempsey describes the library as 'the least threatening institution.'"

I believe that this is an important passage because it goes to show that the library is a place where everyone, no matter what their background is, can feel comfortable. Often libraries also offer programs for people in the community, something that new members in the society could participate in so they could become more familiar with the community. It is not also comforting for newcomers to have a place where they feel accepted, but it is also a bonus that that they able to be made available to resources to help them improve their English.

MIS - Valerie Figlmiller

My MIS for this week's readings is from "Better Together." It is on page 42, and it states...

"This is one of the ironies of investing in social capital...improvements that help bring members of a community together sometimes also disrupt or sever old ties."

I chose this particular sentence, because I never realized this point before. It's difficult to help lower-income communities that are packed in together mainly due to the issue of space. If a poorer community has high-rise apartments that fit a lot of people in a small location at one time, then it is quite the challenge to make the community more beneficial. When you build houses and parks and other public areas, it decreases the amount of room left over for all those people to live. Also, when you improve a neighborhood, a lot of costs go up, such as in grocery stores or rent. A lot of the lower-income families simply cannot afford to live there anymore and are essentially forced out. Thus, the neighborhood will most likely become a middle-class community with new people. The lower-income people are then "in a pickle." While they would love to stay in their hometown, it is just not realistic anymore. Although I think it is fantastic that people are really trying to help out neighborhoods and invest in social capital, it is just too bad that it doesn't always work out, and sometimes creates an even worse situation than it had to begin with. How frustrating!