Director of Libraries Message
What do you think of when you see the word “literacy"? For much of my life, it meant the ability to read and write, to have a vocabulary of words and the ability to arrange them into meaningful sentences. Over the years, I began to see the word used in the context of how technology integrates into our lives - being “computer literate” became a real requirement and morphed into the bigger concept of “digital literacy”.
Recently the need for a broader understanding of ‘media literacy’ has grown in importance. UNESCO defines literacy as “as a means of identification, understanding, interpretation, creation, and communication in an increasingly digital, text-mediated, information-rich and fast-changing world.” Wow. Suddenly, ‘literacy’ feels like a much bigger thing that we are pressured to keep up with. What happens when we don’t have regular access to the tools or knowledge of the resources to keep up?
This week, I spent time with the staff at our Downtown Library’s Life Literacies Center. This team embraces the reality that there are many in our community in need of help navigating life, and need help building the understanding, connections and knowledge necessary to secure and keep a job, housing and benefits. The Life Literacies Center provides a safe, judgement-free space within the Library building where important local partner organizations and their outreach teams can connect with those in need of assistance.
These partners include Encompass Community Services, offering Outreach Worker office hours on Monday and Friday afternoons “for anyone with questions regarding connecting to social services, county mental health, addiction recovery options, housing applications, the Homeward Bound bus ticket program, obtaining a PO Box, clearing camping tickets, obtaining a fee-free DMV CA Identification application and more.”
People experiencing homelessness have drop-in assistance options with Volunteer Housing Navigators on Tuesday afternoons and the Housing Matters Outreach Team on Thursday afternoons. The Homeless Garden Project, which offers job training and transitional employment opportunities, offers drop in hours on Wednesday mornings. Wings, which helps people get copies of vital documents such as birth certificates and works with people who have recently found housing to stay housed, offers drop-in sessions on Thursday mornings.
The Santa Cruz Poetry Project, which offers poetry workshops to incarcerated individuals through their Poetry in the Jails Project, extends that opportunity to individuals in a ‘safe and encouraging environment’ on Monday afternoons. Additionally, a weekly English conversation group meets in a meeting room nearby.
The mission statement of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries is captured in three succinct words: Inclusion, Connection and Collaboration. This mission comes to life as our patrons, partner organizations, and the library team come together in fostering “life literacies”. I encourage you to check it out.
Christopher Platt
Director of Libraries
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