Strong social cohesion is a crucial factor in a community’s resilience in times of stress and disruption. Unfortunately, studies show that our communities are experiencing a steady erosion of social cohesion, pointing to an increase in loneliness, depression, and separation because of too much time spent online and too little time spent in community. Libraries have the position and the power to rebuild social bonds, offering that sense of community and shared place that humans crave. Active learning programs that bring people together for participatory, shared experiences are a boost to community strength, but they could go even further to amplify social connection and build social infrastructure. Join us as we explore library programs through the lens of social possibilities and devise strategies to be more intentional about forging stronger community bonds.

Presented by: Betha Gutsche, WebJunction Programs Manager, OCLC; and Jennifer Peterson, WebJunction Community Manager, OCLC

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Related Resources and Links

• Return to the Real: The Library as Social Connector, resources from a presentation at ALA Midwinter 2019
• The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters, by Priya Parker
  
• Social Connection Makes a Better Brain; E. E. Smith; The Atlantic; Oct 29,2013
• Connectedness & Health: The Science of Social Connection; E. Seppala; Stanford Medicine; May 8, 2014
• Palaces for the People: how social infrastructure can help fight inequality, polarization, and the decline of civic life; E. Klinenberg; 2018
• Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community; R. Putnam; 2001
• How Facebook Makes Us Unhappy; M. Konnikova; New Yorker; Sep 10, 2013
• 6 Ways Social Media Affects Mental Health; A. Walton; Forbes; Jun 30, 2017
• Have Smartphones destroyed a generation?; J. Twenge; The Atlantic; Sep 2017
• Feeling Lonely? Too much time on Smart Phones; K. Hobson; NPR; Mar 6, 2017
• Social Media, Social Life: Teens Reveal Their Experiences; Common Sense Media; Sep 10, 2018
• Technology and the connection to growing number of lonely teens; Jean Twenge on her new research, San Diego 10 News
  
• Connected, but alone?; Sherry Turkle; TED talk; 2012
• Bowling Alone: Urban Tribes in Concrete Jungles; K. Radhakrishna Murty; 2012
• Logged off: meet the teens who refuse to use social media; The Guardian; Aug 29, 2018
• Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter; D. Sax; 2017
• PEW Research Center Report on Library Use; Aug 2017
• A Library for All Ages; L. Castoria, Half Moon Bay Review, Aug 22, 2018
• The shallows: what the Internet is doing to our brains; N. Carr, 2010
• Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age
  
• Webinar on Choose Civility project, Howard County Library System
• Thunderdome, a documentary on Nerf culture by Rob Lehr. Read more, Community Through Nerf Wars
  
• Videos on Prince George Public Library Nerf programming and after-hours adults-only Nerf Battles at Carnegie-Stout Public Library
• Facebook group, Library Escape Room Enthusiasts
  
• Cardboard Challenge
• View an additional webinar with Betha, Getting to the Heart of the Community Through Discovery, to dive deeper into community discovery!