The library is still recovering from the first lockdown in March 2020. It was quite the shock when we had to close the doors for almost three months because the library usually ‘does not take a break.’

Fortunately, whilst adhering to very limited restrictions, we could reopen our doors for our visitors by the end of May 2020. People could only come to borrow books within a limited time of 30 minutes. No time for a chat, a sit down, reading a newspaper or checking your emails. It pained us to notice that we did not reconnect with our regular audience. No reading together, no reading out loud for our youngest members, no author readings, no knitting together or other workshops… It was clear that we would face a calm and rather boring period in the library. Sitting back and relaxing, however, is not our style. We put our heads together and discussed how we could stay in contact with our different target groups during and after summer. We tested different digital channels, and the experienced colleagues took the digital illiterate ones under their wings.  

What would our library audience need in a difficult time like corona? How can we adjust our public audience program to make it accessible to a wider audience? How can we be a positive note in this dark time? These questions popped up. The theory of Osterwälder that our changemaker introduced in our dementia project was suddenly not for away. With cold feet we organised our first digital author reading, we provided bedtime stories for toddlers using zoom, we had a digital bookdate evening, and we even hosted webinars to improve the digital skills of our audience.

People were immediately very enthusiastic about our activities. In a world where no physical contact is possible, it felt good to be able to participate to an event, even if it was in a digital way. People felt less lonely. That’s how the idea arose to work “something” out around the theme of loneliness. We introduced an artwork of an Ostend artist Yves Velter that symbolises loneliness and encouraged people to send in all kinds of artworks using this theme: paintings, pictures, poems, music… The response was immense. Not only was the topic of loneliness a very vivid one, but people were eager to participate in a wider project. We created a new digital platform to gather these artworks, and we created podcasts with audio fragments dealing with this theme. The result is a beautiful co-creation and participative project: Drijfgoud.

The digital train that we boarded in the beginning of I Improve is unstoppable. Zoom, Skype, teams and other channels have no secrets anymore and it is nice to see that we kept everyone on board. Although we hope to welcome more people in the library soon the digital knowledge that we gained gives us new possibilities to reach out to target groups and people who are not able to come to the library. We’re one step closer to becoming an inclusive library.

On Thursday march 12^th, sitting down for a meal at noon, I got a phone call from our alderman with the following message: you have to close the library right away. A rather surreal situation, giving instructions to the staff members, starting to swipe the entire building asking patrons to leave immediately. The following morning we started working in a building without customers. Something that surpasses the essence of what a public library is about, because we are there for those living in our community. Our mayor and alderman quickly decided that even though we had to close, we were to work out a format to set up a take-away service, taking into account all safety instructions. Our take-away service was operational Tuesday the 17^th.

Looking back we jumped into the deep end, there was no time to look for best practices, lessons learnt by other libraries, … as a team we were challenged. It felt as if we started with a dog paddle, slowly evolving to a unique swimming style, absolutely not ready for any competition. But hey, we were able to keep our heads above the water, we were getting from spot A to spot B. The way we organise things has evolved  and the whole library team has evolved dealing with it. This crisis brings us out of our comfort zone. Some of the team members want to face the ‘enemy’ and want to be there, right amongst those dealing with the patrons on a daily basis. They strongly believe that borrowing materials from a public library service is as essential as buying daily bread. And then there are colleagues who find themselves facing anxiety and worries, because the risk stakes of this health crisis are extremely high. If they could have their way they would prefer to be safe at home. It is not easy at all to find a common ground within a large team where both of the types of people are present. After two weeks we are slowly getting there.

But foremost there are our patrons: those expressing their gratitude by mail, the ones expressing a thousand thanks at the library service entrance, picking up the materials they’ve ordered. And then there are the patrons on the phone, because they are not online. Last Monday morning I had phone duty: it was good to get away from all the paperwork. An excellent positivity boost: elderly patrons calling me miss, and there was one patron who sang a song for me, expressing his gratitude. It was a popular Flemish hit: ‘Laat de zon in je hart’(Let the sun into your heart).

A colleague packed it up in the following phrase at the end of the week: whenever you feel you’re getting a dip, take up the ‘door shift’, you’ll immediately feel energised because of the gratitude of the patrons.

After two weeks I feel that things are slowly growing to a new routine and we are slowly learning to accept that in these times we have to let go of certainties, knowing that things can quickly turn into another direction.

But after two weeks I’m also sensing that we need a shift of focus, not merely thinking about the take-away service, but also thinking about where this brings us as a team.

As footballegend Johan Cruijff  once said ‘elk nadeel heb se voordeel’ (each disadvantage (incorporates) an advantage), I feel challenged to look for opportunities to move forward through this crisis. Now it’s clear that our doors remain locked for at least another 3 weeks it’s time to focus on how we can organise telework during these times and look for added value.  This is something the majority of the staff members are not used to. An excellent opportunity to engage new team members to our Erasmus+ partnership I_Improve, incorporating all the opportunities of informal learning in a digital working environment.

That is why I’d like to throw a Corona-challenge to 2 colleagues Jasmijn Deschacht and Jannicke Hap. I’m inviting them to step into a unique learning journey, linking with our Erasmus+ partners of the I_Improve partnership and colleagues in the library sector. So keep following as we take it day by day.

Jannicke Hap  and Jasmijn Deschacht, I challenge you!

Next I week I’d like you to introduce Zoom as an online tool to keep all the teleworkers in our team connected. But I’d also like to explore formats to keep connected with patrons.

Think about

• technical aspects
• getting the colleagues who do not feel comfortable with new digital tools to feel ‘yes we can’
• social aspects such as ‘how do we match the personal agenda’ and the need to get everyone of the staff or a team at the same time on our digital rendezvous
• if we need to introduce a Zoom-etiquette
• the potential to set up a Zoom-meeting for our shared reading groups, or the ‘reading aloud practice sessions’ or …

Explore, use your allocated telework-timeslots to dive into the matter, get into touch with colleagues and motivate them to get kicking.

Prove it with a real effective meeting for teleworkers by the end of next week!

Let we know when to save the date & hour Jannicke & Jasmijn!

Keep posted on our learning journey this week. We’ll definitely improve.

#ImproveEU #ostendlibrary #river//cities #Erasmus+

How does a professional organisation working for people with dementia look at a public library attempting to set up a project for this type of audience?

When a new project is being set up with a new partner there are a lot of ‘unknown’ elements. One can work out a planning, agree on certain issues, … But the proof of the pudding comes in the eating. It’s only when the project is no longer something on paper, but is put into practice that one can really evaluate how the cooperation went.
Ostend public library got in touch with FOTON, an expertise centre for people with dementia and their caregivers, located in Bruges, when we set out to work out ‘Forgotten orchestra’. The person who got the call was Hilde Delameillieure, coordinator of FOTON. She was there with us when we tried to finalize the project proposal, she was a phone call away when we stumbled on obstacles during the project and she was there when we presented the stories to outside world last September.
We were very eager to get her impression, as an expert in this field. How did she look at the way the library team handled this project? We’re glad to share her impressions with you:

The middle of February, a phone call from the Ostend public library arrived at FOTON. It was rather urgent, could I return the call? I was puzzled. It soon became clear there were crossover connections between FOTON and the public library: they wanted to set up a project for people with dementia and their caregivers.
Collecting stories about Ostend, using music to trigger the storytelling, editing the stories to a short story that could be published online! Those were the ambitions. All of this connected with a learning journey for the library staff.
The preparations were thorough and full of quality: meetings with European partners, well defined goals, precise timing, collecting plenty of information on dementia … ready to take the big jump.
I strongly felt the quote “it’s not we who pick the road, the road picks us” was spot on.
Full of energy, but also with some hesitation, the team stepped into ‘unknown territory’ with ‘unknown people’.
The blogs they wrote about their experiences were little gems of precise reflection and observation.
Warm encounters, with music and images, triggers for wonderful stories to surface. People were touched in their being. In no time the ‘I’ and ‘you’ became ‘we’.
The power of people became visible, tangible and audible.
There was room for vulnerability, if someone wished to share the same story five times, that was all right.
The encounters between participants was on a level of ‘soulmates’: watching became seeing, hearing became listening, talking became meeting. Each and every contribution was appreciated. There was beauty and unison.
Creating culture together, enjoying culture together, each of the participants had the potential to contribute to the story collection and was valued for that. These are the key elements in this project.
As a FOTON-staff member, I was amazed by what I saw and I was grateful to be part of this project. We too could learn from you. Giving and receiving was in balance.
We are eager to see what happens with the Ostend-stories!
You have our profound appreciation for what you have accomplished with the libraryteam, the volunteers, the author and the people with dementia and their caregivers. Congratulations!
Hilde Delameillieure, coordinator FOTON

Christmas is a time to sit together around a table, with various generations, sharing food and stories. Stories from Christmases past, about hilarious or very sad situations during outings, about our jobs, about who we met, about special moments during the past year. For me the storytelling project for people with dementia and their caregivers we set up at the public library stands out.

For those of you who have not yet heard about our project: we invited a small group of people with dementia and their caregivers to come to the library, we got out part of our vinyl collection from the stack (and of course some coffee and biscuits), and we invited them to share stories. Stories about  growing up, about living in Ostend, about war, about finding that special person, about discovering new countries, about music, …, not about the progress of their illness. There was laughter, and there were moments when it grew very silent. Summer brought time for the stories to be edited, getting ready for the public launch in September.

The overall feeling? I’m pretty impressed with what we have achieved up till now.

Pretty impressed about the learning journey we made with the staff. Inviting a group of library colleagues to embark on a project for people suffering from dementia is not that small a thing to ask. We stepped way out of our comfort zone of collections, loans and catalogues … The learning journey, linked to a European Erasmus+partnership I_Improve,  was intense and continues for us over the next 2 years.

Pretty impressed discovering how staff members cope with this new context to work in. I was proud to watch them coping with sudden changes during the afternoon sessions in spring. No set script to stick to! Learning from this specific audience, by letting them take the lead.

Pretty impressed to witness the potential of bringing in our ‘change maker’ Hilde Debrandt, an external expert coaching the library team involved in this project professionally through this change , from the very start of project definition till the presentation of the stories. The open mind with which the staff stepped into the sessions, contributing, searching, opening up to out of the box approaches gave us a strong start. It’s very good to have a change maker on board when you venture new domains within your workline.

But also very humble at moments when you feel the lump in your throat growing whilst one of the participants reflects on loosing grip, on not remembering any more, and coping with this situation. Overall we are a group of professionals used to sticking to set rules and procedures. It was inspiring and heart-warming to watch and learn how spontaneous a group of people can take care of issues as they come along. Team spirit and cooperation, no questions, just acting.

Pretty impressed by FOTON, our regional expertise centre for people suffering from dementia. During one of the first meetings we had with them we asked how should we call the audience we are working with? This is the answer that will always stick to my mind: we call them people with dementia, they are foremost and first ‘people’ living here and now. And we should approach them as people, taking into account a few specific elements. Isn’t that what inclusion is all about?

But most of all I was impressed by the people with dementia and their caregivers, willing to step into this project. They knew it was a library project, they knew we had no expertise on working with people with dementia, they knew it was a 1^st run of a project, and they said yes. They knew we could make mistakes, there was no precedent, but they came. With an open mind and their stories. Of the whole learning journey up till now I’ve learnt so much from them. Their willingness to come to the sessions was clear and straightforward, the signal they gave ‘we are here to participate and we can contribute’ was loud and clear. They and their caregivers emphasized this more than once: the potential of contributing, of sharing, of being able to give something to others makes this project stand out. They chose “The Forgotten Orchestra” as a title for their project.

They shared their stories with us and they had the trust to hand them over so we were able to edit them, adding them to the story-collection of our city on a digital platform, connecting their story to the outside world. The stories start in the past and are passed on to the future.

Dementia changes everything for the people with dementia and their caregivers, but there is still the longing to be meaningful to others. They did so, each with their own sound. An orchestra not to be forgotten.

December 26^th 2019

We’ve had our first meetings with the people with dementia these last few weeks. A group is moving forward, smiling faces at the moment. And slowly the feeling of ‘okay, we’re getting there step by step’ is growing’. There might still be a few challenging moments around the corner, but the overall feeling is confident at the moment.

Going through our notes for the EU-project in January, we were very much searching and questioning. But that’s how it goes with learning, you are ready to jump into the deep end and after some hard work you are very much aware of what you do not know! We all agreed on this after our 3^rd day of the learning week earlier this year.

Audience development and people with dementia: how does one tackle this challenge? And a project for this group, what should it be like? And should we be really going this direction, as a public library? These are only a few of the questions we put on the table.

We had a rough idea to start from: why not get some vinyl out of the library stock? The old collection could perhaps invite/ stimulate/trigger people with dementia to remember, to share stories.
We were struggling with finding the right words. How do you call people with dementia: customers, members, patients? How does one find the right words to address them? And how does one stay professional when emotions get the most of you?
We were absolutely convinced that we had a lot of learning to do and then there was this mentioning of Osterwalder… I 1st heard about this guy during a workshop with Cultuurconnect. His methodology proved to be very useful working out a format around digital reading and elderly people. Alexander Osterwalder is a Swiss business theorist who worked out a model: the Business Model Canvas. A smart way to analyse and further develop your enterprise. Especially his approach on ‘value-proposition design’ has proven to be very interesting tool to get the value between a customer and a product offer sharp.

It’s quite straightforward really: you position yourself in the shoes of the customer, you try to visualise his/her daily routines (customer profiles) and you try to map which elements in his life cause obstacles (pains) – hence he/she could use some support – and how this support could deliver some profit (gains). The next step is to focus on the products your organisation offers (services), and how, what you offer could be a pain reliever or a gain creator for your customer. The more links you can detect (fits) the more the project has the potential to succeed.

So we worked ourselves through the exercise. We mapped our worries and our assumptions, we tried to imagine what it’s like to be a person with dementia,  we tried to figure out how they feel about their situation and what is the most difficult part of it for them. Is it the fear of being excluded, anxiety, no longer belonging to the group, not being taken seriously?

And we tried to imagine what a person with dementia might need. A safe place? Could this be the library? Will the way we are running the library now do for them, is this sufficient? And when change is needed can we cope with this as an organisation?

We worked out a list of questions to ask to experts: Foton vzw, an organisations based in Bruges that specializes in supporting people with dementia in a home-environment. Our expectations are high. They will share their expertise with us.

By digging into the project, the reserve about whether a public library focus on this group in society slowly disappears. We agree: a public library should be able to offer people with dementia a warm welcome. This is a growing group in society. And they too need a place where they can just be themselves. Where they feel surrounded by people and a collection where they can just take part and be part of.

The library a 3^rd place 4all.

April 30th 2019, a day to remember

7.40 am and catching the train to Brussels heading for Cultuurconnect. On the agenda: a meeting with the steering group of the Unified Library System that Flanders is rolling out. Ostend public library is part of migration group 2. Exciting times for the whole team and getting ready for a few months with plenty of change later this year.

Usually I spend my time replying to some messages that wink at me from my mailbox, but today my mind is focussed on the colleagues in Ostend and I wish I could be with them. Today is D-day for the library, not because of the new library system, but because finally the team working on our project for people with dementia are having the 1^st session with the group and their caretakers.

Last year our city expressed the ambition to become a dementia-friendly city. Hence the question to the library: can you contribute? Honestly, I felt quite insecure in tackling this request. Sometimes one needs a ‘gentle’ push from someone to get your teeth into a project. It was my director, Martine Meire, who triggered me to step into unknown territory. We got last summer to carefully start shaping this project and we got the golden opportunity of being part of an Erasmus+ learning partnership with a focus on workplace learning. A unique chance to take, even claim, time for important things when on a day to day basis, we are very often focussing on the urgent.

Early this year, we got started at the Ostend public library on defining the project with a small group of library staff and a visiting group of Polish colleagues during a learning week within an Erasmus+ learningpartnership. Five days of learning, sharpening the project definition, sharing knowledge, learning from experts on dementia, … Learning from each other, that’s what it was and is all about.

March 16th: Growing insights & the power of learning

A 1^st day with a group that has never worked together is always about finding one another. Observing and listening. By watching closely, by listening without interrupting, by observing like an anthropologist, having an eye for great little things.

The library is an excellent place to put this into practise, many birds of a un-similar feather can be found there. It’s good to approach them with an open mind and a large dose of empathy.

But how can you relate to a target group that you really do not know that well?

You’ve heard about hunger, but you always had enough food in your fridge.
You’ve heard about poverty, but you were always able to pay the necessary bills.

You’ve heard about mental or physical impaired people, but you yourself still have all your capacities.
That’s how it goes for dementia.
You’ve heard about dementia, you think you know a few things about it, but you yourselves are not confronted with the disease.

Dementia has an extra layer, it sounds very threatening, it is as if we all could suffer from it one day, next year, tomorrow. What if a loved one is diagnosed with it…

When dementia hits you it implies change. As a person you have to cope with the diagnosis, and later on, as the disease progresses, it means you are continuously less conscious of yourself, lose track of yourself and others, even though you are still there. Not something to look forward to.

Meeting and going into interaction with people with dementia is something most of us do not feel comfortable about. They are part of society, they live in our city, the have a right to find a place, in the library too.

“If we define ourselves as an inclusive library we should at least reflect on how we can offer them and their caretakers a correct welcome”.

So the public library of Ostend said yes to this challenge. We want to learn how we should interact with this group, how we can offer them the place and the service they are entitled to. A place to come home to, however the condition affects them.

Quite a challenge for a learningweek. The first group discussions are complex: a knot of learning needs and learning goals. And every now and then, a ‘yes’! The most important lesson learnt:  the power of observation as a way of learning to understand each other.

“Observation as a tool to understand one another better.” 

Antrophologist Ruth Soenen listst up a number of do’s to put this into practice, and they are in fact quite easy to get started.

This Erasmus+ partnership is about learning on the job and about learning from each other. Taking every opportunity, when colleagues from Poland are visiting us or when we interact with customers of the library.

“This week is about connecting and stories, about the power of sharing emotions, skills and ideas with each other, about the collaboration of several people with differing knowledge working together on equal terms.”

Just to clarify: the Polish colleguaes do not work in a public library but they are active with audiences and cultural workers, and this gets us a long way and on top of that some out of the box approaches.
I’ll always remember this Saturday in January 2019 at the Ostend public library, with Avril, Izabela, Robert, Malgorzata, Hans, Isabelle, Martine, Hilde en Matthias.

A lot to learn.

---