Cindi Trainor, co-author of the The Darien Statements on the Library and Librarians shares insights about the statement:
We hope that the statements we’ve crafted on our future spark conversation to move us forward in a positive way. There is a groundswell of passion and interest that we in our profession must harness, lest we become irrelevant in a rapidly-changing world.
My own personal response to what we have written involves the concept of openness. … For librarians to grow, and concomitantly, for our libraries to grow, we must throw the doors open: we can no longer afford to live in silos, whether it’s the silo of our individual or departmental expertise; the silos of data that comprise many library systems; the silo of a single library among institutions with similar missions; or the silo of libraries in the universe of other entities that gather and provide information.
My town election/library/school dream is about that openness. It’s about fostering connections all over the place—with other municipal departments, with libraries in our region and Commonwealth, with local newspapers and businesses and universities.
It’s about being bold and showing leadership. And what better time to do that than in the midst of a crisis?
