Abstract Libraries have evolved from collections to convening spaces over the past 30 years and the next evolution of libraries will see library leaders and workers advance community building. Leveraging the centrality of their spaces and the appreciative view their communities extend, library leaders and workers can build on the authentic concern we hold for our community’s wellbeing by fostering libraries as places for community transformation, regardless of library type. This article applies a powerful methodology for building community that assumes that conventional ways societies realize change is flawed because it fails increasingly large numbers of our citizens, despite our collective efforts to double down on what is not working for most of us. The shift from a retributive agenda to a restorative one where citizens reclaim their power and leaders’ job is transformed from solving problems to convening powerful conversations becomes the work of libraries and leaders. It should be noted that this article grew out of a series of conversations between the author and Peter Block, who advised on the content and structure of the paper and whose book Community: The Structure of Belonging provides the foundation of community building that this contribution adapts to a library leadership context.

中文翻译：

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图书馆和领导者作为真实社区的创造者：将我们的故事从孤立转变为所有权

摘要 在过去的 30 年里，图书馆已经从馆藏演变为聚集空间，图书馆的下一次演变将见证图书馆领导者和工作人员推进社区建设。利用他们空间的中心地位和他们社区扩展的欣赏观点，图书馆领导和工作人员可以通过将图书馆培养为社区转型的场所，而不管图书馆类型如何，从而建立我们对社区福祉的真正关注。本文应用了一种强大的方法来建立社区，该方法假设社会实现变革的传统方式是有缺陷的，因为它使越来越多的公民失败，尽管我们集体努力加倍努力解决对我们大多数人不起作用的事情。从报复性议程转变为恢复性议程，公民重新获得权力，领导者的工作从解决问题转变为召开强有力的对话，成为图书馆和领导者的工作。需要注意的是，本文源自作者与 Peter Block 之间的一系列对话，Peter Block 为论文的内容和结构提供了建议，其著作 Community: The Structure of Belonging 提供了本文所适应的社区建设基础到图书馆领导背景。