Clearinghouse of Professional Information

Community Development Resources

This section includes general links and resources related to community development and the public library’s role in community development.

SOLS provides consulting assistance and advice in the area of community development. In addition, occasional training opportunities are available to library trustees and staff through clinics and workshops. General inquiries on this topic can be sent to Anne Marie Madziak, SOLS Consultant at:

OLS-North provides consulting and advice to library boards and CEO’s on community development. OLS-North also provides training opportunities through annual conferences and area workshops. Five additional community development tool kits will be produced in the next three years. Further information on OLS-North services in this area can be found in the Community Development section of the OLS-North website or their Marketing and Community Development Advisor, Dana Potter at:

Topics include

General Resources | Community Asset Mapping | Community Capacity Building Tools  | Libraries as Cultural Partners  | Public Libraries and Community Development | Social Value

	indicates an item written by SOLS staff		indicates an item written by OLS-North staff
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General Resources

• Crime Prevention and Personal Safety for Your Library and Community. Community Development Tool #2, 2004. Ontario Library Service-North (OLS-North) received funding through the National Crime Prevention Strategy’s Community Mobilization Fund, a program of the Government of Canada’s Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, to develop a series of workshops and a toolkit to help public libraries take a lead role in developing local crime prevention initiatives. This toolkit was previously e-published on the OLS-N  website. It is a case study of how to use a particular community issue to kick start your community development efforts. It is available for purchase from OLS-N.
• The Library as a Community Development Partner. (.pdf) Module 10. Library Board Orientation Kit focuses on the library as a community development partner.
• The Library’s Contribution to the Community: A Resource Manual for Libraries to Document their Social and Economic Contribution to the Local Community. Second edition 2007. A unique approach to demonstrating the value of the public library, designed to present municipal councils and administrators with local data created with library input. It can be used by any library at a level appropriate to resources available.
• From Restless Communities to Resilient Places: Building A Stronger Future For All Canadians (.pdf)   Final Report of the External Advisory Committee on Cities and Communities June 2006. Chapters 7-9 of the report they deal specifically with the social and cultural dimensions of community sustainability.
• From the Ground Up: An Organizing Handbook for Healthy Communities (.pdf) (Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition) This handbook gives information and tips on getting started, assessing community needs and assets, organizational development, planning, communication, leadership, partnerships, fundraising, evaluation and more.
• Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition This website offers a wealth of resources on community development, including healthy community fact sheets, tool kits and handbooks. They also profile a number of success stories throughout Ontario.
• Tamarack: An Institute for Community Engagement Tamarack is a dynamic organization that champions collaboration and citizen engagement in solving complex community issues.  Tamarack sponsors projects and provides a wealth of learning resources via its website.

Community Capacity Building Tools

• The Canadian CED Network: Strengthening Canada’s Communities (CED Network) Promoting excellence in the field of CED, this partnership is committed to developing and delivering products and strategies that expand the scale and effectiveness of CED in Canada.
• Community Development: General Information (Social Development Canada)This site contains links to community development and capacity building resources.
• The Community Resilience Manual: A Resource for Rural Recovery & Renewal. The Centre for Community Enterprise has been exploring the concept of community resilience. At issue is the economic and social vitality of rural communities across Canada and the United States. The Manual offers valuable assistance to any small community that wants to make better decisions about mobilizing and investing its resources.
• Community Tool Box (Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas U.S.A.). How-to resources on community health, community and neighbourhood development, community leadership, strategic planning, community assessment, advocacy, grant writing and links to other resources.
• Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers (CANDO) Training opportunities, resources and events in support of aboriginal development officers.
• Community Capacity Building (CCB)Program  A capacity building program developed from a human resource development perspective in Newfoundland.
• INSTIGATE! An Online Toolkit for Community Mobilization
• The Partnership Handbook(.pdf) (HDRC) Information about partnerships, forming partnerships, the skills and knowledge required, and managing partnership.

Community Asset Mapping

• Canadian Rural Partnership Asset Mapping: A Handbook (.pdf) This handbook introduces community asset mapping as a useful tool in rural community development.
• Mapping the assets of your community: A key component for building local capacity. (pdf) (Southern Rural Development Center, MS) Lionel Beaulieu’s 14 pages article extends the work of Kretzmann and McKnight by presenting a strategy for identifying individuals with leadership potential in the community, and by discussing the role of asset mapping in engaging local people in community enhancement efforts.
• Take Our Community’s Asset Mapping Test (RECA Foundation) Although created for the Washington area, the mapping tests #1 through 4 are designed to help collect information about people and groups in your community.

Public Libraries and Community Development

• Community-led Libraries Toolkit (Working Together Project) This project  has two main objectives. The first objective is to use a community development approach to build connections and relationships in the community. The second objective is to identify and investigate systemic barriers to library use. The Kit can also be downloaded.(.pdf)
• The Engaged Library: Chicago Stories of Community Building. (.pdf) Through the use of case studies, this research demonstrates the library’s important role in building community. Published in 2005 by the Urban Libraries Council in partnership with the North West University’s Asset Based Community Development Institute.
• Libraries Build Sustainable Communities. This ALA web site introduces sustainable community development as a process for making choices about the f future and suggests activities to guide communities and libraries toward becoming sustainable. Some practical suggestions for getting started in sustainable community work are provided.
• Libraries Building Communities. (State Library of Victoria, Australia) An Australian study looking at the value public libraries bring to their communities. The report also shows how libraries build social capital and the community role of public libraries. The findings of the study are presented in four reports, and are summarized in an Executive Summary.
• Libraries Leading the Way in Community Economic Development (Library and Archives Canada. Electronic Collection) This site, created originally by LibraryNet, provides links to web pages that demonstrate how public libraries are taking on new roles to promote community economic development.
• Making Cities Stronger: Public Library Contributions to Local Economic Development. (.pdf) Commissioned by the Urban Libraries Council in Evanston, Illinois, and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates and Geraldine R. Dodge foundations, the report  suggests that public libraries are shifting from being passive institutions for recreational reading and research to active economic development agents working to address such issues as literacy, workforce training, small business vitality, and community quality of life.