Addendum I

Community Building Plan

Here, we explain how building relationships with communities helps libraries stay meaningful and connected to people’s daily lives.

In BLOCK #3, we spoke about understanding the specific needs of an audience — those who will participate in your activities and engage with the knowledge you, as a library professional or an educator, can offer. In this block, we talk about how working with communities rather than an audience helps ground library work even deeper in the daily lives of the people you work for and thus ensure that library services remain relevant.

Working with an audience is not the same as working with a community. If you work with communities, the library ceases to be the “default center” that offers knowledge and expertise. Instead, the library becomes an ecosystem that identifies and supports existing local networks or communities, whether they are established partners, grassroots initiatives, or emerging voices. The library does not actually “build” a community; communities exist regardless. What community building means is that the library builds a shared collaborative knowledge space where community members share their knowledge and reflect on that together. In a community context, for example, the librarian does not need to be an AI expert. They become a facilitator and supporter of existing peer-to-peer dialogue already existing in their service area.
 

UNDERSTANDING SOME SIMPLE TRUTHS

Because every context is unique, there are no one-size-fits-all blueprints for library community work. Each library operates within a specific environment of learners and cultures, requiring tailored approaches that respect local dynamics. This work demands that we step beyond our walls and predefined audiences.

Trying to serve everyone equally dilutes impact. To ensure long-term community building, we must prioritize strategic focus over fragmented efforts. That means that you hand over the ownership of your library to the strategic communities you prioritise. This requires a vital shift: when community building is done right, that ownership becomes a long-term engagement between the library and the community and vice versa. It is fundamental to stay meaningful and relevant as a library, today and in the future. But let us start from the beginning.
 

START FROM EXISTING COMMUNITIES

Effective community building begins with observation and mapping. Rather than inventing groups, we identify existing networks (professional, informal, local) that align with our mission. Starting a community without a shared and urgent need rarely succeeds.

We ask:

• Who is already active?
• Where do people naturally connect?
• Who remains underserved?

Our role is not to own these communities, but to support and connect them, creating the conditions for collective growth. If we apply this to LIBRA.I. for instance, we identified that AI rapidly evolves from hype to commodity, thus raising questions and creating a need for theoretical but also practical understanding. Knowing that focused effort increases impact, each LIBRA.I. library selected an existing community in their service area: senior residents in Riga, storytelling adults in Łódź, and young podcastmakers in Brussels.
 

BECOME OR FIND THE COMMUNITY BUILDER

The community builder plays a crucial role in this process. Ideally, this person is recruited from within the community and has strong credibility as a community member (as well as on the chosen topic) and trust. They know what knowledge and skills are present in the network of their community and have the ability to initiate and facilitate meaningful conversations. In the case of LIBRA.I., we looked for a respected member of the community with a certain knowledge of AI in the prioritized field (e.g., storytelling, podcasting).

Community building is not only about logistics or communication. It is about sense-making: listening carefully, identifying patterns, and turning shared experiences into collective learning and action. The community builder always operates at the intersection of practice and strategy. And this is beneficial in both ways, as community members engage more when they recognize their own realities in the community’s direction. Community builders must be able to translate insights from dialogue into both short-term initiatives and long-term strategic direction.

The community builder becomes the facilitator of the dialogue between participants with different levels of digital literacy while encouraging peer learning and collective reflection. In this role, you recognize that valuable knowledge already exists within the community: participants bring their own experiences - in our case, of using AI tools at work, at home, or in their creative practices. By creating space for participants to share these experiences, the community builder helps surface practical insights, questions, and informal expertise that might otherwise remain invisible. Someone who experiments with generative AI for writing may offer tips that help others understand its possibilities, while another participant may raise critical questions about privacy, bias, or reliability. In this way, the community becomes a collaborative knowledge space rather than a one-directional transfer of information.
 

START SMALL AND GROW WITH INTENTION

Strong communities are built gradually. As we suggested in BLOCK #3, you might begin with one clearly defined target group or persona. Focus on creating a meaningful experience for this early community, test assumptions, and refine your approach based on feedback. Once this group is active and engaged, you can consider expanding or diversifying it.

Early commitment works both ways: the more you invest in your first communities, the stronger their commitment is to you. Identify those who share knowledge spontaneously, support other members, and connect people and ideas. These early members can become ambassadors who embody the values and culture of the community. Their involvement attracts others and reinforces a sense of belonging. Offer them exclusive content, dedicated spaces, or opportunities to shape the community. Above all, listen carefully to their feedback and let it influence your decisions. In Brussels, the “AI toolkit for podcasters”, a LIBRA.I. experiment, led to a talk series of curated conversations on “AI vs. Creativity” hosted by two community members who started a dialogue with two other community members on the impact (or not) of AI on their creative expression.

Keep in mind: community engagement depends on regularity. Consistency builds trust. Variety sustains interest. Develop a clear calendar that combines hands-on workshops, talks by artists or designers using AI, creative experiments, discussions on AI and misinformation, or demonstrations of practical tools. In the National Library of Latvia, for example, there already was a format dedicated to senior citizens: “Senior Wednesdays”. This format can easily incorporate topics around AI (more on this in BLOCK #5).

Exploring AI through continuous different formats, perspectives, and topics in various regular settings establishes the library as a place to learn about AI safely and understandably. By inviting different speakers and experimenting with formats such as podcasts, videos, exhibitions, or online articles, communities remain curious and motivated to continue learning about AI and its impact. Using clear ethical guidelines, transparent explanations of tools, and a familiar format for activities also reassures people that the library is approaching AI responsibly and thoughtfully.
 

MEASURE, LEARN, ADJUST

Community building cannot rely on intuition alone. Regularly analyse activity levels, participation rates, and engagement with different types of content. Use this information to adjust your approach. Communities evolve, so to remain relevant, plan regular listening moments. These moments help detect emerging needs and prioritise improvements. Change may involve experimenting with new formats, tools, governance models, or partnerships. Make choices together with your members. When people are involved in shaping the future of the community, their sense of ownership grows. Always remember that a community is not a static thing. Over time, people and community leaders change. You want to learn more about change management? Read BLOCK #8!