Defining Partnerships

Williamsburg Regional Library(WRL) in Virginia has adopted a unique way of  describing the various levels of partnerships between the library and community organizations.  WRL's usage of dating terms to describe the levels of partnerships is quite cleaver and detailed. This information may be useful to a library trying to expand or begin community partnerships.

 Instead of trying to reword this information i have listed it exactly as it appears at http://www.wrl.org/about-us/community-partnership-program:

PARTNERING IS A STRATEGIC TOOL:
Williamsburg Regional Library collaborations with community partners strengthen the library's ability to fulfill its mission and helps the library  meet the needs of all members of the community.  The library's partnerships

•  flow out of the library's mission and vision
•  are a library-wide strategy
•  are centrally coordinated
•  are a formal process

DEFINITION OF A PARTNERSHIP: Libraries have collaborative relationships with many community entities. To acknowledge the importance of all library-community relationships, but to differentiate between the levels of library-partner involvement, the Williamsburg Regional Library has defined the term "partnership" to include four types of relationships: glances, dates, engagements, and marriages.
GLANCE: any overture or contact between the library and a community group.
DATE: an agreement between the library and a community partner to accomplish a specific short-term activity or commitment.
ENGAGEMENT: an agreement between the library and a community partner to work together toward a marriage after an initial experimental phase. Engagements are temporal: they either evolve into a marriage, dissolve, or downsize to a date.
MARRIAGE: a formal agreement between the library and a community partner with compatible goals, to share the work, share the risk, and share the results or proceeds. The library and the community partner jointly invest in resources, experience mutual benefits, and share risk, responsibility, authority, and accountability. Marriages are formed for the long-term benefit to the partners.
POTENTIAL PARTNERS:
*Businesses
*Civic Groups
*Nonprofit organizations - local, state, national
*Schools and colleges
*Libraries
*Government agencies - local, state, federal
REASONS TO USE THE PARTNERSHIP TOOL:
*Reach new library users
*Reach current library patrons in a new way
*Tap into community assets and strengths
*Gain support for library resources/programs
*Gain valuable feedback
*Create new library resources

From Partnering with Purpose (Libraries Unlimited, 2004)
For more information about the library's partnership program, please contact
Janet Crowther, Outreach Services Division,  jcrowthe@wrl.org, 757.259.4066

For more information about Williamsburg Regional Library visit http://www.wrl.org/about-us/community-partnership-program.