The purpose of this study was to investigate how one local New Jersey public library contributed to the revitalization efforts of its community by building social networks that benefitted all members of the community. Because the nature of the study dealt with conditions that were social, the qualitative method of research was chosen. A personal interview was used to collect information on how the library built social networks within the community it served by identifying and connecting the library's assets to the community's. The data were compared to a model developed from a previous study, The Engaged Library: Chicago Stories of Community Building (2005), conducted by John Kretzmann and Susan Rans from the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at the Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois. The study concluded that a small public library can contribute to the development efforts of a community if the library takes a holistic, comprehensive approach to its out reach and library service efforts.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate how one local New Jersey public library contributed to the revitalization efforts of its community by building social networks that benefitted all members of the community. Because the nature of the study dealt with conditions that were social, the qualitative method of research was chosen. A personal interview was used to collect information on how the library built social networks within the community it served by identifying and connecting the library's assets to the community's. The data were compared to a model developed from a previous study, <em>The Engaged Library: Chicago Stories of Community Building</em> (2005), conducted by John Kretzmann and Susan Rans from the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at the Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois. The study concluded that a small public library can contribute to the development efforts of a community if the library takes a holistic, comprehensive approach to its out reach and library service efforts.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Snyder, Barbara J."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A. in School and Public Librarianship","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Special Educational Services/Instruction","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Shontz. Marilyn"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2007,"date_issued":"2007-05-10T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2007-05-10T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:46Z","subjects":["Libraries and community--New Jersey; Public libraries--New Jersey","Library and Information Science"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/846","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Shontz. Marilyn"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Snyder, Barbara J."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-03-30T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Special Educational Services/Instruction"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A. in School and Public Librarianship"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Libraries and community--New Jersey; Public libraries--New Jersey","Library and Information Science"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/846"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this study was to investigate how one local New Jersey public library contributed to the revitalization efforts of its community by building social networks that benefitted all members of the community. Because the nature of the study dealt with conditions that were social, the qualitative method of research was chosen. A personal interview was used to collect information on how the library built social networks within the community it served by identifying and connecting the library's assets to the community's. The data were compared to a model developed from a previous study, The Engaged Library: Chicago Stories of Community Building (2005), conducted by John Kretzmann and Susan Rans from the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at the Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois. The study concluded that a small public library can contribute to the development efforts of a community if the library takes a holistic, comprehensive approach to its out reach and library service efforts.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["How the public library contributes to community building: a case study"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Shontz. Marilyn"],"dc:creator":["Snyder, Barbara J."],"dc:date.available":["2016-03-30T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this study was to investigate how one local New Jersey public library contributed to the revitalization efforts of its community by building social networks that benefitted all members of the community. Because the nature of the study dealt with conditions that were social, the qualitative method of research was chosen. A personal interview was used to collect information on how the library built social networks within the community it served by identifying and connecting the library's assets to the community's. The data were compared to a model developed from a previous study, The Engaged Library: Chicago Stories of Community Building (2005), conducted by John Kretzmann and Susan Rans from the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at the Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois. The study concluded that a small public library can contribute to the development efforts of a community if the library takes a holistic, comprehensive approach to its out reach and library service efforts.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/846"],"dc:subject":["Libraries and community--New Jersey; Public libraries--New Jersey","Library and Information Science"],"dc:title":["How the public library contributes to community building: a case study"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Special Educational Services/Instruction"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A. in School and Public Librarianship"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:46Z"}