Extension-Library Partnerships: Looking Backwards 100 Years for Inspiration for the Next Century

Abstract

Libraries and cooperative extension have similar missions of providing information and research to the public in order to build strong communities. One might think the parallel path of both entities that serve the public would have collaborated more closely. This may not have happened in the first 100 years of cooperative extension, but extension-library partnerships could be the innovation both entities need to stay relevant for the next 100 years. This paper will share some examples from the University of Minnesota and other libraries around being partners to further the mission of Extension and agricultural information dissemination.