The Metropolitan State Community-University Library and Information Center has always been conceptualized as a shared facility, serving not only Metropolitan State's need for library resources, but also providing a community library and many other learning and gathering opportunities for St. Paul's East Side Dayton's Bluff neighborhood. Through a partnership with the Saint Paul Public Library, which has a branch in the building, this project creates a multifaceted linkage between Metropolitan State's library facility and the community.
With the development of the University-Community Library, the neighborhood has gained access to a full range of technology and informative resources. The University-Community Library and Information Access Center provides both young and adult users a safe and quiet community place for study and use of materials. The Dayton's Bluff Branch Library provides the community a facility with a special focus on children, youth and their families. The library is an innovative place; the community and university join to forge new ideas, relationships, and expand new ways of meeting the needs of a diverse, urban population.
The Library-Community Outreach program encompass the following:
- A homework help center that provides reading, writing, math and computer literacy tutoring as well as other schoolwork support services. Metropolitan State students are recruited to tutor the learners of all ages who use The Zone Homework Help Center.
- Family literacy programs on-site at the new library that involve parents and other family members from the East Side neighborhoods.
- Library-based literacy and cultural programming for the community.
- Field trip opportunities for East Side schools to introduce and familiarize neighborhood teachers, children, and families with the University-Community Library.
- Cultural/multicultural events in the library facility that are open to the public, such as the Me in America exhibit in the library's third floor gallery. This exhibit featured work by students from Dayton's Bluff Achievement Plus Elementary School.
Current Center for Community-Based Learning initiatives that are enhanced by integrating public and university library resources are the Literacy Corps, College for Kids, and the YOUniversity Middle School program.