Last weekend, I had the opportunity to participate in an international communication exercise known as Amateur Radio Field Day. It was a ton of fun and I learned a lot about radios and how the different emergency response agencies here operate and coordinate during emergencies. For Canada Day, I decided to take my radio and visit 10 National Historic Sites around the city, having international radio conversations at each one. It was exciting and exhausting, and I finished my last conversation with only 15 seconds to spare.
This isn’t a blog about radios (though maybe I should start one), so one might rightly ask, what does this have to do with anything? And the answer is community engagement. For Field Day, the event was publicized in the local media, and members of the public were encouraged to stop by, learn about the agencies that will be handling the response to climate emergencies and disasters, and even get on the air to talk to people around the world. For my Canada Day excursion, I was out in the community, visiting historic sites and parks on a day most people weren’t at work but out enjoying the great weather.
People are curious about what’s going on, why do I have that antenna, who am I talking to, what’s it’s all about. And I get to tell them! Sometimes the conversations are about technical topics, how many watts of power does my radio use (6, about the same as a household LED light bulb) and how far does it reach (more than 7000km). But the “why” questions are my favourite. I get to talk about how I can use gear that fits in my backpack to talk to people in my city, province, country, and internationally. And I can communicate effectively when the power is out, when there’s no internet or cell service, and when fascists decide to turn off access to their satellite networks. I tell them about using radios to coordinate first aid response for events like the city’s marathon to avoid overwhelming the 911 medical response system. I talk about how someone who needs insulin might have trouble getting it when there’s an ice storm that’s knocked out power, and how a radio like mine can help bridge that gap.
Usually I get a “wow, that’s really interesting” or a “fun, good luck!” but occasionally I get a “where can I learn more about this?” I tell them about people they could talk to about emergency preparedness and communications, groups they could follow and join, the process of getting a license, and how inexpensive the radio equipment is. I talk about forming a group in your apartment building, with your coworkers, at your church, to share the costs and practice the skills.
These are the same kind of information management skills that I’m learning about in my classes. I’m doing something like a reference interview and literature search, understanding what their needs are within their communities and trying to offer resources that can empower them to take care of each other. These are not people who walked into a radio club meeting to ask about it, they’re just people I encountered in my everyday life. In their everyday life. It’s given me a lot to think about for library services and community engagement. An antenna is a very visible eye-catching thing when encountered in a park, and it gets people curious. How can I have that same kind of presence in my community for my library?