A new 2009-2010 study from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the American Library Association is just out. Libraries continue to expand their digital services while facing budget cuts and shortened operating hours. Sadly, it sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Some evidence from the study that surveyed public libraries:
* 67 percent of libraries say they're the only provider of free public access computers and Internet in their communities.
* 15 percent of libraries report reduced operating hours. More than 55 percent of urban libraries report funding cuts.
* 89 percent of libraries provide technology training, including skills, software and job-seeking training.
* 82 percent of libraries provide Wi-Fi access.
A "Key findings" summary of the report (in PDF form) is available here.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The Most Modern Public Library in the World!
The most modern, and clearly coolest, library in the world is in Delft, Netherlands. It's called DOK. Also called the Library Concept Center you can check it out via the link above and the Shifted Librarian's Blog post about her 2008 trip there. Imagine sitting in those Listening Chairs! In another article about DOK by Erik Boekesteijn who's a librarian there describes DOK's mission to become and remain the most advanced library in the world. Using creativity, technical innovation, and advancing scientific understanding, DOK endeavors to be an indispensable source of inspiration for its members, visitors, and partners in the city of Delft, in the Netherlands, and in the world. In this way, DOK hopes to safeguard access to the independent, objective, free flow of information that is essential for democracy now and in the future.
DOK came up with new services and better ways to present the library to their community. For instance, Tank U is a download station that uses Bluetooth. Content that DOK librarians select, such as a library magazine, an agenda of activities, or an audio book, can be installed onto these Tank stations. Think of the promotional possibilities when you place the Tank U in railway stations, hospitals, cinemas, theaters, and so on. People with Bluetooth applications on their cell phones can download content to their phones and play it on the train and all over the city.
Post a comment and share your library services and design wishes!
DOK came up with new services and better ways to present the library to their community. For instance, Tank U is a download station that uses Bluetooth. Content that DOK librarians select, such as a library magazine, an agenda of activities, or an audio book, can be installed onto these Tank stations. Think of the promotional possibilities when you place the Tank U in railway stations, hospitals, cinemas, theaters, and so on. People with Bluetooth applications on their cell phones can download content to their phones and play it on the train and all over the city.
Post a comment and share your library services and design wishes!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Want to know what the experts are thinking about libraries--their services, buildings, and futures??
This brief excerpt comes from the Council on Library and Information Resources report, Rethinking Libraries: Rethinking Space, Rethinking Roles.
Reinventing the Library—Technology as Catalyst
"With the emergence and integration of information technology, many predicted that the library would become obsolete. Once students had the option of using their computers anywhere on campus—in their residence halls, at the local cyber café, or under a shady tree in the quad—why would they need to go to the library? Those charged with guiding the future of a college or university demanded that this question be answered before they committed any additional funding to perpetuate the “library”—a facility that many decision makers often considered little more than a warehouse for an outmoded medium for communication or scholarship. Many asserted that the virtual library would replace the physical library. The library as a place would no longer be a critical component of an academic institution.
While information technology has not replaced print media, and is not expected to do so in the foreseeable future, it has nonetheless had an astonishing and quite unanticipated impact on the role of the library. Contrary to the predictions of diminishing use and eventual obsolescence of libraries, usage has expanded dramatically—sometimes doubling or even tripling. These increases are particularly common at libraries and institutions that have worked with their architects and planners to anticipate the full impact of the integration of new information technologies throughout their facilities."
In Belmont, where school libraries are dwindling into pretty rooms with books, the Belmont Public library is actually the central point where new and emerging information technologies merge with knowledge resources in a user-focused, service-rich environment capable of supporting Belmontians in today’s knowledge work; along with the emerging and traditional learning, teaching, and research needs of the entire community from tradesmen to business to town hall.
The Informationista
This brief excerpt comes from the Council on Library and Information Resources report, Rethinking Libraries: Rethinking Space, Rethinking Roles.
Reinventing the Library—Technology as Catalyst
"With the emergence and integration of information technology, many predicted that the library would become obsolete. Once students had the option of using their computers anywhere on campus—in their residence halls, at the local cyber café, or under a shady tree in the quad—why would they need to go to the library? Those charged with guiding the future of a college or university demanded that this question be answered before they committed any additional funding to perpetuate the “library”—a facility that many decision makers often considered little more than a warehouse for an outmoded medium for communication or scholarship. Many asserted that the virtual library would replace the physical library. The library as a place would no longer be a critical component of an academic institution.
While information technology has not replaced print media, and is not expected to do so in the foreseeable future, it has nonetheless had an astonishing and quite unanticipated impact on the role of the library. Contrary to the predictions of diminishing use and eventual obsolescence of libraries, usage has expanded dramatically—sometimes doubling or even tripling. These increases are particularly common at libraries and institutions that have worked with their architects and planners to anticipate the full impact of the integration of new information technologies throughout their facilities."
In Belmont, where school libraries are dwindling into pretty rooms with books, the Belmont Public library is actually the central point where new and emerging information technologies merge with knowledge resources in a user-focused, service-rich environment capable of supporting Belmontians in today’s knowledge work; along with the emerging and traditional learning, teaching, and research needs of the entire community from tradesmen to business to town hall.
The Informationista
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