Group items tagged

"Regardless of the ultimate fate of the printed book, reports of the imminent death of the library as a physical entity seem to have been greatly exaggerated. Bookless digital public libraries are already starting to appear, the first in San Antonio, Texas, where lines of bookshelves have been replaced by e-readers, computer workstations, laptops and tablets. The simple truth is that, like Roald Dahl's character Matilda, people like going to libraries. Indeed, going to the library is like getting a pay rise, according to a survey conducted in 2014 by the UK's Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The survey, which attempted to quantify how happy different activities make us, showed that while dancing and swimming nearly always cheer us up, so does going to the library. "

"  Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada, 2014 offers a vision and provides practical approaches for all those engaged in creating successful 21st century school libraries in Canada. Its framework presents five standards supported by a set of themes and growth stages that lead to the transformation from traditional library facility to vibrant library learning commons. The standards represent guideposts along a journey of continuous growth. Because Canadian schools are at different points on this journey, this publication includes a range of markers of progress, sets of implementation strategies, and rich examples of innovation and success. Leading Learning also contains key resources to provide educators, individual schools, and school districts with helpful direction and support."

"Craigieburn Library in Hume City, Victoria has been internationally recognised as the recipient of the 2014 Public Library of the Year Award."

"Today our experienced professionals and new library workers must find their passion around people to build an educated and involved citizenry and ensure digital and economic opportunity for all. Library professionals are the essential element of strong schools, colleges, universities, and public communities."

"This guide is the result of a collaboration among a group of individuals who were grantees of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Libraries initiative. We came together as a voluntary project group to share our research, insights and experiences from Chile, Poland, Ukraine and other countries about the value of making in public libraries. We have compiled this short guide to share our learnings about: the case to support making in libraries; different services libraries can provide to encourage making; lists of equipment, software and other tools you can use to create physical or digital content; tips and ideas on how to implement maker activities; as well as links to other maker spaces, resources, and much more"

"The library today is still a trusted institution, but the public is coming to us with different expectations. Clinging to an outdated reference mission has left many libraries struggling to meet these new expectations."

"Critically, libraries are evaluated based on traditional metrics, such as loan and membership numbers, capturing only a fraction of the full value they contribute to our individual and collective life. Failure to recognise this by governments and policymakers puts at risk the diverse and nuanced ways libraries might shape Australia's future."

A public library perspective but an interesting discussion on libraries generally which should be heeded by all in the industry

"Often called the 'library of the future' in learning and educational circles, Wallaceburg's A.A. Wright public school has transformed their library space into a learning commons."

Many are askin "What's the best way promote the library's digital collection to patrons visiting the physical branch?   This post shares some ideas used by staff members at Sacramento Public Library who came up with a clever way to connect its physical and digital collections. " The Electronic resources librarian Amy Calhoun explains how Sacramento PL has improved discovery of eBook titles among patrons visiting the library branches"

By Ken Haycock - Published in 'World Libraries' Vol 19 2009 "Although a popular focus for librarians, advocacy is often misunderstood and rarely evaluated. It is not publicity, public relations, messaging, marketing, or lobbying alone. It is a planned, deliberate, and sustained effort to develop understanding and support incrementally over time. Greatest success comes through positive relationships, employing proven strategies for social influence - consistency and commitment, reciprocation, authority, liking, social proof, and scarcity."

A compilation of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks - Codex Arundel - was digitized by the British Library and made available to the public. Whilst Leonardo never published his notes, you can look through 570 digitized pages of Codex Arundel here. For hundreds of years, the huge collection of manuscripts remained mostly unseen. After Leonardo's death in France, writes the British Library, his student Francesco Melzi "brought many of his manuscripts and drawings back to Italy. Melzi's heirs, who had no idea of the importance of the manuscripts, gradually disposed of them." Nonetheless, over 5,000 pages of notes "still exist in Leonardo's 'mirror writing', from right to left." These notebooks contain da Vinci's "visions of the aeroplane, the helicopter, the parachute, the submarine and the car. It was more than 300 years before many of his ideas were improved upon."

The School Librarians of Rhode Island (SLRI) found that the image students, and parents in particular, held of Rhode Island public school libraries was behind the times. It was clear that perception needed to evolve along with reality.What they decided to do is explained.

"Explores the changing roles, joys and demands of running a school library program at the elementary, middle and high school levels in the Cranston Public Schools."

Interesting list of titles chosen by young readers. "This teen choice list engaged Teens' Top Ten book groups in sixteen school and public libraries around the country in reading and voting. "

The tweets from the day at the Symposium held at the Bendigo Public Library. Sharing ideas, experience and expertise

Tweets from those at the conference