Envisioning the Library of the Future Phase 1: A Review of Innovations in Library Services

Envisioning the Library of the Future Phase 1: A Review of Innovations in Library Services / Arts Council England.
England: Arts Council, 2013.

The future is now!

Read.

Library vs Cricket

It's Not What a Library Stocks, It's What it Shares

"It's Not What a Library Stocks, It's What it Shares." The Guardian / James Bridle.
London: The Guardian Online, February 17th 2013.

GPs to Prescribe Library Books to Combat Anxiety, Depression & Relationship Problems

"GPs to Prescribe Library Books to Combat Anxiety, Depression & Relationship Problems." The Telegraph / Hannah Furness.
United Kingdom: The Telegraph Online, January 2013.

A Library Is...

"A library in the middle of a community is a cross between an emergency exit, a life raft and a festival. They are cathedrals of the mind; hospitals of the soul; theme parks of the imagination. On a cold, rainy island, they are the only sheltered public spaces where you are not a consumer, but a citizen, instead. A human with a brain and a heart and a desire to be uplifted, rather than a customer with a credit card and an inchoate "need" for "stuff." A mall--the shops--are places where your money makes the wealthy wealthier. But a library is where the wealthy's taxes pay for you to become a little more extraordinary, instead. A satisfying reversal. A balancing of the power."

~ Libraries: Cathedral of Our Souls / Caitlin Moran

Library Turns to Pole Dancing to Entice New Readers

"Library Turns to Pole Dancing to Entice New Readers." The Guardian / Press Association.
United Kingdom: Guardian Online, January 18th 2013.

Friday At the Library

Squatters Reopen Friern Barnet Library After Council Closes Service

"Squatters reopen Friern Barnet Library After Council Closes Service." Guardian / Diane Taylor.

UK: The Guardian Online, Tuesday September 11th 2012.

"The occupation has the blessing of many local residents who are delighted to see the locked doors of the library flung open once again. It's the first time that squatters have morphed into "community librarians" by occupying and reopening a public lending resource in this way. Book loans will be manually recorded and stamped.

Council officials have been trying for months to persuade locals enraged by the library closure to become volunteer librarians in a room in a nearby council building instead. The proposal has not been well received: residents want to see their much-loved local library reopened and stalemate has prevailed.

All that changed when the squatters moved in and embarked on unprecedented negotiations with senior council officials about the future of the library.

To everyone's surprise, instead of starting eviction proceedings immediately the council agreed to a series of meetings with the squatters to discuss ways to provide a new volunteer-run library. Senior council officials including the assistant chief executive Julie Taylor were invited to the squatted library on Monday for a meeting with the new occupants who treated them to tea and cakes. Another meeting has been scheduled for next week."

Stampin' it to the Man! 

How Should Academic Libraries Communicate Their Own Value?

"How Should Academic Libraries Communicate Their Own Value?" The Guardian / Stephen Barr.
UK: The Guardian Online, August 20th 2012.

"For librarians to understand the perceptions of faculty and students and know how to reach and influence them, requires effective marketing - but this isn't just a question of promotion. The research found that in delivering shared services, Purdue University emphasizes the importance of framing services from a faculty rather than from a librarian perspective."

User-centric framework! 

Future Libraries: Change, Options & How to Get There

Future Libraries: Change, Options & How to Get There / Museums, Libraries, & Archives.
United Kingdom: Culture, Tourism, & Sport, 2011.

Your Third Place or Mine? Public Libraries & Local Communities

"Your Third Place or Mine? Public Libraries & Local Communities." Public Library Journal / Kevin Harris.
UK: Public Library Journal Online 18.2 26-29, 2003.

Strength

Librarians in the US from 1880-2009

"Librarians in the US from 1880-2009." OUPblog / Sydney Beveridge, Susan Weber & Andrew A. Beveridge.
Oxford: Oxford University Press Blog, June 20th 2011.

Libraries Adapt to Meet Demands of Internet Age

"Libraries Adapt to Meet Demands of Internet Age." Reuters / Richard Chang.
London: Reuters Online, June 23rd 2011.

""The whole thing about the silent shushing librarian is no longer a reality," said Nader Qaimari, of Cengage Learning, which provides teaching and learning materials to educational institutions and libraries.

"The new librarian has been on Facebook or Twitter longer than you or I have. They're the most socially connected people I've ever met."

With so much information online, librarians have become free guides to learning and are often the first people job seekers turn to if they have no computer at home. During the recession libraries have become centers for career counseling, financial literacy and small business development. ...

A 2010 study by the nonprofit OCLC Online Computer Library Center found that Americans hit by the recession are 50 percent more likely to visit their library at least weekly and are nearly a third more likely to visit at least once a month.

"Eighty-one percent of economically impacted Americans have a library card compared to 68 percent of Americans who have not been impacted," the report said."

Libraries Under Threat -- It's Not Fine!

"Libraries Under Threat -- It's Not Fine!" Doorway / calneeagle.
Chippenham, Wiltshire: Doorway Online, January 29th 2011.

See Also:
Overdue! The Fight to Save our Libraries Begins

Shutting Libraries is Child Abuse

"Shutting Libraries is Child Abuse: Alan Bennett Speaks Out as Cuts Put 4,000 at Risk of Closure." Daily Mail / Tim Shipman.
London: Daily Mail Online, May 25th 2011.

Mr Bennett's exact words:

""A child can learn to read at home as I did 70 years ago. But my only access to books, which changed my life, was at the local library. Deprive a child of that and you hinder its development and damage it for life. Closing libraries is child abuse." "

Hear, Hear!

A Library is Many Things

"A Library is Many Things." Letters of Note / Shaun Usher.
Manchester: Letters of Note, May 6th 2011.

Speaking to the Past / Douglas Coupland

See:
Speaking to the Past

The Secret Life of Libraries

"The Secret Life of Libraries." The Guardian / Bella Bathurst.
London: The Guardian Online, May 1st 2011.

"Collins believes that libraries are just as vital now as they were during the 40s, when Philip Larkin complained of stamping out so many books in a week that his hand blistered. Even so, he spends much of his time in a ceaseless game of catch-up. "Libraries are always trying to prove themselves because what they provide is so intangible. How do you quantify what someone gets from a book or a magazine?""