Music in Libraries

What is the future of music content in public libraries? As our customers embrace streaming, has the future moved on without us?

http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/2010/09/music-in-libraries-were-doing-it-wrong.html

Innovation Awards from the Urban Libraries Council

Some great examples of how urban public libraries are innovating to transform their community role and and broaden their impact.
http://urbanlibraries.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=291

Are Libraries Necessary, or a Waste of Tax Money

Good old Fox. At least they're consistent.
http:/www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/special_report/library-taxes-closed-20100628

A Changing Image for Public Libraries

Strategies by GTA public libraries to re-invent their branches as welcoming and dynamic community places are changing public perceptions of libraries. This change was recently summed up in a column by John Bentley Mays in the Globe and Mail Real Estate section, in which he profiled the Library District Condominium development in the Fort York area. In describing how the formerly desolate Fort York area is evolving, he captures the key elements of successful urban neighbourhoods:
….along with the towers, the signs of metropolitan civilization are appearing. There is now a big grocery store at the corner of Fort York Boulevard and Spadina Avenue, within easy walking distance of thousands of homes. Close to the store, a new school and park will soon be completed. And a couple of long blocks west along the uncompleted boulevard (where it joins Bathurst Street), one of the surest indicators of full-service urban culture will emerge: a spanking new 17,000-square-foot public library to be designed by Shirley Blumberg, partner in the Toronto firm of Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects.
He also notes the use of literary themes in the condo marketing – with suite layouts “named after honoured authors, including Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo and Agatha Christie” – which he views as “an interestingly antiquarian gesture – especially in view of the fact that the branch library will almost certainly be a mediatheque, with many CDs, DVDs, computer terminals and such, instead of a conventional book morgue.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/once-lonely-fort-york-area-starts-to-buzz/article1607745/

Schools as Community Hubs - 13th Annual Report on Ontario’s Publicly Funded Schools

People for Education recently released their 13th annual report on publicly funded schools in Ontario. http://www.peopleforeducation.com/annualreportschools09
Based on school surveys, community consultation, EQAO results and academic studies, the report provides an analysis of the current state of Ontario’s schools and makes recommendations to move the system forward. The report recommends that schools become community hubs, connecting with local institutions and those offering recreational, cultural and employment opportunities for youth. The report shows that Ontarians want schools that have strong links to their communities and graduate students with diverse skills and the ability to think critically and creatively.
Library staff already have good connections with local schools. This report indicates the time is ripe for an even stronger alliance between schools and MPL, starting with conversations that took place during recent kindergarten outreach visits, with Children’s Services Department staff and school staff exploring further collaboration opportunities.

Children who grow up with books have better futures

A recent research study reports that “children growing up in homes with many books obtain three years more of schooling than children from bookless homes regardless of a parents’ education, occupation and class.” Key points from the research:
• If you get parents reading even a small amount, children gain in cognition, learning capacities and vocabulary.
• It is important to get children reading when they are young and keep them reading. This is especially important for disadvantaged groups and immigrant groups.
Lead Researcher: “It doesn’t have to be a consuming way of life. You don’t have to throw out the TV. Books change your world. Each individual book when you have only a few opens up whole new worlds to you.”
http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/education/article/797551--my-daughter-loves-books

Libraries and the Time Crunch

The latest report from the Canadian Index of Wellbeing, Caught in the Time Crunch: Time Use, Leisure and Culture in Canada, documents the increasing time pressures on the lives of Canadians, resulting in less time for social engagement and participation in leisure and cultural activities. Among the recommendations with relevance to public libraries:

• Read to young children as a sure way to improve their learning and
  communication skills and help them get ready for school.
• Expand opportunities for lifelong learning, recreation and social
  interaction for seniors through age-friendly community planning.
• Promote inclusive environments for physical, leisure and social
  activities by ensuring everyone has the opportunity to participate.

Canadian Index of Wellbeing website: http://www.ciw.ca/en/Home.aspx

Brand Butlers - Helping Library Customers Make the Most of Their Daily Lives

As we develop our customer service standard, let's think about how our services can embody the essence of the ILG brand. How can we be there when customers want us to be there? How can we pleasantly surprise them with our presence when they least expect it? How can we be brand butlers in both our online and offline activities?
"With pragmatic, convenience-loving consumers enjoying instant access to an ever-growing number of supporting services and tools (both offline and online), brands urgently need to hone their 'butlering skills'*, focusing on assisting consumers to make the most of their daily lives, versus the old model of selling them a lifestyle if not identity."
http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/brandbutlers/

Library Computers - Who Uses Them?

A recent study finds that people across all age and ethnic groups use library computers. A third of Americans — about 77 million people — use public library computers to look for jobs, connect with friends, do their homework and improve their lives. The study confirms what public libraries have been saying as they compete for public dollars to expand their services and high-speed Internet access: library use by the general public is widespread and not just among poor people.
But researchers found that those living below the federal poverty line — families of four with a household income of $22,000 or less — had the highest use of library computers. Among those households, 44 percent reported using public library computers and Internet access during the past year.
The study was paid for by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and conducted by the University of Washington Information School.
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/press-releases/Pages/opportunity-for-all-library-compuer-use-study-100325.aspx

Libraries' Role in Making Cities Attractive

From the Conference Board of Canada - City Magnets II: Benchmarking the Attractiveness of 50 Canadian Cities. This report analyzes and benchmarks the features that make Canadian cities attractive to skilled workers and mobile populations. In terms of economic strategy, the report posits that cities without the ability to act as magnets and attract new people will struggle to stay prosperous in the decades ahead. It analyzes Canada’s 50 largest cities according to 41 features that make Canadian cities attractive to mobile populations. One of those features/indicators, in the Society category, is “Travel time to libraries”. It is defined as measuring “the average travel time (in minutes) from home to the nearest library in the city, based on all modes of transportation”. In terms of methodology, this indicator “is a proxy for access to culture in the city. A city with greater access is more attractive.” The report identifies the following top six city magnets: Calgary, Waterloo, Ottawa, Vancouver, St. John’s, and Richmond Hill. Markham is ranked 9th. A copy of the report has been ordered for MPL’s professional collection.

Reading Skills at 15 Determine Future Success

The OECD has released a longitudinal study entitled Pathways to Success: How knowledge and skills at age 15 shape future lives in Canada. The study concluded that the greatest predictor of a child's future educational success is reading proficiency in high school. Students who scored in the top category for reading skills were 20 times more likely to be in university than their peers with poor reading skills. Those in the second and third highest levels for reading still showed very strong attainment levels. Reading is identified as the most critical factor in determining future educational success, even for students in sciences and math. The report is available on the OECD website.
http://www.oecd.org/document/20/0,3343,en_32252351_32236191_44571668_1_1_1_1,00.html

Checking Out the Future

The American Library Association Office for Information Technology Policy has released the first of several policy briefs to be published in 2010 on the revolution in information technology and its implications for the future of libraries. Checking Out the Future: Perspectives from the Library Community on Information Technology and 21st-Century Libraries explores how library leaders are recognizing the need to evolve during the digital revolution and are driving adaptations designed to ensure that libraries remain an integral and relevant part of community life.
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oitp/publications/policybriefs/ala_checking_out_the.pdf