This is *awesome* for small libraries, and a vast improvement over what many currently have. Check it out!
This library/boilerplate solution for cross-browser extension development shows a lot of promise. As it develops, it will likely lower barriers to entry for would-be extension developers and allow Greasemonkey enthusiasts to build more secure, functional scripts. If you’ve ever “wished there was an extension for that,” take a look at BabelExt.
Every Public Library & Branch in Wisconsin, mapped by street address. Includes phone numbers and links to the WorldCat Registry.
WI Libraries Total Operating Expenditures Maps
This is another experiment with Google’s Fusion Tables.
DPI lists 393 libraries in their 2010 public library statistics.
Of those, almost two thirds (63% / 249 libraries) had total operating expenditures below $300,000.
About 31% (121 libraries) had total operating expenditures below $100,000.
Quite a deal, if you ask me!
Cheaper Than Netflix (mostly)
A map of the FEW places in Wisconsin where having a public library is more expensive than a Netflix subscription ($95.88/yr). Libraries in small communities can be costly on a per capita basis, but are generally well worth it (which is to say I’m just sharing an interesting map, not trashing these libraries). And hey, they seem to be well used!
Based on DPI 2010 “Resident Support Per Capita” Public Library Statistics.
Check out Madeline Island! I should plan a visit!
This map is an experiment with Google Fusion Tables. Check them out.
Joan Weaver and Rosetta Graff aren’t exactly reinventing the small town public library, just … well, reinterpreting it.
Weaver and Graff are library director and librarian respectively of the Kinsley Public Library in Kinsley, which, with a population of roughly 1,450, is the largest town in Edwards County, in wheat-growing central Kansas.
Before the Internet, the public library was the source of books and information. Now, it’s one of many sources. So, like a company rewriting its business model in changing times, the library, especially the small library, also must adapt to remain relevant, Weaver says.
“We have to do more than check out books. One way a small local library can stay relevant is to become a repository of local information.”
In recent years, the Kinsley Library has become just such a repository. With the help of dedicated volunteers and some grant money, the library has amassed a trove of local history, vital statistics, genealogical information, burial records, church records, a digital map of the changing downtown, and hundreds of historical photos, including photos of the five family-owned carnivals that once headquartered in Kinsley.
In addition, the librarians recently completed two oral history projects on how World War II affected Edwards County and its residents, and how the county changed during the post-war decades.
A new competition sponsored by the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has just announced 12 winning libraries and museums that will receive $1.2 million in grant money help push the boundaries of what these institutions look like, specifically helping to create facilities that are better “learning labs” for teens.
The idea was inspired by YOUmedia, a teen learning space at the Chicago Public Library’s downtown center. YOUmedia provides teens with access to thousands of books. But it also contains over 100 laptop and desktop computers — machines that are equipped with various media creation software — as well as an in-house recording studio with keyboards, turntables and a mixing board. YOUmedia also provides classes and connections to mentors so that teens can learn how to use the equipment.
Recognizing the importance of museums and libraries as sites for hands-on learning, the MacArthur Foundation and IMLS-sponsored competition plans to take the YOUmedia model and spread it nationally. The hope is for the new learning labs to serve as places where teens can explore science, technology, art, and literature — not just to not just to read about it — through building and making.
What do you think of this?
CHICAGO.
You walk into YOUmedia and you can feel good stuff happening. Kids are engaged. Technology is being used appropriately (and productively). Books (good books) are available. Kids find new talents and new ways to connect with their peers, beyond superficial interests. The staff is relevant and informed (YOUmedia is not staffed exclusively by librarians—there are digital media/music/design specialists on hand as well). Oh, it’s worth every penny.
Naomi @ I Need A Library Job has compiled this list of INALJ list members, friends, and family who sell handmade items on Etsy… just in time for your holiday shopping. Good idea.
As a follow up to my post on Libraries as Incubators, and Retiring Guy’s post on hacker/maker spaces, I found this story today about the Chinese government’s proposal to build 100 community hackerspaces.
Most of us can identify with some side of this issue. The article is about corporate IT. Is it different for libraries? Newly minted MLIS’s should have some modicum of IT knowledge. Does this allow for more collaborative, less authoritarian IT departments? A fuller integration of IT functions? Does it create institutional antagonism to have IT services handled by separate organizations / consortia (library “systems” in Wisconsin)?
