How to stay relevant as a public library

ABI-Technik ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-388
Author(s):  
Claire De Brabandere

AbstractBibliotheek De Krook, the new public library of the Flemish city of Ghent, opened in 2017 and sees thousands of visitors every day. This article explores the architecture of the building, the use of technology and the structural collaboration between the library and other organisations to offer not only a large collection but also services and activities for the public. Finally, it focuses on a few necessary changes that have been made since the opening.

Author(s):  
Jarmo Saarti ◽  
Pirjo Tuomi

From civic educator to a market place - the institutional definitions of the public libraries’ tasks and its development during the Finnish independence The development of the Finnish public library system can be divided into four phases. During the first two, the Swedish reign and the period of the Autonomy, the library was mainly for the upper classes and for the academic use. The trend to strengthen the library as a key actor in the educational system of the newborn independent Finland meant that the public library became an institution. This started to break down from the 1990’s onward with the implementation of the new public management techniques and with the integration of the library system as one of the key players in the information society development. The paper discusses the role of the Finnish library system in the system of the fictional literature and analyses the changes that have happened during the Finnish history. Keywords: public libraries, policies, institutional role, public role


Author(s):  
Karen Ellis

This case study illustrates two partnerships between the Taylor Public Library and two area schools, first with the Taylor Independent School District for facility use, and second with the Temple College satellite campus at Taylor for their use of the public library facilities in exchange for a free student worker. The partnership with the local school district was specifically during 2002 through 2006 to continue providing programming during the summer. The Taylor Public Library lost its old facility, and while temporarily located elsewhere, had no venue for summer programs. The library and the school district partnered to hold the summer events on local campuses until the new public library building opened in 2007. The partnership between the Taylor Public Library and Temple College consisted of use of library space to house the college’s nursing and medical collections, allow access to these holdings to enrolled college students, and grant students public library cards. For this use, the Taylor Public Library acts as supervisor for a qualifying student worker, funded by Temple College.


Author(s):  
Bo Skøtt

The aim of this article is to investigate how the digital conversion that currently takes place in public libraries in Denmark, affects the perception of those cultural dissemination activities that result from the work with documents. My starting point is that the digital conversion means an increase in digital documents and that the characteristics of these documents differ so significantly from analog documents that it potentially means changes in both the practical handling and the conceptual universe associated with the designation, identification, and definition of practice. The study is conducted as a literature survey, where Johan Fjord Jensen (1988), Dag Solhjell (2001) and Jens Gudiksen (2005) constitute the theoretical framework and where eight public libraries’ digital strategies from region Midtjylland are analyzed on the basis of a heuristic approach to the discourse concept. The conclusion is that the eight digital strategies do not explicitly refer to concepts that traditionally denote the cultural activities of the public library (e.g. 'enlightenment' and 'cultural activity') but that these concepts are thematized and understood in new and more transmissive terms such as 'accessibility' 'usage frequency' and as 'need', 'consumption' and 'demand'. This happens because the eight strategies consider technology and the use of technology superior to content, which makes the strategies more part of the public libraries' legitimization work and less a part of the facilitation of people’s common actions in late modernity.


1997 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loretta Lees

Different critical positions have emerged around the restructuring of space in postmodernity. I consider two sets of literature: the sceptical thesis (theses) of the ‘ageographia’ in Sorkin's edited collection Variations on a Theme Park and Foucault's affirmative thesis (theses) of the ‘heterotopia‘. These authors' works relate to a number of themes relevant to this paper: democratic public space, public space (comparing Canada and the USA) and its demise, spatial utopias, and the public library as public space and as ‘other’ space. Vancouver's newest civic landmark, the Vancouver Public Library, provides an illustrative case study with both ageographic and heterotopic qualities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaarina Nikunen ◽  
Jenni Hokka

Welfare states have historically been built on values of egalitarianism and universalism and through high taxation that provides free education, health care, and social security for all. Ideally, this encourages participation of all citizens and formation of inclusive public sphere. In this welfare model, the public service media are also considered some of the main institutions that serve the well-being of an entire society. That is, independent, publicly funded media companies are perceived to enhance equality, citizenship, and social solidarity by providing information and programming that is driven by public rather than commercial interest. This article explores how the public service media and their values of universality, equality, diversity, and quality are affected by datafication and a platformed media environment. It argues that the embeddedness of public service media in a platformed media environment produces complex and contradictory dependencies between public service media and commercial platforms. The embeddedness has resulted in simultaneous processes of adapting to social media logics and datafication within public service media as well as in attempts to create alternative public media value-driven data practices and new public media spaces.


Author(s):  
Valentina M. Patutkina

The article is dedicated to unknown page in the library history of Ulyanovsk region. The author writes about the role of Trusteeship on people temperance in opening of libraries. The history of public library organized in the beginning of XX century in the Tagai village of Simbirsk district in Simbirsk province is renewed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (III) ◽  
pp. 199-211
Author(s):  
Stella Gati Maroa ◽  
Mary Namusonge

Strategic innovation is a strategic tool that can be used to align the institution’s resources and capabilities with opportunities in the external environment in order to enhance survival and long term success of the organization.  Innovation promotes use of technology consequently impacting positively on service delivery. Public universities reforms have been a necessary and on-going policy objective for the Government of Kenya. Innovation as one of the approaches to the reforms is intended to induce an overhaul the public university system to better serve the needs of both government and the citizens with improved delivery of public services. In Kenya technology in public institutions has not been effectively used to enhance service delivery more so institutions where technology use has been embraced, its impact on service delivery has not been assessed effectively. This study applied the institutional theory, diffusion of innovation theory and stakeholders theory of management to determine how strategic innovation at Kenyatta University impacts on service delivery. The general objective of this study therefore was to determine the effect of strategic innovation on service delivery in Kenyatta University. Specific objectives included finding out the influence of eLearning, online student registration and use of e-messaging services on service delivery in Kenyatta University. A population of 72,000 students admitted to Kenyatta University was used from which random sampling was conducted to a sample of 200 students using Nassiuma’s formula. Data was collected by disbursing physically the questionnaires to the students. Descriptive and regression analysis was conducted using SPSS 22 to provide findings on the study. The study conducted a multiple regression analysis to estimate the model for the study. The study had a coefficient of correlation R of 0.912 an indication of strong of correlation between the variables and a coefficient of adjusted R2 was 0.814.This means that there was a significant correlations between the variables and service delivery at Kenyatta University however other factors that are not considered in the research paper contribute approximately 18.6% of the service delivery at Kenyatta University. Therefore, a very extensive further research is highly required to investigate and come up with other factors of the viability to service delivery at Kenyatta University. The study concluded that the strategic innovation of the public universities ranges from the products and services offered and is determined by the technology that is revolutionizing the current global world and has improved the service delivery at Kenyatta University. A strategic innovation brings a lot of advantages and has a great impact on human and business daily life. Therefore, strategic innovation development is the best choice in helping higher institution of learning stay on track.


2014 ◽  
Vol 115 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 65-67
Author(s):  
Mike Freeman

Purpose – The purpose of this report is to provide an account of the UK's new public library of Birmingham. Design/methodology/approach – Details the construction, exterior and interior design, contents and location, including special collections, and describes the official opening. Findings – A large public library building which moves away from old conceptions of libraries, accommodating a variety of functions in a striking and accessible building. Originality/value – Provides a description of the new Library of Birmingham, the largest public library in Europe.


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