Today both the Guardian and the New York Times had articles about the hard times public libraries are facing because of the economic downturn. The article in the Guardian explained that public libraries in the UK are facing budget cuts, on top of years of inadequate funding, and less than steller attention from local politicians.

The article in the New York Times explained that while public libraries are seeing double digit increases in patron usage, this high demand is also creating new sources of stress. The article described librarians having to deal with higher numbers of homeless people sleeping at the library, reference librarians having to help people fill out job applications, and lots of people trying to use the web who don’t really know what they are doing.

I think it’s clear that when the economy goes sour more and more people need the free resources that the library provides. During these times the smart thing to do would be to protect library budgets as much as posible. If public libraries reduce their hours, and resources where will all these people needing help go? Besides, the longer people are unemployed, the longer it will take for the economy to start turning around.

Here’s the article from the Guardian, and the article from the New York Times.

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Financial advice at the public library? Apparently so. As unstable and scary as the financial landscape appears these days all of us seem to be looking for advice where we can find it. Smart investing@your library® initiative, a partnership between FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) Investor Education Foundation and ALA (American Library Association) has established a number of grants to help libraries establish programs that will help the community learn about the economy. And let’s be clear, the librarians establishing these programs are not going to tell you what stock to buy, but they will help you learn about the larger system at play, how to keep track of new developments, and other general trends.

FINRA believes public libraries are an obvious place for these programs because they can reach so many people in the community, and so far the programs are getting good reviews. Newton Public Library, in Newton, MA used their grant money to set up a retirement planning club for women, back in 2008. The group initially provided a space for women of all ages to get together and discuss the larger economic situation, talk about the options they had, and serve as a support group to each other. Over time, the group has continued to grow, now including a number of men as well.

Interestingly these grant were started over two years ago, appearing to have been ahead of the curve which brought us this crisis. During 2009 this partnership has invested $882,000 in grants which were be offered to 12 recipients, who in turn have established different programs, some geared towards women, immigrant families, youth, seniors, or low-income families;

• Athens-Clarke County Library, Athens, GA.
• Chesapeake Public Library, Chesapeake, VA.
• Cuyahoga County Public Library, Parma, OH.
• Durham County Library, Durham, NC.
• Fargo Public Library, Fargo, ND.
• Fond du Lac Public Library, Fond du Lac, WI.
• Glendale Public Library, Glendale, AR.
• Greenville County Library, Greenville, SC.
• Loveland Public Library, Loveland, CO.
• New Haven Free Public Library, New Haven, CT.
• Pioneer Library System, Norman, OK.
• Riverside County Library Systems, Riverside, CA.

For a more information about this program you can read or listen to a report of NPR’s Your Money, visit the FINRA website, or read their 2009 press release on this program.

¿Asesoramiento financiero en la biblioteca pública? Parece que sí. Como lo inestable y aterrador del panorama financiero en estos días todos parecen estar buscando consejos donde quiera que los podemos encontrar. La inversión Smart investing@your library®, una asociación entre FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) Investor Education Foundation y ALA (American Library Association) ha establecido una serie de subvenciones para ayudar a las bibliotecas de establecer programas que ayuden a la comunidad a aprender acerca de la economía. Y seamos claros, los bibliotecarios que crearon estos programas no van a decirle como jugar la bolsa de valores, pero le ayudaran a aprender sobre el sistema financiero en general, cómo realizar un seguimiento de nuevos desarrollos, y otras tendencias generales.

FINRA cree que las bibliotecas públicas son un lugar obvio para estos programas, ya que pueden llegar a gran parte de la comunidad y hasta ahora los programas que están recibiendo buena críticas. En el 2008 la Biblioteca Pública de Newton en Newton MA utilizo su dinero de la subvención para crear un club de la planificación para mujeres jubiladas. Al principio el grupo era un espacio donde mujeres de todas las edades se podían reunir y hablar sobre economía y finanzas, además de servir como espacio de apoyo entre ellas. Con el tiempo, el grupo ha seguido creciendo, y ahora incluyen un número de hombres.

Es interesante que estas subvenciones se iniciaran hace dos años, al parecen anticipando esta crisis. En el 2009 esta asociación ha invertido 882.000 dólares en donaciones que fueron a ofrecer a 12 beneficiarios, que a su vez han creado diferentes programas algunos orientados hacia las mujeres, las familias de inmigrantes, jóvenes, personas mayores, o familias de bajos ingresos;

• Athens-Clarke County Library, Athens, GA.
• Chesapeake Public Library, Chesapeake, VA.
• Cuyahoga County Public Library, Parma, OH.
• Durham County Library, Durham, NC.
• Fargo Public Library, Fargo, ND.
• Fond du Lac Public Library, Fond du Lac, WI.
• Glendale Public Library, Glendale, AR.
• Greenville County Library, Greenville, SC.
• Loveland Public Library, Loveland, CO.
• New Haven Free Public Library, New Haven, CT.
• Pioneer Library System, Norman, OK.
• Riverside County Library Systems, Riverside, CA.

Para más información sobre este programa puede leer o escuchar un informe del programa Your Money de NPR, visitar el sitio web de FINRA, o leer su comunicado de prensa del 2009 sobre este programa.

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WorldLinQ is a site created at Queens Public Library which gathers a wide range of useful websites in a variety of different languages. The site offered link to public websites offering information on news, education, recreation, health, science, and a variety of other topics. The site connection you to relevant links in a multitude of languages, each entry annotated both in the original language and in English. Do note that because each language entry links to relevant resources in the corresponding language, entries vary in content.

The site was created about 10 years ago with initial funding from At&T, and was devised as an non-traditional way of reaching out to the very diverse library community of Queens borough. Currently it functions in 15 different languages, including Spanish, Italian, Romanian, and French, just to name a few. But this ambitious project hopes to one day function on all 150+ languages in use in the Queens Public Library community. If you are fluent in a language not yet on the site, you may consider offering your help with gathering useful links and providing the basica annotations needed.

Access to WorldLinQ and Queens Public Library.

WorldLinQ es un sitio web creado por la Biblioteca Pública de Queen (NY) que reúne una gran variedad de recursos útiles en una cantidad de idiomas. La página ofrece enlaces a sitios que ofrecen información sobre las noticias actuales, educación, recreación, salud, las ciencias, y otra cantidad de temas. El sitio lo conectara a una cantidad de recursos útiles en una multitud de idiomas, todos anotados tanto en su idioma original como en ingles. Por favor note que debajo de cada página de un idioma encontrara recursos apropiados a ese idioma, por lo tanto varían entre un idioma y otro.

El sitio fue creado hace ya 10 años con fundación inicial de AT&T, y con la idea de crear una forma poco tradicional de conectarse con la comunidad de Queens. Actualmente WorldLinQ funciona en 15 idiomas, incluyendo español, italiano, rumano, y francés, entre muchos otros. Lo increíble es que este ambicioso proyecto espera algún día funcionar en todos los 150+ idiomas que se usan a diario en la Biblioteca Pública de Queens! Si de casualidad usted sabe algún idioma que todavía no tenga pagina, de pronto le interese ofrecer su ayuda encontrando enlaces relevantes, y proporcionando las anotaciones necesarias.

Acceso a WorldLinQ y a la Biblioteca Pública de Queens.

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While at ALA a couple of weeks ago I attended a great lecture on the IRRT Sister Library Initiative, a project spearheaded by Meaghan O’Connor, Simmons College’s Fellow for Dean’s Initiatives. The site is set up in wiki format and provides a space for libraries wishing to have a sister library relation to find each other. Libraries of all kinds (academic, public, school, special collections) can create profiles noting their contact information, area of specialty and interests, as well as what they are looking for in a sister library, and level of commitment.

The project functions under the ALA’s IRRT (International Relations Round Table) and aims at promoting international relations between libraries in an effort to educate users at both sites and increase resources. The wiki contains a page dedicated to success stories of libraries that are already involved in sister library relationships (stories are organized alphabetically by USA library). These can help potential participants get a better idea of how the relations can help enrich libraries on either side, as well as provide advice towards potential difficulties.

Some of the success stories include the friendship between Queens Borough Public Library and Shanghai Library which explain that Queens was the first USA library to have a sister library relation with a Chinese library. The two libraries have been helping each other out for over a decade now, during which time exhibits, book, and even personnel have gone back and forth between the two sites. Another interesting story is the one between Swarthmore College Library and the University of Ghana, Legon. Here the two libraries have focused on sharing material relating to dance and music.

If these stories have piqued your curiosity to become involved in a sister library relation, the wiki also offers guidelines for advance planning, and there is a list of suggested activities most libraries can engage in. The site also functions in Spanish, although it’s not as rich as the English version.

A few external links are mentioned on the wiki include Sister Cities International, IFLA, along with a few other links to general projects involving international work.

Mientras asistía ala conferencia del ALA atendí una charla muy interesante sobre la Iniciativa TRRI de Bibliotecas Hermanas. Este es un proyecto encabezado por Meaghan O’Connor, becaria de Iniciativas del decano, en Simmons College. El sitio se creó en formato “wiki” y proporciona un espacio para las bibliotecas que deseen tener una relación de hermanas con otra biblioteca. Bibliotecas de todo tipo (académicas, públicas, escolares, colecciones especiales) pueden crear perfiles, anotando sus datos de contacto, área de especialidad e intereses, así como lo que están buscando en una biblioteca hermana, y el nivel de compromiso.

El proyecto funciona bajo IRRT de la ALA (Mesa Redonda de Relaciones Internacionales) y tiene como objetivo promover las relaciones internacionales entre bibliotecas en un esfuerzo por educar a los usuarios en ambos sitios y aumentar los recursos. El wiki contiene una página dedicada a las historias de éxito de las bibliotecas que ya están involucradas (las historias están organizados alfabéticamente por la biblioteca en EE.UU.). Estas historias pueden ayudar a los posibles participantes a tener una mejor idea de cómo funcionan estas relaciones, incluyendo en enriquecimiento mutuo, además de ofrecer asesoramiento a las posibles dificultades.

Algunos de los ejemplos de éxito son la amistad entre Queens Borough Public Library y la Biblioteca de Shanghái que explican que la biblioteca de Queens fue la primera en EE.UU. en tienen una relación hermana con luna biblioteca china. Las dos bibliotecas han estado ayudándose por más de una década, tiempo durante el cual exhibiciones, libros, e incluso personal han ido y venido entre los dos sitios. Otra historia interesante es la que existe entre Swarthmore College y la Biblioteca de la Universidad de Ghana, Legón. Aquí las dos bibliotecas se han centrado en el intercambio de material relacionado con la danza y la música.

Si estas historias han despertado su curiosidad a involucrarse en una relación de bibliotecas hermanas, el wiki también ofrece directrices para la planificación por adelantado, y hay una lista de actividades por proponer. Tenga en cuenta que la versión en inglés es bastante más completa que la versión en español

El wiki también tiene algunos enlaces externos incluyendo la Sociedad Internacional de Ciudades Hermanas, IFLA, junto con algunos enlaces a otros proyectos generales que implican trabajo internacional.

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Lubuto means knowledge, enlightenment and light in the Bemba language, and this is exactly what the Lubuto Library Project is proving vulnerable children throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

The project is a non-profit based in Washington DC which has been providing library services since 2005. Their aim is to help provide information, a space for socialization, and a positive physical environment for children throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The project began after seeing the success a makeshift library at the Fountain of Hope Center which provided help for street children, victims of the AIDS crisis.

Each Lubuto Library has starts out with a collection of 5,000 items, primarily non-fiction, and covering a wide range of subjects. The initial collection has only English language books, but material in local languages is added once the library is established.

Interestingly, this project helps children in the USA as well. The project aims to educate children in the USA about the impact of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, while helping create the collections, organizing them, and helping out with other aspects of the project, as well as learning about the children these libraries will impact.

The above video shows the libraries, the children they service, as well as the children in the USA who organize book drives and help keep the project going in a number of other ways.

You can learn more about this project by visiting their website.

En el lenguaje Bemba Lubuto quiere decir renacimiento y luz, y esto es exactamente lo que el Proyecto de Bibliotecas Lubuto esta ofreciendo a los niños más vulnerables en el sub-Sahara africano.

Este es un proyecto sin ánimo de lucro basado en Washington DC y han estado ofreciendo servicios de biblioteca desde el 2005. El proyecto se esfuerza por ofrecer información, un espacio para socializar, y un lugar positivo donde pueden reunirse los niños del área. El proyecto comenzó después de ver al excito creado después de construir una biblioteca temporal en el Centro Fountain of Hope, quienes proveen ayuda para niños de la calle y victimas del SIDA.

Cada biblioteca de Lubuto empieza con una colección de 5,000 volúmenes, incluyendo libros históricos, cubriendo un gran rango de temas. La donación de libros inicial llega solo con libros en ingles, pero luego se le agregan volumenes en idiomas de la región.

Curiosamente este proyecto ayuda a niños en EEUU también. Mientras los niños ayudan con las colecciones y otros aspectos del proyecto aprender sobre el impacto del SIDA en el sub-Sahara africano, y sobre los niños quienes usan estas bibliotecas.

Este video muestra las bibliotecas, los niños que las usan, y algunos de los niños en EEUU quienes ayudar a recoger libros y promueven el proyecto.

Puede aprender más sobre este proyecto visitando su sitio Web.

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World Book and Copyright Day (what a mouthful) is a yearly event to commemorate Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, and the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, all major figures in world writing (and I wonder where the women are…). Legend says that all these great men died on April 23, 1616, although more accurate calculations reveal that Shakespeare’s death date was actually marked on a Julian calendar, and therefore should be May 3 rd. on the Gregorian calendar.

In any case, the date was proposed to the UNESCO’s International Union of Editor as a day to promote culture and raise awareness around intellectual property rights. Final approval came on November 15, 1995.

Current festivities include a rotating title of World Book Capital. This began in 2001 with Madrid, last year it was Bogotá, and this year the world’s book capital is Amsterdam, next year it will be Beirut.

Click here for UNESCO’s page on World Book and Copyright Day.

At random, here are a few links to how a handful of libraries around the world are celebrating.

• Bibliotecas Municipales de Málaga, Spain
  
• Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico
• General celebrations in Colombia
• Canada’s Education Ministry

Image info here.

El Día Internacional de Libro es un evento anual para conmemorar a Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, y el Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, todas grandes figuras en el mundo de la escritora (¿y donde estarán las mujeres…?). La leyenda dice que los tres hombres murieron el 23 de abril de 1616, aunque cálculos mas acertados revelan que Shakespeare realmente fue notada en un calendario Juliano, lo que traduce al 3 de mayo en el calendario gregoriano.

En todo casi, la fecha fue propuesta por la Unión Internacional de Editores de UNESCO para promover la cultura y crear consciencia sobre la propiedad intelectual. Aprobación del proyecto llego el 15 de noviembre de 1995.

Actualmente las celebraciones incluyen una Capital Mundial del Libro, la cual rota cada año. Esto empezó en el 2001 con Madrid, el año pasado le toco a Bogotá, y este año la capital mundial es Ámsterdam, en año entrante será Beirut.

Haga clic aquí para ver la página de UNESCO sobre el Día Internacional del Libro.

Al azar he escogido algunos enlaces de como algunas bibliotecas alrededor del mundo están celebrando.

• Bibliotecas Municipales de Málaga, España
• Centro Nacional de las Artes, México
• Celebraciones en Colombia
• Ministerio de Educación en Canadá

Información sobre la imagen aquí.

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Medellin‘s neighborhood of Santo Domingo Savio is changing its face thanks to a new library that was inaugurated back in August 2007. The library includes a computer room, daycare center, art gallery and an auditorium. The library also offers training for adults, workshops for personal expression and story time for children.

In the past this area of the city was made famous (or infamous) though its depiction as one of the most violent places in the country at the hight of the country’s drug war. The city and its people have been included in books and movie that exhorted only its high levels of violence. Novels such as Fernando Vallejo’s “La Virgen de los Sicarios”, and Jorge Franco’s “Rosario Tijeras”, as well as the documentary “La Sierra” have shown the brutality of life in the region. Yet today things are turning around; today Medellin is a much safer and quieter city where residents are once again able to enjoy the city. This new renaissance is also being felt in the poorest areas of the city such as Santo Domingo Savio.

The new library has gained a significant amount of attention because of its unusual architecture, but hopefully soon news will come out as to how the collection is impacting the community. The library resembles three large boulders siting precariously on the edge of a steep incline that overlooks Medellin. (You can read -in Spanish- a detailed explanation of the architecture, including photographs here). The library fits into the overall renovation the city has been undergoing which aims at creating more public spaces that encourage people to come out, enjoy the city, and meet their neighbors.

This library is also part of an ongoing initiative to promote libraries in Colombia. In February of this year Japan donated enough money to build 13 new libraries (read the article -in Spanish- here), to be build in various cities through the country. There is also a heavy emphasis on promoting public libraries, something that certainly wasn’t the case when I lived there. You can access Senderos, the web portal -in Spanish- for Colombia’s public libraries here.

The video above -in Spanish- show the inauguration of the library and describes how the community has been changing in recent years.

Video by gallegoduque.

Santo Domingo Savio en Medellín está cambiando su cara gracias a una nueva biblioteca que se inauguró en agosto de 2007. La biblioteca cuenta con una sala de informática, guardería, galería de arte y un auditorio. La biblioteca también ofrece formación para adultos, talleres de expresión personal y hora de cuentos para niños.

En el pasado esta zona de la ciudad se hizo famoso (o infame) con fama como uno de los lugares más violentos en el país a la altura de la guerra contra el narcotráfico. La ciudad y sus habitantes se han visto representados en libros y películas resaltando sólo la violencia vivida. Novelas como “La Virgen de los Sicarios” de Fernando Vallejo, y “Rosario Tijeras” de Jorge Franco, así como el documental “La Sierra” han ilustrado la crueldad del diario vivir en la región. Sin embargo, hoy las cosas están cambiando, hoy Medellín es una ciudad mucho más segura y más tranquila, donde los residentes pueden volver a disfrutar de la ciudad. Este nuevo renacimiento también se sintió en las zonas más pobres de la ciudad, como Santo Domingo Savio.

La nueva biblioteca ha ganado atención debido a su arquitectura original, pero esperemos que pronto haya noticias del impacto positivo de la colección. La biblioteca se asemeja tres inmensas rocas ubicadas precariamente en el borde de una pendiente de donde se puede divisar toda Medellín. (Usted puede leer una explicación detallada de la arquitectura, incluyendo fotografías aquí). La biblioteca hace parte de la renovación global que la ciudad ha experimentado, las cuales tienen por objeto la creación de más espacios públicos que animan a la gente a salir, disfrutar de la ciudad, y conocer a sus vecinos.

Esta biblioteca es también parte de una iniciativa para promover las bibliotecas en Colombia. En febrero de este año, Japón donó el dinero suficiente para construir 13 bibliotecas nuevas (lea el artículo aquí), a construirse en varias ciudades de todo el país. También hay un fuerte énfasis en la promoción de las bibliotecas públicas, algo que ciertamente no era el caso cuando vivía allí. Puede acceder a Senderos, el portal de Internet en las bibliotecas públicas de Colombia está aquí.

El vídeo de arriba muestra la inauguración de la biblioteca y describe cómo la comunidad ha ido cambiando en los últimos años.

Vídeo por gallegoduque.

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During the same Hot Topics Discussion mentioned below I also heard a presentation about the implementation and use of LibraryThing at a public library by Kate Sheehan, Coordinator of Library Automation at the Danbury Public Library. Sheehan described how the library has integrated LibraryThing, a site which allows users to create bibliographies, plus rate and reviews books. The idea is that this added content will provide library users with more context when it comes to deciding what to check out next.

Similar to the recommendations on Amazon.com, LibraryThing allows users to see what other users have been reading, and if they liked it or no. The advantage of this system is that actual human beings (as opposed to algorithms) are providing the context and making connections. If you ever bought something on Amazon.com for a friend on a subject that does not interest you, the site will forever continue suggesting things on this subject. By contrast users of LibraryThing can actually help you choose related material that might interest you.

Sheehan also described this partnership as an addition that can make the OPAC “fun.” She found that she and others at the library could know be found “browsing” the catalog and spending long periods of time doing so. One interesting review can open up hundreds of possibilities and before long your list of “to read books” could make you wish you had more time to read.

In terms of implementations Sheehan said its been amazingly easy and the process was completed in a very short amount of time. Once up an running, each month the library provides LibraryThing with a list of all new additions by ISBN, which LibraryThing will then provide information for. Once a year the library gathers information on weeded books and LibraryThing is again notified of these changes.

The library’s catalog has not become part of LibraryThing, instead it gathers information available at the site. When opening the record of a particular book, in addition to the expected information you will also find suggestions for similar books, and a tag cloud of related subjects. Clicking on one of these tags will take you to more suggestions of material tagged with this category, as well as related categories. Here is an example of one of these records.

One issues that particularly caught my attention is that the Danbury library patrons are not necessarily the ones providing the rating and reviews (unless they happen to have an account with LibraryThing). I wonder how different these reviews and tag clouds might turn out if it were only the patrons providing input.

Kate Sheehan is the author behind the Loose Cannon Librarian blog.

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The Boston Public Library (BPL) has joined forces with PublicResource.org and the Internet Archive in order to begin digitizing the library’s large collection of government documents. This project has first envisioned by Mr. Carl Malamud and Mr. Brewster Kahle, the founders of these two collaborating organizations. Mr. Malamud hopes to eventually digitize the entire USA government document collection, which holds around 100 millions pages. The project is expected to take two years, at a cost of $6 million.

This project also hopes to gather a number of other digital collections which are already accessible online, but at a cost. The intent is to buy access to these collections and make their content freely available to everyone. The BPL wants to begin this project by digitizing their holdings relating to the Committee on Un-American Activities hearings from the 1950s, as well as a substantial collection of Congressional Hearings recently donated by Harvard.

In the future the BPL wishes to begins their own digital archive for holdings relating to local Boston and Massachusetts documents.

Here’s to hoping that initiatives such as these continue to prosper, and to make government more accessible and transparent.

You can read more about this from an article in the NYT here.

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Akito Yoshikane recently wrote the article titled “Public Libraries for Profit” commenting on a developing trend to privatize public libraries around the country. Yoshikane explain that a number of counties around the country have been unsuccessful at finding funding sources to continue keeping public libraries open to the public. When town officials are faced with the option of offering no library services or privatizing them, some are optioned for the latter.

Library Systems & Services (LSSI) is the private company that is usually hired to privatize libraries. The Maryland based company which has been in business since 1981, offers services ranging from taking charge of a particular project to managing both staff and all daily activities. They work in libraries offering services to local communities, schools, colleges, corporations and even the federal government.

LSSI is also involved in helping the library and information science field by creating a couple of scholarships and awards. LSSI has established two scholarships, one aimed at part time students in the information science field at the University of Maryland, College Park, the second scholarship aim to encourage people who are interested in promoting automation in the library field. They have also established an award which recognizes innovative practices in library management in libraries who are par to of the Urban Library Council.

LSSI’s present in libraries has not always been welcome. Libraries tend to reflect the community they serve and private, for-profit, companies which buy material in bulk may not always be able to reflect this diversity. There is also a concern that public libraries which were previously under city government and who’s labor force was unionized, are now loosing this benefit because of privatization. The lost of unionization usually also comes with the loss of state pension benefits, and reductions in medical benefits. Some communities have also seen significant reduction in the hours the library is open to the public.

Some of the formally public libraries that are now under private management by LSSI include libraries in Dallas TX, Riverside CA, Finney County KS, and most recently the libraries in Jackson Country, OR.

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