Passar säkert inte på alla bibliotek, men kanske på ditt?
Telling the Story of Food: Why Food Literacy Matters to Your Library
”As a community institution that provides information, along with the knowledge to navigate that information, libraries are an ideal resource to bridge this gap. So why not libraries and food?”
Mer om hur bibliotek kan användas när välfärdsstaten krackelerar (USA): Noah Lenstra: Why more public libraries are doubling as food distribution hubs
Lång och intressant läsning!
David Vunjamuri: How Libraries* Can Save Democracy
”Three institutions in particular are crucial to the economic and social health of our country: Libraries, Community Colleges and Children’s Museums.”
Publikationen, ”ESI Funds 2021-2027 – The EBLIDA Guide for Library Applicants”, är ett måste för de biblioteksansvariga som planerar att genomföra aktiviteter som uppfyller de globala, hållbara utvecklingsmålen från Agenda 2030 på sina bibliotek med finansiering genom de europeiska strukturfonderna.
En amerikansk undersökning om bibliotekets värde och samhällsnytta visar bland annat på att barns testade läsförmåga ökade efter att investeringar gjordes i det lokala biblioteket, men när det gällde motsvarande matematikprov förblev siffrorna på samma nivå.
The Returns to Public Library Investment:
”Local governments spend over 12 billion dollars annually funding the operation of 15,000 public libraries in the United States. This funding supports widespread library use: more than 50% of Americans visit public libraries each year. But despite extensive public investment in libraries, surprisingly little research quantities the effects of public libraries on communities and children. We use data on the near-universe of U.S. public libraries to study the effects of capital spending shocks on library resources, patron usage, student achievement, and local housing prices. We use a dynamic difference-in-difference approach to show that library capital investment increases children’s attendance at library events by 18%, children’s checkouts of items by 21%, and total library visits by 21%. Increases in library use translate into improved children’s test scores in nearby school districts: a $1,000 or greater per-student capital investment in local public libraries increases reading test scores by 0.02 standard deviations and has no effects on math test scores. Housing prices do not change after a sharp increase in public library capital investment, suggesting that residents internalize the increased cost and improved quality of their public libraries.”
Library Leadership & Managemanent
Diana K. Wakimoto: Exploring Internal Communication in Public Libraries: Challenges and
Opportunities for Library Leaders
”Effective internal communication is essential to library staff being able to fulfill their duties,
work together as a cohesive unit, and carry out the library’s mission. However, there is often a
lack of coordinated focus on clear internal communication that includes all staff members in
libraries. This can create environments where there is disconnect among staff and library
departments leading to rumor mills and lowering morale. This exploratory study looked at the
current state of internal library communications in public libraries and ideas to improve internal
communications. Library leadership has the potential to create environments and cultures where
internal communication is effective and supports library staff, their work, and the effective
functioning of the library as a whole.”
I Sverige har vi Bland Drakar och Dragqueens där drag-artister läser sagor för barn, gärna på biblioteket. I USA har de amerikanska biblioteken hållit på lite längre. I den här artikeln fråna ALA/ Children and Libraries kan du få ta del av deras erfarenheter:
Drag Queen Storytimes: Public Library Staff Perceptions and Experiences
”Since their first appearances in public libraries, drag queen storytimes (DQS) have frequently been featured in news stories and professional literature. These events feature drag performers leading various aspects of otherwise typical storytimes, including reading books, singing songs, and leading crafts and other activities with young children and their families.”
I alla fall verktygbibliotekens amerikanska historia, ja den började redan på 1940-talet!
Samantha Hamilton: What’s Mine Is Yours: The History of U.S. Tool-Lending Libraries
…och ja det är ett framträdande på Los Angeles Public Library
Läs mer på Variety
PC Sweeney: Libraries Help Save the Planet!
”Libraries are one of the best places to go not only to save the planet but to also learn more about it and how we can play a role in keeping it healthy for years to come.”
Idag släpps den svenska biblioteksstatistiken för pandemiåret 2020.
Passande läsning från Public Librarise Online: Learning From Our Statistics
(min fetning)
”But statistics are often misused. They are sometimes treated as a scorecard where higher means better, encouraging library staff to focus on increasing numbers instead of on meeting needs. We misread data and draw incorrect conclusions. We make bad comparisons, look for trends with insufficient data, and miss connections. We count what is easy to count, and we don’t necessarily count what is important to know. Some of the most important information is simply not countable, and it may get ignored. We take surveys and allow the opinion of a few to stand for the majority”
