“My town officials think all we’re running here is a babysitting service” a librarian recently shared in a moment of frustration. She went on to mention studies about the proven impact on cognitive abilities when toddlers are actively engaged in library programs like Lapsit versus passively engaged with toys & videos.
This was news to me;
Posts under ‘Funding’
Are public libraries glorified babysitting services?
The high cost of library micro-grants
Early in my career I was taught how to wring cost from a process or product. Instructors had me trace every interaction & transaction involved in procuring a product or service, assign a cost to each and assess its value to the deliverable. What I learned was, essentially the deliverable holds value and everything else
ALA/PLA – this is unacceptable (a rant)
I’m generally not given to public rants, but sometimes you just gotta let one rip… Today I came across a PLA announcement for a two-year grant of $750,000 from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. The ALA/PLA will be awarding mini-grants under a program entitled “The American Dream Starts @ your library”.
The announcement directs libraries
The impact of library mythology
In The Future of Reading, information consultant Tom Peters lays out a lofty library agenda. He exhorts libraries to “be part of [the] reading revolution, supporting and defending the rights of digital readers.” Peters warns “If readers don’t assert their rights in the dawning e-reading era, someone else will snatch up those rights” and suggests
Libraries – your signal is fading
Thirty-one years ago, Kathleen Molz began an article on public library funding1 by contemplating a depression-era anthology2 by Carl Vitz on the same subject:
Over forty years in time separate us from that earlier period, but it is only with a sense of deja vu that one re-examines some of the chapter headings
NPL = the National Public Library Corporation
The folks at In the Library with the Lead Pipe have given me an opportunity to spread my wings with a longer piece on public library advocacy. In “An Inflection Point for American Public Libraries“, I propose a means for public libraries to increase funding, use resources more efficiently, and deliver exciting new services to
Don’t pull the plug on libraries
A new campaign from British Columbia, Don’t Pull the Plug on Libraries, addresses the core, unmet needs I see in American public library funding advocacy:
An organized central resource for library advocates.
Direct, concise information for the public and public officials.
Here are a few of this campaign’s strengths:
Its name is a call to action.
Its website is
Federal-state budget mashup
In May, I drew a connection between library funding and national healthcare reform. A brief comparison between some of the money sloshing around at the federal level alongside this year’s state budget shortfalls suggests we’re feeling more pain than necessary.
Through March, the U.S. government spent, lent or committed $12.8 trillion to Wall Street,
What’s next for public libraries?
Today’s post spotlights the work of Richard Watson, a futurist based in England and Australia. His current project focuses on the future of public libraries. Public reports are expected during Aug/Sept, and Watson has been blogging about the project this month.
The work team has posited four scenarios, and each is an interesting read for anyone
Library brand effects
Automatic Effects of Brand Exposure on Motivated Behavior: How Apple Makes You “Think Different”, a study from the Duke University Fuqua School of Business, suggests that even brief exposures to corporate logos have behavioral effects.
Watching the video on the study made me realize public libraries have not adopted a common logo. I think it would
