Sharon Gaudin | Aug 25, 2016
Four years ago, the New York Public Library began to move its web properties to the cloud.
Today, the library system has all of its approximately 80 web sites in the cloud. The library has shrunk the number of on-premise servers by 40% and is running those web properties 95% more cheaply than if it had bought the hardware and software to do it all by itself.
The library took a risk on the cloud, and on Amazon Web Services (AWS), and it paid off.
"We've grown but we've grown in the cloud," said Jay Haque, director of DevOps and Enterprise Computing at the library. "Today, we're primarily focused on the digital identity of the NYPL. How our properties look. How they merge and integrate. How our patrons use the site … Without the cloud, we wouldn't have the time to focus on the customer experience."
The NYPL is the largest public library system in the U.S. based on the size of its book collection and the amount of materials borrowed annually. Jay Haque is the director of DevOps and Enterprise Computing at the New York Public Library. With more than 90 neighborhood branches, four research centers and about 67,000 free programs under the library's umbrella, the system houses more than 51 million items, including books, to e-books and research collections. The collection also includes a 1493 copy of Columbus's letter announcing his discovery of the New World and a collection of 40,000 restaurant menus dating as far back as 1843.
The library system serves more than 17 million patrons a year through all of its branches.
The NYPL is also focused on serving millions of people online, reaching out to a global audience that can't regularly walk through its doors.
3d illustrated abstract background featuring cubic reflective surfaces and circuitry 92012525
Internet of things: Early adopters share 4 key takeaways
Getting ready to launch an IoT initiative? Read these insights and advice from early adopters in
READ NOW
With the library system's 80 web sites, users can browse its immense collections, find a list of library-recommended international novels, download e-books, find blogs, watch videos of author interviews and view more than 800,000 digitized items, such as maps and photos.
Making all of that work seamlessly, quickly and without pause is Haque's job.
He started at the NYPL as a page in 1992, then went on to work in IT as a support technician until he left for another job in 1997. However, the library work called him back 17 years ago and he's stayed on since then, designing web pages, taking care of servers and working his way up.
Early in its web development, the library's online presence wasn't so well used. Haque said if a website went down, no one would notice. They wouldn't even worry about getting it back online till the next morning.
"Now the website can't go down," he said. "If it goes down for two minutes, people are screaming."
The need for reliable websites was a big part of the push to move to the cloud in 2012.
"The major problem was getting to that sweet spot of having that high level of availability and resilience without spending money on the initial capital outlay to do it," Haque told Computerworld. "We realized that to do that on-premise we needed a significant amount of hardware and software at significant cost to meet the modern demands of a highly available, highly secure and automated system that we would need to be nimble."
What would that have cost? Likely between $1 million to $2 million.
The NYPL IT team wasn't unfamiliar with the cloud, and already used different cloud platforms for certain projects.
Between 2009 and 2010, the library system made its first cloud move, trading in IBM's on-premise Lotus Notes for Google Apps. The library also migrated from Oracle's PeopleSoft human resources software to cloud-based WorkDay.
When it was time to think about moving its web infrastructure to the cloud, the library turned to AWS.
It wasn't an easy decision.
"Back four years ago, AWS was still fairly new," Haque said. "Most CIOs were on the fence about AWS at first. There wasn't much Fortune 500 on there yet."
However, AWS still had more traction than other cloud vendors, and the library system could easily find consultants to help with the cloud move.
The library's IT staff also liked the idea of the AWS pay-as-you-go model, so they got started by deploying one website on the AWS public cloud.
"We realized very quickly it was going to be cheaper than anything we could do," Haque said. "It was easier to manage and we realized the benefits of multiple data centers and the repeatability of the platform -- all without increased cost."
More than not increasing the cost, Haque said he figures it was in "the neighborhood of 95% cheaper."
Today, every website they build is on the AWS platform.
"Four years ago, yes, it was a smart idea for them," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research. "Now, they could use any of them, but AWS and Google are probably best for what they need. Starting out, you just buy what you need. You don't need a strategy or a road map."
The NYPL's cloud move has gone so well, that it doesn't buy on-premise servers anymore and has scaled back what it had by 40% in the past four years.
Today, it has about 300 servers in-house and about 300 with the AWS cloud.
It wasn't all smooth sailing, though.
The biggest challenges the library's IT staff had came down to training and changing expectations.
The library had traditional system administrators, who were anxious about automating much of their regular processes and changing their job functions.
There was extensive initial training, particularly for the first six to eight weeks.
"Initially, people were resistant," Haque said. "Would they pick it up fast enough? But they did really well. We sent people to conferences. We spent a lot of attention helping people get new skill sets. The challenge, these days, is helping people keep up with the new services and the new skills that they need."
Now Haque is thinking about expanding to other cloud vendors.
For instance, he's considering Microsoft Azure to migrate some of the library's Windows-based applications to the cloud.
He's also thinking about storing the library's 3 petabytes of data that's built up with the digital collection program -- preserving maps, photos, illustrations, books and videos – anything the library has digitized.
However, Haque wants that precious data to have serious redundancies.
He's considering using the AWS Glacier cloud storage service because it is a low-cost storage option for "dark" data, which is rarely used or accessed.
"But do we keep a second copy somewhere and a third copy somewhere else?" he asked, explaining that it would be optimal to be able to make a change to the data in one cloud and have it update across all three vendors. "We'd like to use Google, AWS and Azure. I don't know if that's the answer for us, but that's what we're thinking about … It will be interesting to see what they would be willing to do to make it easy to use. We'll talk with them about it at some point."
Gottheil said that should be doable.
"It's a matter of sending the same update to three different systems, not a matter of daisy-chaining the systems," Gottheil added." He may have a problem getting any of the big three to do it themselves, but another actor, a systems integrator, could do it."
To read the full article please visit Computer World.
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Saturday, August 20, 2016
The Purpose-Based Library
Finding your path to survival, success, and growth
By John J. Huber and Steven V. Potter
July 20, 2016
This is an excerpt from The Purpose-Based Library: Finding Your Path to Survival, Success, and Growth by John J. Huber and Steven V. Potter (ALA Editions, 2015).
“The most meaningful way to differentiate your company
from your competitors, the best way to put distance between you and the
crowd is to do an outstanding job with information. How you gather,
manage, and use information will determine whether you win or
lose.” —Bill Gates
Bill Gates’s quote should have you, as a member of the library
profession, doing backflips. Librarians are specifically trained to
gather, manage, and use information. If we take Gates’s words at face
value, libraries should be the most competitive organizations on the
planet.Some of you would argue that your library is a nonprofit organization and is not competing with anyone. We beg to differ. Every customer has a choice and chooses whether to go to the library website or Google’s search bar, to either engage the library or order materials from Amazon.
Amazon would much rather have its customers buy a book than borrow, and Google would much rather have information seekers search its website than seek out a reference or research librarian. There is no question that libraries compete head-to-head with these for-profit businesses.
Libraries are competing against the most successful businesses this planet has ever seen, and considering this competition, libraries have responded admirably. Embracing self-service technology, adopting one-field, deep-web database search engines, expanding ebook offerings, creating staffless libraries, and streamlining service-delivery chains are a few examples. However, libraries must face the reality that they have an uphill battle competing with these impressive and highly profit-driven companies. Google has for the most part won the “surface web” battle, as the role of the reference librarian has become a shell of itself. Amazon is winning the battle for ebooks, primarily because of its effective user interface, wealth of offerings, and easy-to-use digital delivery platform. Libraries are hanging in there and competing effectively, but for how long? They are surviving, but survival is not enough—success and growth have to be a part of libraries’ survival strategies or they will eventually lose their relevance.
To successfully compete, libraries must embrace the words of Bill Gates. Libraries must gather, use, and manage information in a way that large for-profit companies cannot. So the question is: What competitive advantages do libraries have that these organizations do not? Let us count the ways:
- Libraries have more locations across the country than any other organization.
- Libraries have a personal presence in every community in the country.
- Library staff interact with their customers face-to-face.
- Library staff are trained and skilled to gather, archive, and manage information.
- Library staff are well educated and motivated to make a difference.
- And most important, libraries and their staff have a powerful, game-changing common purpose.
The dedicated profession
If you are reading this, you have dedicated much of your life to helping people. It is why you get up in the morning. You go to work because you know you are going to make a difference in someone’s life. It may be as simple and subtle as preparing a new book for the hold shelf, suggesting a title someone may enjoy, helping someone sign on to the internet for the first time, making a child laugh during story hour, or perhaps even helping someone find a job. No matter the size of the task, you are making a difference to that individual and, as a result, to your community as a whole. Let me repeat that: You are making a difference to the community as a whole.
However, when we perused most library annual reports, we found cold, static numbers: circulation, gate counts, computer sessions, program hours, and attendance. These numbers are fine and important to track, but they do not go to the heart of the matter—that is, your heart. Circulation, gate count, and computer hours are not the reason you get up in the morning and go to work.
If these numbers do not get you excited, what makes you think your community will be any more excited? More to the point, if these static numbers do not motivate you as a librarian or a library staff member, how can you expect your library board, your city and county managers, and your community members to actively and excitedly support increased library funding?
The purpose-based library is not just about circulation, gate counts, and computer hours. It is about how you and your library affect people’s lives and therefore the community as a whole. This is your most significant competitive advantage over Amazon, Google, and Netflix.
Living the mission
Many people who work in libraries have two common threads. First, they have a previous connection to other people who have worked in a public library. They understand that working in a public library is a “people business.” They understand that it is not about getting to read all day—it is work that connects people and resources. They also know about the warm feeling librarians receive from the work that we do. Second, they have a desire to make a difference in the world around them. This can take on several faces.
Sometimes it is about helping people create businesses and stand on their own. Sometimes it is about helping children or adults learn to read. Sometimes it is about providing information on the topics of the day to inform the citizenry.
While libraries exist to transform communities, they are on a path toward full automation, which will eliminate staffers’ ability to have contact with their customers. It’s a great paradox that lives within today’s libraries. We propose that library staffs are too valuable of an asset to lose, for in our path to automation we lose the ability to seek, engage, and transform.
New York Public Library’s (NYPL) mission statement reads:
“The mission of The New York Public Library is to inspire lifelong learning, advance knowledge, and strengthen our communities.”
“Provide resources and opportunities that change individual lives and build community. Seek. Engage. Transform.”
“Seek, engage, transform.” Wow. Simple and to the point. However, while the statement is inspiring, it does not often correlate with the primary services in which staffs actually spend their time. Rather than seek, engage, transform, the default mission of the modern library appears to be to build a self-serve organization that is quicker, faster, better. For libraries to survive, this path is correct, but therein lies the paradox. When you streamline your operations, move to more digital interfaces, and reduce the face-to-face time you have with your customers, where does the wonderful mission statement of “seek, engage, transform” truly fall in the future of libraries’ priorities? How is your purpose fulfilled?
To survive, libraries must streamline their core operations, reduce clerical activities, increase self-service, embrace digital content and interfaces, and become quicker, faster, and better. However, to go beyond survival, to succeed and grow, libraries must become much more than just self-service, efficient suppliers and distributors of books and media. They must embrace the purpose behind their mission statements. NYPL’s mission is to inspire and strengthen its communities, and PPLD’s mission is to build and transform. These are both good. We believe most libraries embrace and pursue a similar mission. “Quicker, faster, better” is only the price of admission for survival.
What is the difference between a mission and a purpose? A mission is a direction and path to guide, while a purpose is the passion that you have within. An organizational purpose is a passion you share with others in your organization. A mission can be cold and static, and a purpose is always warm and dynamic. A mission has a start and an ending, but a purpose has no beginning and no ending; it just is. A mission is something you are told to do, while a purpose is something that you can’t help but do. A mission drives an organization on a determined path; a purpose drives itself. You as a member of your organization have within you a self-based purpose to help people. However, you are only one person and you can only do so much, but as an organization, where all of your passions are combined, a powerful compounding effect occurs. A purpose-based organization can transform entire communities. What a great reason to get up in the morning. This common purpose is libraries’ key to competitive differentiation with Google, Amazon, and Netflix.
Walmart is one of the most pervasive organizations in the US and, for that matter, the planet. It has around 4,350 supercenters, clubs, or retail stores throughout the country. Walmart also has a huge influence on US manufacturers’ pricing policies and the products they offer, as well as what consumers buy. What other organization has a presence in nearly every community? You might think of the US Postal Service, which has around 31,606 locations throughout the US. However, this pales in comparison to the nearly 119,487 libraries throughout the country. No one even comes close to the geographical coverage that libraries possess.
Each of these 119,487 US libraries has one common purpose behind its mission: to build a healthy community. It is a powerful statement. No other organization has more potential to impact the overall health and well-being of our nation’s communities than libraries. So what is the most powerful and influential organization in the US, Canada, and perhaps eventually the entire planet? The answer is libraries. And more to the point, a library with a purpose.
The geographical footprint libraries possess is one of the most important, powerful, and valuable strategic assets of any group, business, or industry. Add to the mix a highly educated workforce dedicated to serving the public, and you have the most valuable asset this nation possesses.
We cannot allow this asset to be gutted, marginalized, or left to die a slow death. Libraries must leverage their geographical footprint, fully utilize their purpose-based staff, embrace their mission, and create a partnership with their community that will be of such value that libraries’ path to success and growth is assured and celebrated. Libraries are the right resource at the right time to recapture the purpose behind their mission and lead their communities toward a stronger, healthier state. Libraries are apolitical, they fight for the fairness of information access for all people, and most important, they are trusted. What other institution in today’s broken society is better situated to make such a large impact in its local community?
What is your purpose?
There are more libraries in the US than McDonald’s restaurants—a staggering statistic that should make libraries proud. Libraries should also be proud of our history when adopting new technology as a method of information access. It is surprising to people to learn how frequently libraries have been on the leading edge of technological adoption.
Mid-Continent Public Library (MCPL) in Independence, Missouri, launched its first website in 1995, the same year that most of the world “discovered” the internet. The whole idea of ordering through an online catalog and picking up your order at a local store (sometimes called “bricks and clicks,” or what Walmart calls “site to store”) actually sounds a lot like interlibrary loan service, and it is something MCPL has been doing in some fashion since the early 1990s. Libraries are in every community both physically and in cyberspace and in greater numbers than any other institution. We are everywhere, but do we really take advantage of that fact?
Too often, libraries become a checkmark on a list of public assets that supposedly lead to a great quality of life. Do we have a park? Check. Do we have accredited schools? Check. Do we have a public library? Check. Is it good enough just to have a public library in your community, or should your public library be purpose-based to truly earn that checkmark?
What is your library’s purpose? Is it to check out books? Is it to be a jobs program? Is it to be publicly subsidized recreation for people who don’t want to play sports? Is it to provide a spectacle so people can come and see what crazy thing is happening at the library this week? Libraries are ideally positioned, both physically and virtually, to make a great impact on nearly every community in this country. The question is what does your community need, and how can your library behave in a purposeful way to help achieve that community vision?
JOHN J. HUBER formed the management consulting firm of J. Huber and Associates in 1986. He is author of Lean Library Management: Eleven Strategies for Reducing Costs and Improving Customer Services
(ALA Neal-Schuman, 2011). STEVEN V. POTTER is library director and
CEO of Mid-Continent Public Library (MCPL) in Independence, Missouri.
Source: americanlibrariesmagazine.org
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Libraries Improving Lives in Asia and Oceania
Helping people create sustainable communities globally
August 15, 2016
Keynote speaker Loida Garcia-Febo, a library consultant with
international expertise and a member of the IFLA governing board,
addressed how libraries are using their powers to do good around the
world.
The takeaway from the International Federation of
Library Associations and Institutions’ (IFLA) Asia and Oceania Section
presentation on August 15 was how libraries in many countries—from
highly industrialized economies to fragile island states, from the
Middle East to French Polynesia—can help people find the information
they need to create sustainable communities.
Keynote speaker Loida Garcia-Febo, a library consultant with international expertise and a member of the IFLA governing board, said, “Libraries have the capacity to organize knowledge in ways that can help people to increase their quality of life and promote lifelong learning opportunities.” Libraries are using their powers to do good, she added. “We are trying to save the world.”
“Library efforts have a cascading effect,” Garcia-Febo said, “from impacting our local areas, to the city, country, region, and the world.” She noted some of the ways citizen access to information can be used as a tool for education, engagement, and empowerment:
- Los Angeles Public Library helps immigrants fill out forms for naturalization.
- Toronto Public Library provides Newcomer Settlement Services for new Canadian residents.
- An initiative of the Association of College and Research Libraries helps US college students to manage their finances.
- Harris County (Tex.) Public Library’s iKnow card lets residents access digital resources.
- Dokk1, a city center and library in Aarhus, Denmark, allows parents of newborn babies to press a button at the hospital and ring a giant gong at the library.
- Ames Public Library (and other libraries in Iowa) lets patrons renew their driver’s licenses at a special kiosk.
- Alaskan libraries are lending devices that compile data about bats, allowing them to control fungal disease among bats.
- The San Juan Planes community library in Honduras began a project to bring safe drinking water to the community.
- The National Library of Uganda offers a tech training program in local languages for female farmers, showing them how to read weather forecasts, follow crop prices, and set up online markets.
Margaret Zimmerman, an LIS doctoral student at the University of South Carolina
Margaret Zimmerman, an LIS doctoral student at the University of South Carolina, offered her research findings that link the literacy of mothers in 44 Asian countries to maternal and child health. In Kerala, India, in the 1990s, an increase in female literacy reduced the deaths of children under 5 years old from 156 to 110 per thousand. In general, Zimmerman found that “literate Asian women are less likely to die as a result of pregnancy or childbirth,” and “their children had increased odds of surviving delivery and the first five years of their life.”
Prasanna Ranaweera, director of the National Institute of Library and
Information Science at the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka
Prasanna Ranaweera, director of the National Institute of Library and Information Science at the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka, presented the results of a study the institute conducted in the remote village of Dodamgolla in Uva province. He found that improvements in “domestic information management,” which he defined as “managing household information efficiently and effectively to uplift the community lifestyle,” resulted in improved student performance in the local schools. Household information included things as simple as arranging home study spaces and schoolbooks tidily, using mobile phones and television for educational purposes, maintaining first-aid kits, and managing home gardens efficiently.
Irhamni Ali of the National Library of Indonesia pointed out some of the many bureaucratic, technological, and political restrictions on information sharing by libraries in his country and called for more government transparency and public participation in libraries to improve the quality of life.
Opeta Alefaio of the National Archives of Fiji was unable to attend the IFLA conference, but Paul Nielsen, a colleague from Australia, read his paper. In 2014 the archives embarked on a program to bring relevant historic and cultural documents and photos to the remote islands of this Pacific nation. As a result of this “government roadshow,” Fijians for the first time saw documentary proof of their oral traditions and, in some cases, sons and daughters saw photos of their parents and grandparents for the first time. As an example, see the YouTube video, “Eparama Finds Priceless Photograph of His Father at Archives Outreach in Namosi.” The archives also made use of Facebook to publish historic photos that Fijians could add information to and share with their friends and relations on remote islands. One photo, for example, of Beqa villagers participating in a fish drive in 1947 was viewed more than 7,000 times and garnered dozens of comments.
Source: americanlibraries.org
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Finland library installs karaoke booth
Google Maps
A library in southern Finland wants people to sing their hearts out during their next visit - in a soundproofed karaoke booth.
The idea is that people who don't fancy performing to a packed bar after a tipple or five can instead enjoy a sing-along in relative privacy, regardless of their ability to hold a tune. "Anyone at all can sing karaoke," says manager Villa Karinen. "Everyone can perform with the voice they have and there's no need to fear criticism here."
Locals can reserve up to two hours in the booth using their library cards, and once inside they'll be able to choose from more than 3,000 songs, all listed on the library's website. As well as hundreds of Finnish tunes, there's the option to tackle foreign numbers ranging from Black Sabbath to Engelbert Humperdinck via 50 Cent and - of course - Whitney, Mariah and Celine.
The idea has proved popular with all ages, Yle says, including residents of a nearby elderly care home, and those who want to overcome stage fright. The library even ran an adult education course using the booth - called Be Brave, Sing Karaoke - which offered pointers on using a microphone and dealing with nerves. Participant Anniina Rantanen tells the broadcaster that the booth allows people to practise in peace, and means that "you can sing while you're sober".
Source: BBC News
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
The Magic of the Library at Night
By
Simply walking into the Grande Bibliothèque in Montreal is a terrifically inspiring experience. The combination of soaring windows, reading nooks, and six floors to browse through is enough to get anyone excited about literature.
But one of the library’s greatest features is the basement exhibition space that has housed some truly terrific works in recent years.
Their latest undertaking, in celebration of the Grande Bibliothèque’s 10th anniversary, is called “La Bibliothèque, La Nuit” or, “The Library at Night,” and it is sheer magic from beginning to end.
Based on an essay of the same title by Argentinian-Canadian Alberto Manguel, the exhibit is brought to life by Robert LePage’s brilliant production company Ex Machina. You can get a glimpse of their beautiful work in the trailer (which is absolutely worth a watch, even if you can’t make it to the exhibit itself).
Beginning in a room modeled on the writer’s own library, you are treated to excerpts from Manguel’s lively text, animated by lighting and other effects. Simultaneously spooky and cozy, making you feel like an interloper and an invited guest, this recreated room perfectly conveys what Manguel’s essay is all about: that a library is both the deeply personal story of your life, as well as a window onto the story of the world.
Upon exiting the small room through what appears to be a secret passageway, you enter a forest of books. Trees made of texts, leaves of pages swirling overhead and on the ground. When people say that reading is like stepping into another world, this is that other world’s foyer. Its delightful anteroom. This is what my dreams look like.
A series of desks appears in the woods, each equipped with the classic green reading lamp and with a 360-degree video headset. Donning the headset enables you to visit 10 of the most spectacular libraries in creation – some real, some imaginary. My personal favorites were the Library of Alexandria, and Captain Nemo’s library aboard the Nautilus. This is way beyond clicking through photos of famous libraries on the internet. Sitting in a swivel chair, you can spin all the way around at your leisure, getting the full view of each room and taking in both everyday goings on and events of historic significance, from the destruction of the Bosnia-Herzegovina’s National and University Library in Sarajevo to a break-dancing troupe practicing outside the Biblioteca Vasconcelos in Mexico City.
Photo by Michel Legendre
It was, without a doubt, the most enchanting literary exhibit I’ve ever seen. An intelligent concept executed flawlessly. But most importantly, it captures that special feeling libraries give those of us who love books, and dramatically portrays their transportive power.
I highly recommend accompanying your visit with Manguel’s book, The Library at Night (2009). Even if you can’t make the exhibit, do pick up a copy. It is a moving history of libraries in their many incarnations from a passionate champion of books and reading.
The exhibit runs until the 28th of August 2016. More information and tickets are available at the BAnQ’s website. Or you can call this number: 514 873-1100.
Source: BOOKRIOT
Simply walking into the Grande Bibliothèque in Montreal is a terrifically inspiring experience. The combination of soaring windows, reading nooks, and six floors to browse through is enough to get anyone excited about literature.
But one of the library’s greatest features is the basement exhibition space that has housed some truly terrific works in recent years.
Their latest undertaking, in celebration of the Grande Bibliothèque’s 10th anniversary, is called “La Bibliothèque, La Nuit” or, “The Library at Night,” and it is sheer magic from beginning to end.
Photo by Stéphane Bourgeois
Based on an essay of the same title by Argentinian-Canadian Alberto Manguel, the exhibit is brought to life by Robert LePage’s brilliant production company Ex Machina. You can get a glimpse of their beautiful work in the trailer (which is absolutely worth a watch, even if you can’t make it to the exhibit itself).
Beginning in a room modeled on the writer’s own library, you are treated to excerpts from Manguel’s lively text, animated by lighting and other effects. Simultaneously spooky and cozy, making you feel like an interloper and an invited guest, this recreated room perfectly conveys what Manguel’s essay is all about: that a library is both the deeply personal story of your life, as well as a window onto the story of the world.
Upon exiting the small room through what appears to be a secret passageway, you enter a forest of books. Trees made of texts, leaves of pages swirling overhead and on the ground. When people say that reading is like stepping into another world, this is that other world’s foyer. Its delightful anteroom. This is what my dreams look like.
A series of desks appears in the woods, each equipped with the classic green reading lamp and with a 360-degree video headset. Donning the headset enables you to visit 10 of the most spectacular libraries in creation – some real, some imaginary. My personal favorites were the Library of Alexandria, and Captain Nemo’s library aboard the Nautilus. This is way beyond clicking through photos of famous libraries on the internet. Sitting in a swivel chair, you can spin all the way around at your leisure, getting the full view of each room and taking in both everyday goings on and events of historic significance, from the destruction of the Bosnia-Herzegovina’s National and University Library in Sarajevo to a break-dancing troupe practicing outside the Biblioteca Vasconcelos in Mexico City.
It was, without a doubt, the most enchanting literary exhibit I’ve ever seen. An intelligent concept executed flawlessly. But most importantly, it captures that special feeling libraries give those of us who love books, and dramatically portrays their transportive power.
I highly recommend accompanying your visit with Manguel’s book, The Library at Night (2009). Even if you can’t make the exhibit, do pick up a copy. It is a moving history of libraries in their many incarnations from a passionate champion of books and reading.
The exhibit runs until the 28th of August 2016. More information and tickets are available at the BAnQ’s website. Or you can call this number: 514 873-1100.
Source: BOOKRIOT
Sunday, August 14, 2016
The Des Moines Register: Experiences, not collections, define libraries of the future
 |
| Add caption |
By Bradd Brown
August 12, 2016
From June through August, libraries around the country celebrate and encourage literacy and library use with engaging summer reading programs. Participation in these programs is a powerful example of the transformational power of libraries in the 21st century. While some may question the relevancy of libraries in today’s digital age, in designing more than 40 public libraries over the past 20 years, OPN Architects has seen first-hand that the role of these most public of all institutions is just as critical to a community’s well-being as it was 100 years ago.
It was at the turn of the 20th century that philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, recognizing how access to information could impact a person’s life potential, made free public libraries one of his greatest endeavors. His legacy includes 2,509 libraries in towns, cities and college campuses across the country, including 101 in Iowa. The libraries Carnegie envisioned celebrated knowledge through both collection and congregation. Collections were concentrated in defined areas, while equal, if not more space, was dedicated to ornate reading rooms where the community could gather to share ideas.
Somewhere in the 100 years between Carnegie’s era and now, though, libraries started to define their worth by their collections, not their community. Today, we have come full circle. Libraries are re-embracing their role as community connectors intent on content creation, openly designed to bring in natural light and allow for a user-friendly environment. Communities across Iowa, with the help of architects, have brought libraries back to life by embracing their communal spaces to create, make, examine, imagine, compose and propose new ideas.
 |
| A cafe and coffee shop is included in the new Cedar Rapids Public Library. (Photo: Wayne Johnson/Main Street Studio) |
A library is no longer defined only by the tangible materials it possesses. A book has the capacity for creating memories, but libraries also offer infinite potential for dreaming, growing, planning, discovering and investigating. A library is a fixed built environment, yet every visit, every interaction offers a distinctive experience.
When a library melds the legacy of its past with the possibilities of the future, it is both familiar and comfortable, yet novel and inspiring. Whether a visit is to grab a cup of coffee, a crime thriller, or conversation with a friend, a library is incomparable in its potential to offer assorted solutions to an equally varied group of people. It’s a space that inspires joyful giggles and enthusiastic epiphanies. Yet, it is also unrivaled in its capacity to embrace everyone, regardless of circumstance, even if all they need is a shelter from life’s storm. Today’s libraries are truly community catalysts; they are designed to bring people together and as a result are transforming neighborhoods.
We call this new approach the Library of the Future. In fact, though, the library of the future is not only a return to the tradition of the past. It is also already the library of today. Take, for example, the Cedar Rapids Public Library, which was honored in 2015 with an AIA/ALA Library Building Award. The new library replaced the previous facility damaged by the floods of 2008. The library did not grow appreciably in size, nor was it located in a dramatically different part of the city. Yet, the impact of the community is undeniable.
 |
| The Cedar Rapids Public Library included a 200 seat auditorium. (Photo: Wayne Johnson/Main Street Studio) |
One would expect an increase in visitors initially, explained easily by the novelty of a new space. Since opening in 2013, though, the library has increased circulation, visitors, use of computers and meeting rooms, and participation in events in some cases by the hundreds of thousands over the pre-flood facility. Visits increased by more than 200,000, library program participants nearly tripled, and meeting room usage went from below 15,000 attendees to well more than 130,000. Circulation increased as well by 200,000, making the Cedar Rapids Public Library the highest circulating library in the state.
Perhaps even more significant is the fact that there have been dozens of weddings, concerts, church services and celebrations. As architects that design libraries, we are humbled that our lifework is dedicated to creating spaces that will be embraced by communities in ways yet to be imagined. The library of the future is indeed now.
Source: The Des Moines Register
Data Informed: Libraries Check out Patron Data to Deliver Better Service
by Scott Etkin
August 4, 2016
Public libraries aren’t normally thought of as businesses. But like businesses, libraries require significant investments, have to operate within budgets, and need to understand their “customers” in order to carry out their mission effectively.
A group of 10 public library systems from around the United States recently participated in a study analyzing data from nearly 70 million checkout transactions involving 4 million library cardholders. The findings of the report will help these libraries tailor their services to their local communities.
Data Informed spoke with Danielle Milam, Development Director at the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District Foundation, about the study, the insights it revealed, and how those insights are being used to better serve library patrons.
Data Informed: What was the impetus for participating in the library usage study? What questions were you trying to answer? Were there specific business problems you were trying to address?
Danielle Milam: We don’t library like we used to. The public library today is an open platform for learning. We are evolving from a business of transactions to a business of experiences. There is growing demand for resources that bridge both digital and physical worlds. If we are able to make this transition successfully and align our services with the interests and motivations of people who use and need libraries, we stand to greatly improve and sustain our value and place in society.
Relevance is our greatest challenge. We are managing in times of rapid and disruptive change – demographics, technology, skills, and formats. We are struggling to find tools that help us know who is using the library and how they are using it so that we can design and provide the next generation of relevant and useful services.
Another big challenge is maintaining a high-level of services with shrinking public resources. We have to do more with less.
So with that in mind, we teamed up with nine other libraries across the United States to conduct the industry’s first study that combined big data with market segmentation data to gather intelligence on customer characteristics and usage patterns.
How would you have addressed these problem(s) traditionally, and what made you consider data analytics as a way to approach this problem?
Milam: Public libraries traditionally have used expensive customer intelligence tools like town halls, surveys, and focus groups that give us a lot of information on a small number of people. With big data, we get a broad and detailed community overview of who is using our libraries and who is not. We get geographic and quantitative data that gives us insights on the complexity of our communities and the variety of our library customers. When we can identify the core customers with the highest use of library materials, we can find and attract new customers like them. If we understand the people and places, we can anticipate and shape the next generation of library services.
We chose big data analysis to understand our communities and customer base better. We also wanted to identify and understand the implications of demographic trends that are shaping our communities. How do we shift our business models to meet the needs of growing variety of Hispanic and single-parent households? How do the strategies of libraries that have robust use by wealthy households differ from libraries that work with a variety of low-income households?
Please take us through the process. What data sources did you analyze, what data did you provide for the study, and what insights did they reveal about your organization, your customers, and your community?
Milam: To complete the core customer analytics part of our project, we contracted with Fuzzy Logix to crunch the big data already available from CIVICTechnologies. This enabled us to quickly analyze community market segments as well as cardholder and core customer usage patterns at the 10 libraries.
The analytics revealed a wealth of hyperlocal data that now is used to develop strategies to expand our customer base among the predominant local market segments, to market services and programs more effectively based on customer preferences, and to design effective service strategies that are a match with local demographics, lifestyles, cultures, and community challenges.
The big “a-ha” insight from this study is that relevance is local. In the past, libraries would benchmark themselves with other libraries of a similar size, service population or demographics, or a similar operational budget. Now, each of the 10 libraries have incredibly detailed information on exactly whom they serve. They can look to other communities for service models and ideas, but survival depends on how well they cultivate and maintain their local customers and continue to create value for predominant local market segments. For example, although they are similar in size and demographics, this report showed big differences in market segments between Denver (a predominance of singles households) and Las Vegas (a predominance of family households).
What were the most surprising insights the data produced?
Milam: We were surprised to find notable alignment between the unique distributions of market segments in the general population and the market segments that make up library core customer and cardholder bases in each community. We don’t think many industries can show that they reach and are relevant to the variety of rich and poor, educated and uneducated, young and old, U.S. citizen and immigrant populations that regularly use American public libraries. For example, in Houston the public library found that Hispanics represent 28 percent of the city library’s core customers and 33 percent of its total library cardholders, even though they make up only 19 percent of the city’s total population. The state of Washington’s King County Library System learned that 42 percent of its core customers come from wealthy households.
What actions have you taken as a result of the data insights?
Milam: We are learning that using this granular local data makes our organizations surprisingly resilient, nimble, and flexible in times of rapid and disruptive change. We can pivot faster, and target resources and initiatives better. We can let go of old service strategies that have little impact. In Las Vegas, when we discovered that over 76 percent of our community is made up of 21 different kinds of family households, staff used the data to quickly shift strategies on collections, services, marketing, outreach, and new partnerships that strengthen the community ecosystem for pre-K, student success, workforce, and college pathways.
Overall, we have come to understand that we don’t have to be all things to all people. We are learning to use this big-data approach to drill down into those markets that matter. We can now measure our uptick in library use by specific market segments.
The study also gave our industry a wake-up call on the need to gather data on active library cardholders who are not checking out books or DVDs. Are they using the computer labs and downloadable products? What programs and trainings are they attending? Which segments are likely to migrate to new digital formats? What household segments might face barriers? We are working together now to address those questions and data gaps.
What results have you seen from acting on the insights the data revealed?
Milam: The results of this study have shifted the dialogue in our industry and communities. Staff feel empowered by good local data. Library systems have a new ability to develop effective community-wide strategies, while branch libraries can tailor to neighborhood conditions. It has helped public libraries reposition themselves as they provide deep data on community challenges, create effective change initiatives, and get a bigger bang from public investments and resources.
Source: Data Informed
August 4, 2016
Public libraries aren’t normally thought of as businesses. But like businesses, libraries require significant investments, have to operate within budgets, and need to understand their “customers” in order to carry out their mission effectively.
A group of 10 public library systems from around the United States recently participated in a study analyzing data from nearly 70 million checkout transactions involving 4 million library cardholders. The findings of the report will help these libraries tailor their services to their local communities.
Data Informed spoke with Danielle Milam, Development Director at the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District Foundation, about the study, the insights it revealed, and how those insights are being used to better serve library patrons.
Data Informed: What was the impetus for participating in the library usage study? What questions were you trying to answer? Were there specific business problems you were trying to address?
Danielle Milam: We don’t library like we used to. The public library today is an open platform for learning. We are evolving from a business of transactions to a business of experiences. There is growing demand for resources that bridge both digital and physical worlds. If we are able to make this transition successfully and align our services with the interests and motivations of people who use and need libraries, we stand to greatly improve and sustain our value and place in society.
 |
| Danielle Milam, Development Director, Las Vegas-Clark County Library District Foundation |
Another big challenge is maintaining a high-level of services with shrinking public resources. We have to do more with less.
So with that in mind, we teamed up with nine other libraries across the United States to conduct the industry’s first study that combined big data with market segmentation data to gather intelligence on customer characteristics and usage patterns.
How would you have addressed these problem(s) traditionally, and what made you consider data analytics as a way to approach this problem?
Milam: Public libraries traditionally have used expensive customer intelligence tools like town halls, surveys, and focus groups that give us a lot of information on a small number of people. With big data, we get a broad and detailed community overview of who is using our libraries and who is not. We get geographic and quantitative data that gives us insights on the complexity of our communities and the variety of our library customers. When we can identify the core customers with the highest use of library materials, we can find and attract new customers like them. If we understand the people and places, we can anticipate and shape the next generation of library services.
We chose big data analysis to understand our communities and customer base better. We also wanted to identify and understand the implications of demographic trends that are shaping our communities. How do we shift our business models to meet the needs of growing variety of Hispanic and single-parent households? How do the strategies of libraries that have robust use by wealthy households differ from libraries that work with a variety of low-income households?
Please take us through the process. What data sources did you analyze, what data did you provide for the study, and what insights did they reveal about your organization, your customers, and your community?
Milam: To complete the core customer analytics part of our project, we contracted with Fuzzy Logix to crunch the big data already available from CIVICTechnologies. This enabled us to quickly analyze community market segments as well as cardholder and core customer usage patterns at the 10 libraries.
The analytics revealed a wealth of hyperlocal data that now is used to develop strategies to expand our customer base among the predominant local market segments, to market services and programs more effectively based on customer preferences, and to design effective service strategies that are a match with local demographics, lifestyles, cultures, and community challenges.
The big “a-ha” insight from this study is that relevance is local. In the past, libraries would benchmark themselves with other libraries of a similar size, service population or demographics, or a similar operational budget. Now, each of the 10 libraries have incredibly detailed information on exactly whom they serve. They can look to other communities for service models and ideas, but survival depends on how well they cultivate and maintain their local customers and continue to create value for predominant local market segments. For example, although they are similar in size and demographics, this report showed big differences in market segments between Denver (a predominance of singles households) and Las Vegas (a predominance of family households).
What were the most surprising insights the data produced?
Milam: We were surprised to find notable alignment between the unique distributions of market segments in the general population and the market segments that make up library core customer and cardholder bases in each community. We don’t think many industries can show that they reach and are relevant to the variety of rich and poor, educated and uneducated, young and old, U.S. citizen and immigrant populations that regularly use American public libraries. For example, in Houston the public library found that Hispanics represent 28 percent of the city library’s core customers and 33 percent of its total library cardholders, even though they make up only 19 percent of the city’s total population. The state of Washington’s King County Library System learned that 42 percent of its core customers come from wealthy households.
What actions have you taken as a result of the data insights?
Milam: We are learning that using this granular local data makes our organizations surprisingly resilient, nimble, and flexible in times of rapid and disruptive change. We can pivot faster, and target resources and initiatives better. We can let go of old service strategies that have little impact. In Las Vegas, when we discovered that over 76 percent of our community is made up of 21 different kinds of family households, staff used the data to quickly shift strategies on collections, services, marketing, outreach, and new partnerships that strengthen the community ecosystem for pre-K, student success, workforce, and college pathways.
Overall, we have come to understand that we don’t have to be all things to all people. We are learning to use this big-data approach to drill down into those markets that matter. We can now measure our uptick in library use by specific market segments.
The study also gave our industry a wake-up call on the need to gather data on active library cardholders who are not checking out books or DVDs. Are they using the computer labs and downloadable products? What programs and trainings are they attending? Which segments are likely to migrate to new digital formats? What household segments might face barriers? We are working together now to address those questions and data gaps.
What results have you seen from acting on the insights the data revealed?
Milam: The results of this study have shifted the dialogue in our industry and communities. Staff feel empowered by good local data. Library systems have a new ability to develop effective community-wide strategies, while branch libraries can tailor to neighborhood conditions. It has helped public libraries reposition themselves as they provide deep data on community challenges, create effective change initiatives, and get a bigger bang from public investments and resources.
Source: Data Informed
Saturday, August 13, 2016
American Libraries: How to survive and thrive in a self-service world
By Sanhita SinhaRoy
July 28, 2016
How do you demonstrate the value of your library? And how can you approach your institution’s challenges in a new, more purposeful way? John Huber and Steven Potter sought to find out. In their recent book, The Purpose-Based Library: Finding Your Path to Survival, Success, and Growth (ALA Editions, 2015), the authors address these and other issues related to the future of libraries and community transformation.
Huber founded the management consulting firm of J. Huber and Associates in 1986, and Potter is library director and CEO of Mid-Continent Public Library in Independence, Missouri. An excerpt from their book was published in the July/August issue of American Libraries.
What made you want to write this book?
HUBER: Libraries are under pressure to not only reduce cost but to justify their very existence. As a result of my library consulting work, I realized some important questions had to be answered:
Having worked with Steve and Mid-Continent Public Library on many projects, we have had many opportunities to share our thoughts on the future of libraries and soon discovered that together, we might be able to answer these questions.
POTTER: John and I were having dinner one night and talking about the future of libraries, particularly how libraries need to adopt new services to remain relevant. We discussed that a library could face challenges to be more efficient and effective in how services are delivered and how sometimes those efficiencies could create new resources and new capacity to take on more meaningful services. Those services could allow your library to realign your purpose from “a warehouse for books” to an agent for community change and transformation.
Why would ALA members find the book helpful?
HUBER: This book shows libraries not only how to survive a self-service world but also how to succeed and grow by embracing their true common purpose: community engagement and transformation. If you are to transform or improve a service or process, you must first define and understand it. When it comes to a book or media service performance, this is somewhat straightforward. However, it is not straightforward for the soft side of library services. How do you measure improved early literacy? How do measure job résumés? How do you define a healthy and thriving community? Our book shows how you can do that and how you can measure and market the monetary impact on your community.
POTTER: It is important to stop and periodically rethink why we do what we do. I think The Purpose-Based Library provides a framework for people to consider different ways to address our traditional mission and to approach those challenges in a new, purposeful way. This book also joins in the conversation that all public libraries are having, specifically, how do you demonstrate value? Our value is not wrapped up in the number of books we circulate or the number of people who visit our buildings. While those numbers are nice indicators of how busy we are and the general health of the library, they don’t tell us how we are fostering transformational change in our communities. Being a purpose-based library challenges you to do those things and to have those conversations with your staff, your board, your advocates, and your funders.
What is the most surprising thing you discovered while working on this book?
HUBER: Through my research I discovered there is no current means to define or measure a healthy and thriving community. If there is no common definition or baseline, how can we measure progress? How can we benchmark? How do we know if our efforts are having an impact? Without this basic definition, we will continue to walk in a maze of our own creation.
POTTER: There were several things I discovered. The Purpose-Based Library was my first book, and so many of the technical processes of writing a book were new to me. I was surprised at how much John and I agreed on the direction and content as we wrote the book and how easy it was for us to collaborate, even though we live 250 miles apart and never sat in the same room to write it. Interestingly, we discovered at the very end, after we turned in the final draft, that we disagreed on one point. But that was the only point in the entire book. At an author panel at the 2015 ALA Annual Conference, we had Start a Revolution author Ben Bizzle arbitrate our difference of opinion. If you were in the room, you know the issue and Ben’s opinion. Read the book, see if you can find the difference, and ask me or John at one of our presentations if you can’t find it.
What are you reading right now?
HUBER: I am reading Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. I enjoy historical fiction, and the series immerses you in World War I, showing the horrific waste of tens of millions of human beings whose fate was sealed by the decisions of a handful of men—decisions that led to world-changing revolutions and the eventual fall of many of these giants.
POTTER: I just finished My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor and am finishing up a reread of When the Boomers Bail by Mark Lautman. This book is incredible and really does give libraries justification for how to help provide “place” for the 21st-century economy. I’m very eager to read the new biography on Winston Churchill by Candice Millard and the Good Lieutenant by Whitney Terrell. Both are great authors and good friends of our library and of the Story Center at our Woodneath Library Center.
What is your next project?
HUBER: I am working with many libraries to streamline their service processes. I am also assisting libraries to strengthen and market their strategic plan with community transformation and performance metrics as a driving force to repurpose staff.
POTTER: I’ve been talking with ALA about writing something on our Story Center program or our small business support and outreach programs.
Source: American Libraries
July 28, 2016
Huber founded the management consulting firm of J. Huber and Associates in 1986, and Potter is library director and CEO of Mid-Continent Public Library in Independence, Missouri. An excerpt from their book was published in the July/August issue of American Libraries.
What made you want to write this book?
HUBER: Libraries are under pressure to not only reduce cost but to justify their very existence. As a result of my library consulting work, I realized some important questions had to be answered:
- Can libraries survive in a low-staff-supported, self-service-driven world?
- If we continue to reduce staff, how long before a library is no different from Google or Amazon?
- If libraries are no different from Google and Amazon, can they survive?
Having worked with Steve and Mid-Continent Public Library on many projects, we have had many opportunities to share our thoughts on the future of libraries and soon discovered that together, we might be able to answer these questions.
POTTER: John and I were having dinner one night and talking about the future of libraries, particularly how libraries need to adopt new services to remain relevant. We discussed that a library could face challenges to be more efficient and effective in how services are delivered and how sometimes those efficiencies could create new resources and new capacity to take on more meaningful services. Those services could allow your library to realign your purpose from “a warehouse for books” to an agent for community change and transformation.
Why would ALA members find the book helpful?
HUBER: This book shows libraries not only how to survive a self-service world but also how to succeed and grow by embracing their true common purpose: community engagement and transformation. If you are to transform or improve a service or process, you must first define and understand it. When it comes to a book or media service performance, this is somewhat straightforward. However, it is not straightforward for the soft side of library services. How do you measure improved early literacy? How do measure job résumés? How do you define a healthy and thriving community? Our book shows how you can do that and how you can measure and market the monetary impact on your community.
POTTER: It is important to stop and periodically rethink why we do what we do. I think The Purpose-Based Library provides a framework for people to consider different ways to address our traditional mission and to approach those challenges in a new, purposeful way. This book also joins in the conversation that all public libraries are having, specifically, how do you demonstrate value? Our value is not wrapped up in the number of books we circulate or the number of people who visit our buildings. While those numbers are nice indicators of how busy we are and the general health of the library, they don’t tell us how we are fostering transformational change in our communities. Being a purpose-based library challenges you to do those things and to have those conversations with your staff, your board, your advocates, and your funders.
What is the most surprising thing you discovered while working on this book?
HUBER: Through my research I discovered there is no current means to define or measure a healthy and thriving community. If there is no common definition or baseline, how can we measure progress? How can we benchmark? How do we know if our efforts are having an impact? Without this basic definition, we will continue to walk in a maze of our own creation.
POTTER: There were several things I discovered. The Purpose-Based Library was my first book, and so many of the technical processes of writing a book were new to me. I was surprised at how much John and I agreed on the direction and content as we wrote the book and how easy it was for us to collaborate, even though we live 250 miles apart and never sat in the same room to write it. Interestingly, we discovered at the very end, after we turned in the final draft, that we disagreed on one point. But that was the only point in the entire book. At an author panel at the 2015 ALA Annual Conference, we had Start a Revolution author Ben Bizzle arbitrate our difference of opinion. If you were in the room, you know the issue and Ben’s opinion. Read the book, see if you can find the difference, and ask me or John at one of our presentations if you can’t find it.
What are you reading right now?
HUBER: I am reading Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. I enjoy historical fiction, and the series immerses you in World War I, showing the horrific waste of tens of millions of human beings whose fate was sealed by the decisions of a handful of men—decisions that led to world-changing revolutions and the eventual fall of many of these giants.
POTTER: I just finished My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor and am finishing up a reread of When the Boomers Bail by Mark Lautman. This book is incredible and really does give libraries justification for how to help provide “place” for the 21st-century economy. I’m very eager to read the new biography on Winston Churchill by Candice Millard and the Good Lieutenant by Whitney Terrell. Both are great authors and good friends of our library and of the Story Center at our Woodneath Library Center.
What is your next project?
HUBER: I am working with many libraries to streamline their service processes. I am also assisting libraries to strengthen and market their strategic plan with community transformation and performance metrics as a driving force to repurpose staff.
POTTER: I’ve been talking with ALA about writing something on our Story Center program or our small business support and outreach programs.
Source: American Libraries
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Vancouver Sun: Libraries – who needs them in the digital world?
By Stu McNish
August 5, 2016
Conversations That Matter features Scott Hargrove of the Fraser Valley Regional Library. He says that your digital device has opened up the entire world but you need to be careful about who’s information you trust. The mishmash of knowledge that is force-fed to you by search engines can easily mislead you. It prevents you from getting to the ‘deep web’, the place where the really valuable information is waiting to be discovered. Getting there isn’t easy unless you know how and without a library card you probably can’t afford the price of admission. That’s where your library comes in and it is just the beginning of where libraries can take you.
This is episode 97 in a series with Stu McNish.
Source: Vancouver Sun
Monday, August 8, 2016
Technical.ly: DC Public Library’s librarians are lowkey internet privacy activists
After Edward Snowden revealed the National Security Agency's surveillance programs in 2013, the D.C. Public Library has been working harder than ever to protect patron privacy. Here's how.
By Julia Airey
July 26, 2016
Somewhere in your neighborhood is a free computer equipped to secure your data.
That’s because, as it turns out, the D.C. Public Library (DCPL) is a bastion of privacy. Librarians are teaching patrons how to protect their privacy and also taking pains to make sure that personal information stays private on public computers, all in the shadow of the National Security Agency.
One of its most popular event programs last year was “Orwellian America,” a 1984-themed event that included films and lectures on government surveillance.
Held across several D.C. libraries over the course of a week in January 2015, the event series offered public classes on installing Tor, the encryption browser that has drawn the ire of the NSA.
“Those classes were insanely popular,” Adult Program Coordinator Eric Riley recalled, noting that an average of 70 people attended.
DCPL was inspired to host the Tor classes by the Library Freedom Project, a Boston-based organization that aims to equip libraries with encryption practices so everyone has a place where their privacy is protected.
“Libraries are very keen to learn this information,” said Library Freedom Project founder Alison Macrina.
It’s popular, too. The Library Freedom Project is currently offering up to 15 training sessions a month, and as many as 100 librarians have attended each one, Macrina said.
“The broader trend that this speaks to,” Macrina said,“is that members of the public have become much more interested in protecting their privacy in the last few years.”
This public interest stems partly from revelations about the federal government’s surveillance program in 2013. But libraries have a longer history of advocating for the public’s privacy.
During the Cold War, the FBI targeted libraries, screening them for KGB agents. In 2002, the American Library Association objected to the controversial, post-9/11 Patriot Act because one of its provisions authorized the metadata collection of library records. When faced with subsequent FBI demands, librarians protested. They shredded paper records, staged protests and sued U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Libraries were eventually exempted from the Patriot Act’s so-called “library provision.” The ALA released a “Freedom to Read” statement and libraries everywhere sought ways to better protect patrons’ privacy.
The DCPL upholds this commitment through teaching digital literacy, with classes on software like Tor, and seeking new software to protect patron’s information, like its book check-out software. The DCPL redesigned the program, called Integrated Library Software, to keep patron records anonymous, said DCPL media specialist George Williams.
“Once materials are returned to a library in our network, the data is aggregated,” Williams said in a phone interview with Technical.ly DC. “But it’s no longer tied to patron identity.”
DCPL IT specialist Lami Aromire described other types of software he uses to further enhance patron privacy. One of them is a program developed by Vancouver-based Faronics Corporation called Deep Freeze. Each time a library computer restarts, the program deletes all personal files and configurations that patrons left behind. The DCPL has used it ever since Snowden’s leaks.
Another privacy issue libraries face is people leaving personal information on public computers. So Aromire uses free software called CCleaner to delete browsing history, cookies and temporary files every time the computer restarts.
Of course, in practice, results are rarely foolproof.
As media specialist Williams explained, “People often volunteer their information online, which defeats the purpose of protecting that information.”
For Riley, DCPL’s Adult Program Coordinator, that’s where educational outreach programs come in. He’s designing a mobile tech lab that will visit communities in D.C. to teach digital literacy. The goal is to engage people in emerging technologies that improve their lives.
“The DCPL is really committed to helping make sure that all residents to the district have the skill and ability to navigate the digital world,” Riley said. “And I think privacy is something baked into library services. Freedom is a core of library service.”
Source: technical.ly
By Julia Airey
July 26, 2016
 |
| The D.C. Public Library’s promotional poster for the 2015 “Orwellian America." |
Somewhere in your neighborhood is a free computer equipped to secure your data.
That’s because, as it turns out, the D.C. Public Library (DCPL) is a bastion of privacy. Librarians are teaching patrons how to protect their privacy and also taking pains to make sure that personal information stays private on public computers, all in the shadow of the National Security Agency.
One of its most popular event programs last year was “Orwellian America,” a 1984-themed event that included films and lectures on government surveillance.
Held across several D.C. libraries over the course of a week in January 2015, the event series offered public classes on installing Tor, the encryption browser that has drawn the ire of the NSA.
“Those classes were insanely popular,” Adult Program Coordinator Eric Riley recalled, noting that an average of 70 people attended.
DCPL was inspired to host the Tor classes by the Library Freedom Project, a Boston-based organization that aims to equip libraries with encryption practices so everyone has a place where their privacy is protected.
“Libraries are very keen to learn this information,” said Library Freedom Project founder Alison Macrina.
It’s popular, too. The Library Freedom Project is currently offering up to 15 training sessions a month, and as many as 100 librarians have attended each one, Macrina said.
“The broader trend that this speaks to,” Macrina said,“is that members of the public have become much more interested in protecting their privacy in the last few years.”
 |
| Patrons using public computers at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library. |
This public interest stems partly from revelations about the federal government’s surveillance program in 2013. But libraries have a longer history of advocating for the public’s privacy.
During the Cold War, the FBI targeted libraries, screening them for KGB agents. In 2002, the American Library Association objected to the controversial, post-9/11 Patriot Act because one of its provisions authorized the metadata collection of library records. When faced with subsequent FBI demands, librarians protested. They shredded paper records, staged protests and sued U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Libraries were eventually exempted from the Patriot Act’s so-called “library provision.” The ALA released a “Freedom to Read” statement and libraries everywhere sought ways to better protect patrons’ privacy.
The DCPL upholds this commitment through teaching digital literacy, with classes on software like Tor, and seeking new software to protect patron’s information, like its book check-out software. The DCPL redesigned the program, called Integrated Library Software, to keep patron records anonymous, said DCPL media specialist George Williams.
“Once materials are returned to a library in our network, the data is aggregated,” Williams said in a phone interview with Technical.ly DC. “But it’s no longer tied to patron identity.”
DCPL IT specialist Lami Aromire described other types of software he uses to further enhance patron privacy. One of them is a program developed by Vancouver-based Faronics Corporation called Deep Freeze. Each time a library computer restarts, the program deletes all personal files and configurations that patrons left behind. The DCPL has used it ever since Snowden’s leaks.
Another privacy issue libraries face is people leaving personal information on public computers. So Aromire uses free software called CCleaner to delete browsing history, cookies and temporary files every time the computer restarts.
Of course, in practice, results are rarely foolproof.
As media specialist Williams explained, “People often volunteer their information online, which defeats the purpose of protecting that information.”
For Riley, DCPL’s Adult Program Coordinator, that’s where educational outreach programs come in. He’s designing a mobile tech lab that will visit communities in D.C. to teach digital literacy. The goal is to engage people in emerging technologies that improve their lives.
“The DCPL is really committed to helping make sure that all residents to the district have the skill and ability to navigate the digital world,” Riley said. “And I think privacy is something baked into library services. Freedom is a core of library service.”
Source: technical.ly
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)