I am so busy at the moment and haven’t the time to write posts about each of these worthy reports, so here’s a brief overview on each - it may be worth your while to check them out more fully.
“Public Libraries and the Internet 2006” - from the Information Use and Policy Institute, looks at the state of internet access in public libraries in the US, how it has changed since 1994 and how libraries expect to see it change in the next two years. There’s a lot more there, so check it out.
“Cites and Insights: Crawford at Large” is a favourite of mine. Walt Crawford produces a regular extravaganza of information, analysis and criticism on a wide range of topics relating to Libraries, Policy, Technology and Media, averaging at about a 26 page pdf file. Its always on my reading list. If you are particularly interested in library blogs, then you should check out Walt’s Looking at Liblogs issue - it even included Connecting Librarian!
“Teen Market Profile” - is an interesting exploration of American teen consumers, from the Magazine Publishers of America. The profile is based on the work of Mediamark Research and provides a profile on teens as consumers - who they are, what they buy, how they think and how to reach them. Important for libraries to know too.
“Long Overdue - a fresh look at public and leadership attitudes about libraries in the 21st century” - comes from Public Agenda, under the auspices of Americans for Libraries and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It looks at how Americans see their libraries in the 21st century, with a special look at the view of public officials. It identifies both strengths and challenges for public libraries. There is plenty here for public libraries in Australia to learn from.
“Supporting students: the educational contribution of Australia’s public libraries” by Dr Alan Bundy for the Friends of Libraries Australia (FOLA). It researches the increasing use that students of all ages, are making of their public libraries, the impact of that use and makes recommendations for service options which libraries can provide, but only with further government support. FOLA has done a series of reports on how libraries support different sections of our society, which are also worth checking out.
All worth reading, but will take a while to do so - Enjoy!
