Monthly Archives: January 2016

Two new Australian reports

Two new Australian public library reports were released by the State Library of New South Wales (NSW) late last year. NSW is Australia’s most populous state whose capital is Sydney.

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Building on the bookends scenarios explores how the future of NSW public libraries might unfold over the next twenty year, specifically examining how longer term developments in the external environment may impact on the provision and perceived value of public library services. This builds on an earlier project undertaken in 2009 and highlights the rapid change during this time.

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The State Library also commissioned a project to explore the mobile and outreach services that are currently offered by NSW public libraries. The report identifies the range and scope of NSW public library mobile and outreach service models; explores the strengths, weaknesses, benefits and opportunities of different outreach models and provides good practice guidelines for outreach service models in NSW public libraries.

 

 

Report on the State of Libraries in Germany – English version released

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From Guido Jansen, Head, International Cooperation with the German Library Association comes news of the release of an English translation of the latest edition of the German Library Association’s Report on the State of Libraries.

This concise yet authoritative publication assesses the status quo and lists the German Library Association’s related positions and demands.

In addition to offering selected facts & figures, the report highlights the most urgent issues libraries are currently facing in Germany, suggests appropriate measures and solutions and provides supportive statements by politicians from the federal and European level.

Topics covered include e-books, media & information literacy, school libraries, library services for refugees, improved public library funding for the provision of social services and the design of a sustainable library landscape.

 

Evaluating Public Libraries

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The main theme of the 10th Croatian Conference on public libraries, held in September/October 2015, was Evaluation of public library activities. Sessions differed, from those focusing on the measuring of public library performance and libraries’ impact on the community to the development of a standard quality assurance system for library services. Croatian librarians also had an opportunity to attend a lecture by Lotte Hviid Dhyrbye and August Becker on The Economic impact of public libraries in Denmark in November.
It is beyond any doubt that public libraries play an important role in contemporary society, but in order to maintain their social position stable it is necessary that they keep conducting systematic surveys, collect data on library performance and the impact that they have on both individuals and communities and regularly present all the results of such monitoring procedures to policy- and decision-makers, who, based on their insight into all these statistics and indicators, may make sure that libraries are provided with sufficient financial resources.
Do you know of any other studies on the impact of public libraries? How do public libraries in your country measure their impact and do they present their results to wider public? Can you see any changes afterwards?