Libraries as Institutions and Types of Libraries

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Libraries as InstitutionsandTypes of Libraries

• Michael Stephens
• Dominican University
• with material adapted from Kate Marek

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Information Commons Conceiving the Institution
elaine_macc - Flickr
Mwoodard - Flickr
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The Commons Concept

• Historical concept of resources shared in common
  by a community
• Community grazing land
• Communal hunting grounds and forests
• Contemporary examples
• Public parks
• Public transportation

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The Commons Concept

• Public resource held in trust
• Held by the community
• Public rather than private control
• Held for the purpose of community use
• Public responsibility for the governance, and
  ultimately the balance, of the resources use

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Information Commons Realized

• Shared information resources
• Information communities around a shared interest
  or purpose
• Open content open access
• Public Library of Science
• http//www.plos.org
• First Monday
• http//firstmonday.org

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Tragedy of the Commons

• Garrett Hardins 1968 article in Science
  Magazine, The Tragedy of the Commons
• Posited that any resource held in common would be
  abused by the greedy, and thus ruined
• Concluded that a commons is ultimately
  unsustainable

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Comedy of the Commons

• Carol Rose
• The more who join and use the commons, the
  greater the enjoyment of each participant
• The more the merrier
• Similar to the economies of scale, where the
  larger the investment, the higher the rate of
  return. (Free Expression Policy Project, The
  Information Commons)

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American Commons

• Third place
• Civic spaces
• Public schools, libraries
• Areas for discourse, information sharing,
  diversity, negotiation, debate
• Collective deliberation

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Elements of Success

• Information-sharing with multiplier effects
• Collaboration
• Interaction based on needs of participants
• Low barriers to entry
• Connectedness with the larger community
• from Fisher and Durrance

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Functional Organization of Libraries

• Boards
• Administration
• Public Service
• Support Service

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Public Service

• Reference
• Circulation
• AV
• Archives special collections
• Special services
• Technical services

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Support Units

• Maintenance
• PR
• Security
• Integrated systems

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Types of Libraries The Full Spectrum
Chotda - Flickr
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Public Libraries

• Funding source
• Taxation from citizens
• Levy property taxes special bond sources, etc.
• Administrators
• Board, Trustees, etc.
• Elected or appointed
• Patrons
• Members of the public

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Roles of Public Libraries

• Community activities center
• Community information center
• Formal education support Center
• Independent learning center
• Popular materials library
• Preschoolers door to learning
• Reference library
• Research center
• p.375

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Public Libraries are places for

• Information
• Education
• Recreation
• Creation
• Interaction
• Others?

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Academic Libraries

• Funding source
• Public taxation, tuition
• Private foundations, tuition
• Administrators
• Academic hierarchy
• Patrons
• Members of the college community and beyond,
  depending on the schools mission

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ACRL Standards for Students

• INFORMATION LITERATE STUDENTS CAN
• Determine the extent of information needed
• Access the needed information effectively and
  efficiently
• Evaluate information and its sources critically
• Incorporate selected information into ones
  knowledge base
• Use information effectively to accomplish a
  specific purpose
• Understand the economic, legal, and social issues
  surrounding the use of information, and access
  and use information ethically and legally

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School Libraries

• Funding source
• Public taxation, tuition
• Private foundations, tuition
• Administrators
• School principals and superintendents
• Patrons
• Members of the school community and beyond,
  depending on the schools mission

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ALAs Info Literacy Standards

• The student who is information literate
• Is an efficient, effective searcher
• Evaluates information critically and competently
• Uses information accurately and creatively
• The independent learner
• Pursues information related to personal needs
• Appreciates literature and other creative
  exprressionss of information
• Strives for excellence in info seeking and
  knowledge generation

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ALAs Info Literacy Standards

• The student who contributes positively to the
  learning community and society
• --Recognizes the importance of information to a
  democratic society
• --Practices ethical information behavior
• --Participates effectively in groups for
  knowledge generation
• (Notice how these look like
• the ACRL standards.)

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Special Libraries

• Funding source
• Individual organization, profit or not-for-profit
• Library may need to generate and track its
  departmental income
• Administrators
• Dependent on the organizations hierarchy
• Patrons
• Members of the organization its customers

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Examples of Special Libraries

• Corporate Knowledge Management Centers
• Law Firm Libraries
• Museum Libraries
• Medical Libraries
• Private Membership Libraries

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Trends for 21st Century Libraries
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21st Century Libraries

• User Centered
• Experience Driven
• Destinations
• Combined Resources
• Users Redefined
• Future Roles of Libraries?

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User-Centered Design Planning
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The result is the most important new library to
be built in a generation, and the most
exhilarating.Paul GoldbergerThe New
Yorker5/24/2004
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Seattle Public Library
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The Seattle Public Library Our mission is to
become the best public library in the world by
being so tuned in to the people we serve and so
supportive of each other's efforts that we are
able to provide highly responsive service. We
strive to inform, enrich and empower every person
in our community by creating and promoting easy
access to a vast array of ideas and information,
and by supporting an informed citizenry, lifelong
learning and love of reading.
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Seattle PL Features

• The Living Room
• The Mixing Chamber
• Spiral of the Stacks
• Automatic Book Sorting
• Self-checkout
• Other technological amenities

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Our approach we are conservative, stay up to
date with technology and listen to what the
public needs. Our mantra Users First!Wanda
BruchisTerrebonne Parish PL, LA
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Terrebonne PL was featured in the NYT article
Libraries, Wired and Reborn April 22, 2004
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Terrebonne Features

• RFID at Main Library
• User-centered philosophy for technology planning

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The Experience Library
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The new Cerritos Library is the culmination of a
complete reexamination of library services,
collections and staffing. Inspired in part by the
book, The Experience Economy (B. Joseph Pine et.
al., Harvard Business School Press, 1999), a
planning team redesigned every aspect of the
Library with the goal of enhancing the user
experience.
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Cerritos PL Features

• The WOW! Experience
• Redefining the library user as "end product.
• Championing The Book while integrating
  electronic resources
• Engineering the physical environment to create
  dynamic, multimedia learning opportunities
• Extending customer/public service in a more
  proactive way.

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Libraries as Destination
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Computers are the future, but books and reading
are the foundation on which they lie. Cate
McNeely, Deputy ChiefRichmond Public Library
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Ironwood Branch features

• 100s of copies of popular bestsellers are
  displayed with front covers facing out.
• Carts hold listening stations and hundreds of
  music CDs.
• Refreshments are available in the Library's
  Living Room where customers browse through 50
  magazines and newspapers while enjoying a coffee
  in a comfy chair beside the river-rock fireplace.

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Combined Resources
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San Jose Library VisionEnrich lives by
fostering lifelong learning and ensuring that
every member of the community has access to a
vast array of ideas and information.Provide
students, instructors and the community access to
the information they need for educational and
personal growth throughout their lives.Support
the San José State University Library's
educational mission in expanding the base of
knowledge through research and scholarship.
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SJ Library Features

• 3M Express Self Checkout
• Internet instruction in English, Spanish
  Vietnamese
• Combined resources to serve students and patrons

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Users Redefined
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Born with the Chip
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Who will be the new Public Library users?
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This next generation will challenge libraries in
ways undreamt of todayStephen Abram Judy
LutherBorn with the ChipLibrary Journal, May
2004
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NextGen Library Users will be

• Format agnostic
• Nomadic
• Multitasking
• Experiential
• Collaborative

• Integrated
• Principled
• Adaptive
• Direct

Abram Luther
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By 2010, 25 of the population will be 65
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Lifelong AccessThe aging of the baby-boomer
generation and longer life expectations are
fueling growth in the number and percent of older
Americans who are active, healthy and eager for
community engagement. These adults are a resource
for our communities - if libraries, nonprofits
and other community organizations can transform
their practices to provide meaningful work and
foster civic engagement. By capitalizing on the
aging opportunity, libraries can help mobilize
the experience and skills of older adults for the
benefit of the wider community.
http//www.lff.org/programs/lifelong.html
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The very word "library" will acquire new meaning
as traditional library materials become
increasingly available through remote computers
.it will become less necessary, for example,
for users to come to the building to access
important information.Task Force for the
Library of the 21st CenturyDartmouth
Collegehttp//www.dartmouth.edu/library/BerryBak
er/task.html
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What will LIBRARY mean in 2020?