There were a total of 6 short presentations made by a total of 8 people in the evening. The first was different from all of the rest and was made by veteran keynote speaker from prior years Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. He has a new book coming out titled Networked and he whipped through a bunch of details that Pew has learned about library use, just as he might in a keynote, but in a tiny fraction of the time.
The findings he reported were:
1. Libraries are beloved
- 91% say libraries are important to their communities
- 76% say libraries are important to them and their families
1a. Libraries stack up well vs. others (the military, firefighters). At least on one statistical measure
2. People like librarians
- 98% of “ever” library visitors say interactions are “very positive”
- 81% of library visitors say librarians are “very helpful”
3. Libraries have rebranded themselves as tech hubs
- 80% say borrowing materials is important
- 77% say free access to computers and the Internet is “very important” service
- 76% go to libraries for quiet spaces
4. E-book reading is growing; borrowing is just getting started
- Growing awareness that this is a library feature (31% realize it's a feature)
5. People are open to even more tech at libraries
| Service | Very Likely | Somewhat | Not too |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online research service | 37% | 36% | 26% |
| Cell app | 35% | 28% | 35% |
| Program to try out devices | 35% | 34% | 29% |
| GPS app to find stuff in the stacks | 34% | 28% | 36% |
| Personalized accounts to recommend new materials based on past reading | 29% | 35% | 34% |
6. African Americans and Latinos are esp. enthusiastic
7. The public invites you to be more engaged in knotty problems
- 85% want us to coordinate more with local schools
- 82% want free literacy programs
- 61% separate spaces for different services
8. Libraries have a pr problem / opportunity
- 22% say that they know all or most of the service their libraries offer
9. There is churn in library use
- 26% say they have increased use (many of those have kids)
- 22% say decreased use (the Internet is a primary reason)
10. There is a truly detached population out there that matters to libraries
Rainie finished his presentation with a request for libraries to sign up to participate in Pew studies at http://libraries.pewinternet.org/participate/
Following Lee's presentation were the typical Tuesday evening presentations which were a mix of humor and infrormation.
Sara Kelley-Mudie from The Forman School presented on her frustration with the TTWWADI (That's The Way We've Always Done It) attitude and things she's done to get past this attitude.
Michael Peter Edson from the Smithsonian Institution recited from memory a poem he wrote about museums which was at the same time touching and hilarious (can be found at http://tinyurl.com/JackTheMuseum).
Caroline Jobe & Linsey Henley gave a more serious presentation on the history of the Village Learning Place in Baltimore as well as their involvement in the Little Free Library project (birdhouses for books).
Jason Griffey of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga gave a fun and highly interactive talk about the LibraryBox Project, an open source hardware/software project to create low cost (~$35), battery powered, off-the-grid wireless devices that can be used to distribute documents (although not explicity stated, it was implied that this would be used for legal or legitimate freedom of speech purposes -- they are in use in places in China for instance -- rather than the illegal distribution of copyrighted media for which no exception has been given).
Finally Sheli McHugh and Kristen Yarmey of the University of Scranton gave a charming and funny presentation on the future promise (and to this point largely unfulfilled expectations) of NFC (Near Field Communications) titled NFC : From the Peak of Inflated Expectations to the Trough of Disillusionment.
It was a great evening session and provided lots to think about.
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