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By working with local experts on civic open data projects, libraries can become the heart of the smart city.

Over the years, public libraries have expanded their electronic collections. The evolution of library interfaces has allowed many physical services to extend into a digital space, empowering patrons to check out ebooks, read magazines and journals, stream movies, listen to audiobooks, and more. The demand for digital collections only continues to grow.

Merchandising can be implemented strategically at libraries, just as it is in retail, and can increase circulation, stimulate robust discussions, and generate foot traffic. To drive circ, how you showcase your materials can be as important as what you buy.

At LJ’s 2019 Design Institutes in Colorado Springs, CO, held at the Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) on September 13, four public libraries in California, Idaho, Texas, and Arizona enlisted architects and attendees to brainstorm on upcoming library design challenges.

Ithaka S+R recently released the third phase of its multi-part Community College Libraries and Academic Support for Student Success (CCLASSS) project, which examines student goals and challenges, and how community colleges and their libraries can work together to serve them. The resulting report, “Student Needs Are Academic Needs,” affirms that while libraries can—and do—play a critical role in student success initiatives, they are not always the partners that come to mind first.

Simmons University School of Library and Information Science has partnered with seven academic health sciences and research libraries and science publisher Elsevier to establish the Research Data Management Librarian Academy (RDMLA), a free online professional development program. RDMLA launched on October 7.

The dark web offers something that few online platforms can or will: a very high level of anonymity. Many people use the dark web for legitimate, anonymous information seeking purposes: those who live in high-censorship countries, who identify as transgender, and who are undocumented immigrants. These people have a right to access information and need privacy protections.

In times of tight budgets and fewer staff members, passive programming—temporary, self-directed activities or exhibits that users interact with in their own time—can answer a library’s need to engage patrons with less funding and fewer human resources. Many libraries have taken the idea a step further, creating initiatives that don’t require active staff interaction or dedicated program hours, but still interest and challenge patrons, address specific community needs, and even contribute to a library’s greater mission.