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Public libraries are seeing success with virtual murder mysteries, which vary in format from Zoom events to text-based games to videos.

Even before the pandemic emerged, libraries were investing in new technologies designed to save time and improve efficiency by supporting customer self-service, freeing up library staff to focus on more strategic work. COVID-19 has accelerated this trend and in the process, is transforming how libraries function in the 21^st century.

University of Washington iSchool researchers present an overview of the Open Data Literacy project's work to date, and share highlights from a survey of the current landscape of open data in Washington State's public libraries.

On February 22, the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Library launched the inaugural Art of Science Contest, inviting UCSD researchers to submit the most beautiful image “that explains their work in a way that is both engaging and accessible to non-scientists.” The contest runs through March 21; voting will take place from March 29–April 18, with the winning images announced on May 3.

Next week, Sno-Isle Libraries, WA, will hold orientation sessions for its second cohort of aspiring IT professionals—nearly 50 residents of Snohomish and Island counties who will spend the next 25 weeks studying for CompTIA A+ certification, a common requirement for entry-level IT and computer service technician jobs.

When Baltimore County Public Libraries (BCPL) implemented its successful Lawyers in the Library program at its Essex branch in 2016, it was a way to offer legal help to those in need who didn’t have the means to hire a lawyer on their own. However, library staff began to realize that there was more that could be done. So the library and Maryland Legal Aid decided to create the Mobile Library Law Center.

Lack of reliable broadband access has long posed challenges for many rural communities. As the pandemic ramps up the need, libraries continue to help with innovative solutions.

Carnegie Mellon University Libraries has developed CAMPI, a new web application that uses computer vision to assist librarians processing digital photograph collections.

Librarians Elaine R. Hicks, Stacy Brody, and Sara Loree have been named LJ's 2021 Librarians of the Year for their work with the Librarian Reserve Corps, helping the World Health Organization manage the flood of COVID-19 information.

In Maryland, public libraries across the state have developed models for maximizing the impact of social justice–focused virtual programs by copresenting and cross-promoting selected events. Maryland libraries were able to rely on high quality programs from neighboring systems to provide a more robust lineup of virtual events. 

Michigan State University will migrate to the open source FOLIO Library Services Platform, and will fully implement FOLIO in 2021, it announced today. EBSCO Information Services will provide hosting, implementation, training, and development support, and will leverage integrations with EBSCO Discovery Service and OpenAthens access management.

Wayne State University College of Education and the Walter P. Reuther Library Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs were recently awarded a joint $83,100 grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to support the ongoing project, “Bridging the Gap: Archives in the Classroom and Community.”

As colleges and universities pivot to remote and hybrid models, their libraries must find new ways to welcome and orient new students.

Could librarian-curated Little Free Libraries be the next great outreach tool to help improve youth reading scores and strengthen community connections to libraries? University of North Carolina (UNC)–Greensboro Library and Information Science Associate Professor Anthony Chow thinks so.

From youth to adults, newcomers to lifelong locals, library literacy programs that work flex to achieve what matters to each patron—with an emphasis on practical, everyday, and community-building skills.

COVID-19 is accelerating the move to digital amid budget pressures; library vendors share what they hear from customers and how they're meeting rapidly evolving needs.

When the university moved to virtual instruction in March, Cornell University Library's Virtual Reference Response Team focused on building capacity in the ways we already connected with our remote users. Leveraging our Ask a Librarian suite of email, chat, and in-depth research consultations options became our primary concern.

As libraries offer essential services during the COVID pandemic, they face the added challenge of protecting the health and safety of staff and patrons. Necessary adaptations include effective and affordable personal protective equipment (PPE) for library staff, sanitization stations for staff and patrons, touch-free checkouts, the replacement of meeting room locks with digital contactless entry devices, and revamped floor plans and public spaces.

With some libraries reopening for at least limited services, and many others doing curbside pickup, face masks are a necessity for library workers and patrons alike. These library- and book-themed offerings can make it fun and show your library love all over your face.

Online meetings have become ubiquitous for many of us. Once our library started offering Virtual Meeting Rooms to the public via Zoom, we immediately began fielding questions on how to best structure online events. Since how an event is structured has such a large impact on its success, we wanted to share some best practices we’ve learned.

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down campuses, libraries helped salvage spring semesters by supporting distance learning. Plans for fall remain in limbo, but academic librarians share what they’ve learned.

School and public librarians are joining forces to help socially distanced kids finish the school year and stay strong through summer.

In response to coronavirus shutdown orders that have left public library branches closed across the country, Playaway—developer of products including Playaway pre-loaded audiobook devices, Wonderbook read-alongs, and Launchpad pre-loaded tablets—recently began offering its customers the option to ship products directly from the company to patrons’ homes.

With buildings closed to flatten the COVID-19 curve, libraries respond with a rapid pivot to contactless service.

As states and cities suspend coronavirus-related shutdown orders, two library apps—ConverSight LIBRO and CapiraMobile—are introducing curbside pickup features that will enable library staff to fulfill requests for books and other physical materials while maintaining social distancing recommendations and minimizing personal contact with patrons.

Carnegie Mellon University librarians have initiated a new service, Remote Book Delivery, which allows them to order print materials from vendors and have them sent directly to students whose workflow has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and who may not be able to find the books they need online. The service will help students like Sofía Bosch Gómez, a CMU doctoral student in transition design, to get the resources she needs to finish her dissertation from her Mexico City home.

If it’s just too quiet for you nowadays, libraries have your hookup. Part of the reason many remote workers used to prefer a coffeeshop—or the library!—to working from home was the right kind and amount of sound—enough to be companionable, but not distractingly too much.

With most library buildings temporarily closed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, some libraries are combining the need for meeting space with the shift to digital service delivery.

Public libraries are using new vendor solutions to enhance local schools’ ebook and audiobook collections, creating a new generation of library users.

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

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.

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.

When creating sustainable library designs, planners start by looking at elements that can be reused. Much inspired and practical design has emerged by repurposing and building on or around what already exists: structures, materials, public spaces, personnel—and, as two recent Library Journal Design Institutes in Colorado Springs and Austin demonstrated—community.

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.

Innovation comes in different forms. Library leaders support staff to achieve innovation that establishes the library as an organizational or community innovator. Using the right terminology makes a difference.

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.

Current students are likely to begin their postsecondary education at age 22 or far older. They may be the first members of their families to attend college. They may be recent immigrants or English-language learners. They may be career changers or veterans. They may be incarcerated. And, as many institutions are discovering, academic libraries are uniquely positioned to meet their needs.

Next Library 2019 in Aarhus, Denmark was just as engaging and enjoyable as the first time I attended in 2017. In fact, it has become one of my favorite learning opportunities, informing my teaching and research. A conference that demands active participation, requires outside the box thinking, and reserves “the right to alterations and surprises” is an enjoyable challenge.

When the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Libraries issued the final report on its Grand Challenges Summit in January, one of the key findings was the need for libraries and archives to play the role of advocates and collaborators on research into open, equitable, and sustainable knowledge systems. At the time, director Chris Bourg referred to a MIT Libraries–based research initiative in the works that would use the Grand Challenges Summit white paper’s call to action as a jumping-off point.

Fortune’s annual list of the 50 greatest leaders is all about learning leadership from those who practice it best. Does what makes leaders great change over time?

By bringing books, programs, and services to community members in places they already go—expanding the concept of what libraries do in the process—libraries are redefining outreach.

Students and other researchers face many challenges when they’re searching for information. One of the biggest is sifting through the sheer volume of search results their query generates and honing in on the specific resources that are most relevant to their work.

A collaboration between Harvard’s Library Innovation Lab and metaLAB gives library patrons control over light and sound in their work space.

Since the dawn of the Internet, claims have been made that libraries were doomed to obsolescence. While that has proven a false narrative, what is the possibility that libraries might someday achieve “peak library”

This spring, the Huntsville–Madison County Public Library took the term “Maker space” to a different level—more specifically, out of this world—when an unmanned spacecraft flew parts of a project created at its Madison branch to the International Space Station.

Demonstrating a growing institutional commitment to virtual reality and augmented reality, also known as extended reality (XR) technology for educational applications, the Nevada State Library, Archives and Public Records has continued to expand its NV XR Libraries pilot program.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology are transforming a whole host of industries, from healthcare to marketing and finance—and they have the potential to do the same for academic libraries.

Since e-books first emerged as a way for readers to consume content digitally, publishers and authors have required content aggregators to apply Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology to the e-books they sell to libraries to prevent the unauthorized use, copying, and redistribution of these materials. While this practice has given publishers and authors peace of mind that sales won’t be lost to piracy or other unauthorized sharing, it has placed undue restrictions on readers who rely on institutional access to e-books.

The Internet has forever changed the nature of academic research.

As part of its broader information literacy efforts, Toledo Lucas County Public Library recently installed NewsGuard, a free web extension, in the Firefox, Chrome, and Edge browsers on all of the library’s 750+ public and staff computers.

When the University of Rhode Island (URI) opened its new artificial intelligence lab on the first floor of the Robert L. Carothers Library and Learning Commons last September 2018, URI president David M. Dooley said that “this lab will be more than just a technology center. It will be a place of ideas, discussion, and debate.”

Spending two days learning more about the process of cocreation and how it applies in libraries was inspiring and mind-shifting as the possibilities multiplied.

On March 9, Baltimore County Public Library (BCPL) and Baltimore City’s Enoch Pratt Free Library (EPFL) joined forces to launch Entrepreneur Academy, a free series of classes offering a wide range of topics for people who have an entrepreneurial streak. According to EPFL director Heidi Daniel, the program’s creation was both the outcome of the two library systems investigating ways to collaborate and the result of community feedback.

OCLC has selected 15 public libraries to participate in its “Small Libraries Create Smart Spaces” project. This will be the second cohort to participate in the initiative, led in partnership with the Association for Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL). “Small Libraries Create Smart Spaces” was funded by a $223,120 award from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to create a second iteration of the original 2016 National Leadership Grant project .

Broward County Library, FL, has begun loaning out augmented reality / virtual reality headsets at nine of its 38 branches in a new pilot test with MERGE Labs, a tech startup focused primarily on the K–12 education market.

As researchers take on problems that cut across many different fields and geographies, academic research is becoming more multidisciplinary in nature.

The most meaningful library programming comes out of community collaboration. This was certainly the case with Genderful!, a series that kicked off on October 14, 2017, at the Brooklyn Public Library as an event for children and caregivers to explore gender through art and creativity.

Grand Prairie Library System recently launched Epic Reads, a new library vending unit in the city's massive new recreation center, The Epic.

Leaders can all too easily go through the paces on auto-pilot. Go to this meeting. Deal with that situation. Those leaders who are adept at taking notice of what’s less obvious are more likely to innovate.

How can a community have brave, challenging conversations? That was the question St. Paul, MN Mayor Melvin Carter III posed to Catherine Penkert, director of the St. Paul Public Library. Her response was to launch the citywide reading initiative, Read Brave St. Paul, in January and February.

America’s approximately 17,000 public library outlets’ staff are focused on meeting the needs of their communities, providing innovative programs, and connecting community members to resources that make a difference in their lives. But all too often they are reinventing these things from scratch.

In March 2018, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Libraries hosted a working summit on Grand Challenges in Information Science and Scholarly Communication. After an open review period, the results were distilled into a final white paper, A Grand Challenges-Based Research Agenda for Scholarly Communication and Information Science, released December 18.

Since the October 27, 2018, shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, when a lone gunman killed 11 worshippers and injured seven during Shabbat morning services, PJ Library has extended its mission to provide books and resources to parents who may be searching for ways to explain anti-Semitism to their young children.

After successfully migrating to a new library services platform in fall 2017, the Ithaca College Library collaborated with IT to implement a course reading list tool. 

From January 2 through 18, the Nueces County Keach Family Library in Robstown, TX, is hosting the Glass Room Experience, a special exhibition designed to spark discussion about personal data and online privacy.

Collecting and managing research outputs, and sharing them with the broader research community, is a challenge with which many universities struggle. Working with Ex Libris, the University of Denver Libraries is moving forward with a solution that promises to simplify this task and make research assets more discoverable, which will ultimately benefit faculty, librarians, and the entire institution.

Academic libraries do something remarkably well: They take information published in a variety of formats worldwide and make it easily searchable and accessible for students, faculty, and researchers. Now, a growing number of institutional leaders are asking: How can academic librarians take these same skill sets and apply them to the challenge of making a university’s research assets more easily discoverable among the broader research community?

By creating opportunities for students, researchers, and other scholars to share information and interact with each other across disciplines, publishers of academic works will not only engage audiences more deeply; they can foster the kinds of interdisciplinary collaboration that can help tackle society’s biggest challenges.

People who live in small, rural communities often struggle to find access to high-quality literature and nonfiction content. Minnesota is solving this access problem with a shared ebook collection that is available to every Minnesotan through their local library.

As community leaders and public servants, modern librarians play an increasingly vital civic role in the information age.

The University of Edinburgh has used Ex Libris’ Leganto to introduce workflow efficiencies, allowing the Library to contribute to the University’s strategic goals in teaching and learning.

The University of St. Thomas is revolutionizing textbook affordability for students with the implementation of the Leganto reading solution. 

Using the Cornell Portal outside Olin Library, Emma Wagner ’21 talked with two young people from Kigali, Rwanda, who told her health care is better in urban areas than rural ones and explained the country’s universal health care system. The Rwandans also asked Wagner about the MeToo movement in the U.S.

On September 25, the University of Rhode Island opened an Artificial Intelligence (AI) lab on the first floor of the Robert L. Carothers Library and Learning Commons. While many universities have launched AI labs in recent years, URI officials believe this is the first such facility located in a university library.

The MIT Press announced today the launch of the Knowledge Futures Group (KFG), a first-of-its kind collaboration between a leading publisher and a world-class academic lab to transform how research information is created and shared.

The Insta Novels program, created by Mother [an independent advertising and creative agency] in New York and developed in partnership with the New York Public Library, aims to make some of the greatest stories ever written more accessible to every New Yorker and Instagram user.

From the Smithsonian Libraries “Unbound” Blog: Museum in a Box  (MiaB) is the newest project that is allowing the Smithsonian Libraries to bring their artifacts and images into the hands of young students all around the nation. 

A group of experts discussed emerging, library-relevant technology trends ranging from Quantum Computers to the deployment of digital libraries in public housing developments during the Library and Information Technology Association’s Top Tech Trends panel at ALA Annual 2018