Interesting Research

Recent CULC/CBUC Research

• Update to the Canadian Library 8Rs report – CULC/CBUC 8Rs Redux Report 2020

Reports prepared by Kim Silk for the Canadian Urban Libraries Council / Conseil des bibliothèques urbaines du Canada – Fall 2017

• Community Employment Study – This study examines whether library programs and services designed to assist patrons to enter or re-enter the job market, actually help to bring about this outcome.
• Employee Happiness & Engagement Report – This study explores the conditions for promoting employee engagement in a library setting. Focusses on Burlington Public Library and Fraser Valley Regional Library.
• Space Study – This study examines how library space is used in three Canadian urban library systems: Brampton Library, Calgary Public Library, and Markham Public Library.

Interesting Research

• CFLA Truth & Reconciliation Committee Report & Recommendations
• Library Research Institute: Evidence-based Research for Library Practice (Kim Silk’s Work)
• 2014 Updated
  CULC/CBUC White Paper on eBooks in Canadian Public Libraries: eBooks in 2014:  Access and Licensing at Canadian Public Libraries
• Snapshot of Priorities & Perspectives – US Public Libraries (OCLC)
• Southern Ontario Library Service – Environmental Scan for Ontario Public Libraries
• LJ’s “Who Uses Libraries and Why” (US)
• TD National Reading Summit: Key-note speech by Craig Alexander, Canada’s Literary Challenge
• Expanding the eBook Market 2011: CULC/CBUC White Paper on eBooks in Canadian Public Libraries
• Public Lending Right Commission Report on eBooks 2011
• Dividends “Environmental” Study – original work and CAPL’s newer version
• Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study 2009-2010
• British Library’s impact on the UK economy
• British Library: Measuring Our Value
• The Condition of US Libraries: Trends, 1999-2009 (ALA). The full report is available here, press release here, and individual reports by type of library are available here.
• Dividends: The Value of Public Libraries in Canada
• Economic Value of Public Libraries in the UK
• Enhancing Economic Development through Libraries
• How Libraries Stack Up: 2010 (OCLC)
• Impacts of the Pennsylvania Nonprofit Sector
• Libraries: How The Stack Up 2003 (OCLC)
• Library and Information Center Management, Seventh Edition
• Making Book: Gambling on the Future of our Libraries (Kansas City)
• Making Cities Stronger:  Public Library Contributions to Local Economic Development.  (ULC).
• World’s Most Liveable Cities. Vancouver #1, Toronto # 4, and Calgary # 5)
• The Annie E Casey Foundation MAKING CONNECTIONS. Making Connections is the Foundation’s long-term, multi-site effort to demonstrate that results for children and families in tough neighborhoods can be changed for the better. Public Libraries figure in this work.
• National Arts and Economic Prosperity Impact Study: Executive Summary Arts and Economic Prosperity
• OCLC Community Advocacy and Awareness Site
• One Dollar In, More Than Three Out!: New Study Asserts the Economic Value of the San Francisco Public Library System
• Opportunity for All: How the American Public Benefits from Internet Access at U.S. Libraries
• Placing a Value on Public Library Services
• The Public Library: A National Survey
• Public Library Benefits Valuation Study Methodology and Key Findings
• Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study (ALA)
• The Role of Public Libraries in Local Economic Development
• The Seattle Public Library Central Library: Economic Benefits Assessment
• Social Inclusion Audit and Toolkit. (CULC/CBUC)
• South Carolina Public Library Impact Study
• St. Louis Public Library: Placing a Value on Public Library Services
• State of US Public Libraries 2009. (ALA).
• Taxpayer Return on Investment in Florida Public Libraries
• Third Generation Public Libraries: The Newman Report
• US IMPACT Public Library Study
• The Value of Public Libraries (IFLA)

Early Childhood Literacy

• The Future of Literacy in Canada’s Largest Cities
• Ontario Early Literacy Report by Charles Pascal

Library Value Calculators – Samples

• ALA
• Chelmsford
• Denver
• Evanston
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• New Hampshire
• New York

Trend Spotting

Here are a collection of top library bloggers and their focus.

• Stephen’s Lighthouse – Stephen Abram spends an enormous amount of time and energy posting pieces that illuminate library industry trends, innovation, and information.
• Free Range Librarian – K.G. Schneider is the free range librarian, community librarian for Equinox by day and blogger by night. This is her personal blog, detailing her travels and thoughts on writing, librarianship, and the world at large.
• Information Wants To Be Free – Meredith Farkas, Distance Learning Librarian at Norwich University. Her blog reflects all sides of her multifaceted life, as well as how to use those social tools of the profession to best serve library patrons.
• Tame the Web – Michael Stephens is Assistant Professor at Dominican University’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science. He writes on library issues, information and social technologies, and how they relate to the people they serve.
• The Shifted Librarian – Jenny Levine is fascinated with the way we gather information in this day and age – no longer do we pursue it, so much as it comes to us, and so too must librarians shift their outlook to reflect this. In her blog, she discusses how to adjust to changing technology in a rapidly changing world.

Some bloggers and columnists who discuss eBooks and Digital Futures.

• Panel Discussion on The Future of Books and Reading
• New York Times Columnist Motoko Rich is a regular commentator on the ebook and digital technology
• Clive Thompson on the Future of Reading in a Digital World
• Booknet Canada Blog. It has sub-category threads that can be followed and lots on technology in particular. 
   
• O’Reilly Ideas and O’Reilly Labs. Likely more technical than most want, but somewhat the authority. They are the folks who offer the conference in mid-February in New York.