As message from our Friends of Tennessee Libraries Remember its Friends of the Library week in Tennessee. Friends of the Chattanooga Public Library Now the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program has published RISING TO THE CHALLENGE; Re-Envisioning Public Libraries. A report of the Aspen Institute Dialogue on Public Libraries. “The time has come for a new vision of public libraries in the United States. Communities need public libraries - more people are visiting them and using their services, materials and programs than ever before - but communities’ needs continue to change.” In partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program created the Aspen Institute Dialogue on Public Libraries to help advance the work that public libraries are doing to address community challenges and to support the transformation of communities and their public libraries in the digital age. “We hope that readers will use this report as the basis for exploring how a bold new vision for public libraries, fully realized, can help to make communities stronger, more resilient and the kind of communities where people thrive.” “No longer a nice-to-have amenity, the public library is a key partner in sustaining the educational, economic and civic health of the community during a time of dramatic change,” the executive summary reads. “[Libraries] promote a better trained and educated workforce. They ensure equitable access and provide important civic space for advancing democracy and the common good. Public libraries are engines of development within their communities.” Specifically, the report recommends communities leverage three important library assets: the librarys historical ability to connect people and strengthen communities; the library’s physical and virtual spaces; and new “high-speed interactive platforms” to collect, organize and share ideas and knowledge. Enabling all libraries to fulfill their new roles, the report concludes, will require library leaders, policy makers and community stakeholders to re-envision the public library and take advantage of the opportunities it offers.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 17:35:20 +0000