Tag Archives: advocacy

Power to the People! Pump up the volume with statistics

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The staff at the Texas State Library & Archives Commission (TSLAC) know the power of the numbers, and they are making sure the library community has access to that power.  The knowledge is being spread via the TSLAC  blog with a four part series: Statistics and Reports to Support Your Advocacy Efforts.  The series opens with this quote from our 2010-2011 Study:

“With convenient access to these statistics you have the powerful arguments to speak to stakeholders, stay in the eye of the media, and advocate for enhanced levels of library funding needed to meet public demand.” – Lamar Veatch, President, Chief Officers of State Library Agencies

The first blog of the series features the U.S. Impact Study , which examines the impact of free access to computers and the Internet. The first report, Opportunity for All: How the American Public Benefits from Internet Access at U.S. Libraries, identifies who uses library computers, how they use them, and how that use impacts their lives. The second report, Opportunity for All: How Library Policies and Practices Impact Public Internet Access, presents case studies of four libraries highlighting the impact of individual library policies on computer users.

Part two of the series features our Libraries Connect Communities: Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study 2010-2011, noting that “This study presents compelling evidence of libraries serving as a “toll-free bridge over the digital divide,” and it examines how library funding changes in this tough economic climate affect connectivity, technology deployment, and sustainability.”

Part three features Who’s in the Queue? A Demographic Analysis of Public Access Computer Users and Uses in U.S. Public Libraries, a new research brief issued from the IMLS, takes a closer look at the demographic characteristics of computer users in the library utilizing data from the Opportunity for All study and U.S. census data from the same year (2009). The data counters common assumptions about who is using public access computers in libraries and also what sort of information they are accessing online.

The final part of the blog series highlights the latest policy brief from the (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy’s (OITP), Confronting the Future: Strategic Visions for the 21st Century Public Library. As explained in the report summary: “This policy brief is intended to assist in the development of effective strategies for American public libraries by delineating the elements of alternative visions for libraries in the coming decades. It does not recommend particular visions; rather, it suggests a process libraries can follow to make their own strategic choices based on their specific situations.”

Be sure to check out this valuable one-stop statistics shop, care of our friends at the TSLAC.

2011 Study released; highlights “new normal” impacting service to millions

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With the release today of the 2010-2011 Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study (PLFTAS), libraries have a powerful new weapon for advocacy at the local, state, and national level. Built on the longest-running and largest study of Internet connectivity in public libraries, begun in 1994, this study provides data that can help library directors and library IT staff benchmark and advocate for technology resources in communities across the nation.

Data from this year’s study present libraries grappling with a pervasive “new normal” of flat or decreased funding, paired with increased demand for public library technology resources. The result is a mix of the grim austerity, reflected in decreased operating hours and closed library outlets, in contrast with the robust delivery of technology resources that support workforce development, e-government services, and skills training for the competitive global marketplace. Key findings include:

  • 70% of libraries report public use of Internet computers increased in 2010.
  • 65% of libraries report that they are the only source of free public access to computers and the Internet in their communities, with an increase to 73% in rural communities.
  • 67% of libraries offer access to e-books, with 87% access reported by urban libraries.
  • 16% of all libraries report decreased hours of operation – a jump from 4.5% just two years ago. This translates to lost hours at more than 2,600 locations.
  • A majority (60%) of libraries report flat or decreased operating budgets in FY11, up from 40% in FY2009.
  • Seventeen state library agencies (34%) report they were aware of public library closures in their states in 2010.

More key findings are outlined in the 2010-2011 PLFTAS Executive Summary, the key findings handout, and this slideshow:

We hope you’ll take the time to look through the full report, which includes state-by-state analysis on public library technology resources, and an illuminating qualitative component from interviews with library directors and library IT directors in California and Oklahoma.

Over the new few weeks we’ll highlight different sections of the report, as well as introduce you to the resources we’ve developed to help you use the PLFTAS data to advocate for your own library.

We’d like to close for today with a special thank you to Dr. Charles R. McClure, who served as a consultant on this project. Dr. McClure began these surveys in 1994, and he and Dr. John Carlo Bertot have conducted the surveys together since that time.  Also, thank you to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the funding of the PLFTAS for the past five years.

Lastly, thank you to the staff at the 8,433 public libraries that completed this year’s survey. The time you take to provide the data in this report offers valuable information for national, state, and local policymakers, library advocates, researchers, practitioners, government and private funding organizations, and others to understand the impact, issues, and needs of libraries providing public access computing.

Nancy Fredericks honored for building bridges to e-government

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We were excited to see e-gov guru Nancy Fredericks receiving national recognition for her work connecting Florida residents with e-government services and resources. Nancy is one of the 50 dedicated and talented library professionals recently named as a Library Journal 2011 Mover & Shaker.

As more government services and resources were moving online, more people were at risk of losing out on access to essential services. Back in 2007, Nancy and her team at the Pasco County Library System began work to remedy this imbalance. The resulting website, GetHelpFlorida.org, a one-stop, user-friendly portal for Florida and federal e-government, serves as a best practice template for libraries nationwide.

Nancy has been a generous colleague, taking the time to share her work and expertise with other library professionals online and in-person. In December 2010, along with John Bertot (University of Maryland) and Bill Sudduth (University of South Carolina), Nancy shared details of her work on an ALA webinar: E-Gov: Make it Work @ your library. Nancy is also a leading contributor to the ALA E-Government Toolkit,

Last year, 66 percent of libraries reported that access to government information is one of the most critical Internet services they provide. We know this work requires a great deal of one-on-one assistance, which can put extra strain on stretched staffing levels. Library staff should be sure to check out the work of Nancy and her colleagues. Their work is meant to help you as you help others.

New resources available for library funding battles

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What’s in your library’s arsenal of weapons for fighting the exhausting funding battles? Many libraries, such as Delray Beach (FL) Public Library are having success using Snapshot Day statistics. 

Across the country, state legislative sessions are in full swing, and library advocates are hard at work reaching out to their legislators face-to-face and remotely.  The Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study (PLFTAS) team is well aware of the urgent need for useful, current data to help you tell your story. In response to library feedback and requests, we’ve created a new advocacy package for use during the current legislative sessions. It incorporates preliminary study data, freshly gathered at the close of 2010.

Download and print color topic handouts highlighting public library services at the state and national levels, for job seekers and e-government. As we know, a picture is worth a thousand words (and hopefully many more dollars). This is a simple tool that could yield big results.

New press release and op-ed templates have been crafted around the important employment and e-government services, and also highlight the role of the library as a dynamic digital hub. Numbers talk, and the templates have been structured to feature your state’s data. Both templates can be adapted easily for use at the state, regional, or local levels.

For additional useful state data, print out the PDF of the your 2009-2010 State Profile, which compares state levels for areas such as speed of connectivity, average # of public computer workstations, and other library resources. Selected 2010-2011 data will be added to the site in March.

We hope you find these resources useful during this crucial state budget planning season. Please let us know of any successes using the PLFTAS resources.