Lilly Weinberg is Special Assistant to the President at Knight Foundation.  Photo: Maker space event on Chattanooga Library’s 4th floor. Archived Video

With budget cuts threatening systems across the country, city leaders are asking tough questions about the value of public libraries in the digital age. As guardians of our tax dollars, they should be! What’s interesting, though, is that in community after community, the public and library directors are responding with innovations. Library remixes are popping up, programs that allow users to check out anything from electric guitars to WiFi hot spots. Their rooms are becoming true community centers and makerspaces – a place where continued learning occurs.

In Miami, we are all too familiar with the debate over the future of libraries and their funding. Now, is our community’s time to answer these questions and find new opportunities to keep libraries at the center of civic life. So Monday, Knight Foundation and The Miami Foundation, both long-time champions of more informed and engaged communities, are hosting a deep dive conversation with national and local thought leaders in the field.

 Miami Beach Regional Library.

The event will be livestreamed beginning at 12:15 p.m. ET at knightfoundation.org/live. Moderated by Knight Foundation’s President Alberto Ibargüen, the panel includes:

·      Amy Garmer – Director of Aspen Institute Dialogue on Public Libraries (@AspenInstitute) ·      Corinne Hill – Director of Chattanooga Public Library (@chattlibrary) ·      John Szabo – City Librarian of the Los Angeles Public Library (@LAPublicLibrary) ·      Dr. Kenneth G. Furton, Provost of Florida International University (@FIU)

So, why does Knight care so much about libraries?  Our roots are in newspapers and the foundation originated with the Knight family’s belief in supporting education. We believe in a healthy, functioning democracy, where citizens have access to information and be engaged around that information. Libraries fit squarely into this mission. However, with the digital age, our library systems have been disrupted. As Ibargüen alluded to Darwin’s axiom in his op-ed on Miami libraries: The species that survive are not necessarily the smartest or fastest, but the ones who best adapt. And the libraries that are adapting are thriving.

Here’s what we are observing:

·      Staff Not Just Stuff! –  Staff are a major part of the equation for library innovation. Bill and Melinda Gates demonstrated this importance with a $1 million grant to the Chicago Library System, which has IDEO guide library staff through a thoughtful process to evaluate challenges and create new responses in order to better serve their users and communities.  The Philadelphia library system recently announced it would create an Innovation Fund for staff members, allowing people with good ideas to receive funds to execute them.

·      Transformation of Space: Libraries are getting rid of their books and opening up their spaces. I look forward to Corinne Hill telling us Monday about the 4th Floor at the Chattanooga Library System, which is a public laboratory and educational facility with a focus on information, design, technology, and the applied arts. Other library systems are experimenting with the idea of “creation.” How can we create a space that encourages interaction and knowledge transfer? Aarhus Public Libraries in Denmark has launched some fascinating experiments and is a leader in this area worldwide.

·      Outcomes Driven Systems: Libraries are doing so much programming that it is quite confusing what their role is in the community and how they connect to other civic assets. There needs to be a better way for libraries to align programming with the information needs of the community and focus on the effects of the programs. Without this focus on outcomes, it is difficult to make a case for the relevance of the libraries and to understand their role. The technology tool “Edge” can help communities answer these tough questions.

·      Twist on Regular Ideas: The lending of WiFi hotspots did just that. It’s a simple solution for the fairly complex problem of digital access.  What other ideas could be transformational for our library systems?

We know people across the United States love their libraries, just look at the Pew Survey. In Miami – there is overwhelming support and usage. Knight Foundation’s survey showed that 80% of voters support the libraries and 70% use the library. On what issue does overwhelming support ever occur?

As John Palfrey, Knight Foundation’s Board Chairman says, Americans still have an “old nostalgia” for public libraries but we must push forward to find the “new nostalgia.” What’s the new nostalgia? We’re not sure – but our bet is that we will get closer by sourcing as many ideas as possible. Our Knight News Challenge on Libraries is doing that, by offering funding for ideas on how to innovative libraries. If you have any idea, submit it before the challenge closes Sept. 30.  

We also believe we can get closer to the new nostalgia by convening really smart people and sharing their knowledge, and that’s what Monday is about. We hope you will listen to the livestream and let us know your thoughts with a tweet, using #libraries.