Digital Data

Retention Data: Once users sign up, how long do they continue to use your library app? For some, digital borrowing is simply a novelty, something they try a few times and discard. For many libraries, this information is vital to persuade decision makers to continue to invest in the digital side of libraries. Large retention numbers mean the library is reaching and keeping patrons engaged digitally.

Engagement: This data reveals how much a user engages with digital services and which ones. Want to prove the library should invest in digital audiobooks? This app data reveals those trends not in a general level, but specific to your library and patrons in your local area.

Frequency or Usage Interval: How often do patrons log into and use your library app? Are digital borrows overtaking physical ones, and by how much/how much does the library save in lost or stolen books and resources by checking them out digitally instead?

All  this data serves to provide a picture of digital usage of the library, but when a user logs in, they reveal more than this, and it holds more than just library interest.

Physical Data

When someone signs up for a library card, a great deal of personal information is gathered. Name, address, date of birth, and social security number are stored on library servers. Of course, this is done to protect library assets. Where will you go to find books that have not been returned? How will you file reports that will impact the individual’s credit report and keep them from doing the same to other libraries?

It’s a logical step. Add in automated or digital checkout services even in person in the library, and even the smallest city library holds a vast amount of user data, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by hackers and other identity thieves. This is illustrated by the data breach at the Arkansas Library Association in June.

Blended Data

The real interest comes from a blend of digital and physical data, and this is where the government’s interest comes in. Not long ago, a checkout of The Anarchist’s Bible would get you on a watch list. But in the age of digital checkouts and widely available information, there’s more activity that could get you noticed.

The election of Donald Trump and his call for surveillance of Muslims and other groups has libraries and other organizations even more concerned about privacy laws and exactly what information, if any, they have to share with the federal government if asked.

Think of this entirely fictional scenario: an individual becomes a person of interest for whatever reason to a national security agency. With a subpoena, they request library records and discover through app and physical data the person’s address, phone number, social security number, where they work, and even where they were when they checked out certain digital items.

In the past, libraries have carefully released only the data specifically named in court documents, but the potential exists for courts to authorize a much wider request. In the interest of retaining patrons and respect for their privacy, libraries are responding to the election by changing privacy policies and what data they store and keep. Many libraries, including the New York Public Library, have promised to retain data only as long as it is needed to continue checking out books and materials, and to destroy all other data as soon as possible. 

As useful as checkout data, frequency of use, and other data could be to libraries, it seems like if they are retained at all, they will be anonymized and used to track trends rather than personalizing library services to individuals. This is a partial loss to both libraries and patrons, as an Amazon-like experience that tailored what apps showed users according to their personal preferences and geographic location would be both convenient and informative.

But the cost to personal privacy and security, and what it might reveal if that data was subpoenaed or worse, stolen, is too great a risk. Where other businesses are gathering and using data to enhance user experience and provide better customer service, libraries will delete it.

Although this protects the public from large hacker data breaches such as those at eBay, Heartland, and Experian, the primary reason is to prevent government surveillance, something that should concern all of us, whether we fall into targeted groups or not.

The post Collecting and Destroying Data? Preventing Government Surveillance first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Library officials created an innovative approach for storing material below the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street with an emphasis on maintaining the greatest possible space. Dewey order was scrapped in favor of storing books by size, a system that will increase the repository’s capacity by 40 percent.

Books are organized into nine size categories, and staff members use book-sizing templates to determine where they will reside. To ensure the books can be located, a barcode on each item includes both basic bibliographic information (title, author, topic, summary, call numbers), as well as location information (room, aisle, shelf, tray) accessible only to library staff members.

A repository of this magnitude requires a high-tech, efficient retrieval system. Pick lists are sent every five minutes to an office in the Milstein Stacks. Staff members pull and place the requested material in one of the electric railroad’s twenty-four red cars that then make the five-minute trip to the circulation desks on the first and third floors of the main building. This new $2.6 million train system is nearly twice as fast as the previous chain-and-belt series of conveyors and is less prone to breaking down, and the cars can each carry up to thirty pounds.

The two subterranean floors that run westward below Bryant Park were originally excavated in the 1980s, but only the upper level opened in 1991. The lower level remained unfinished until this new renovation. The stacks are climate-controlled and are kept at 65 degrees with 40 percent humidity.

In the midst of major renovations to the flagship branch of New York Public Library, the roughly 2.5 million research materials were originally sent to the library’s storage facility in New Jersey. After critics lamented the lag time in receiving materials from miles away, it was decided to renovate the space with an $8 million donation from longtime library benefactors Abby and Howard Milstein so that the bulk of the research material would remain easily accessible.

Although roughly one million books remain in the New Jersey storage facility, librarians carefully selected which books to bring back (with an emphasis on those published in the last 100 years) and estimate the 1.5 million on-site materials will fulfill 90 percent of research requests. With capacity for more than four million items, underground space is also being kept free for the addition of the hundred thousand volumes acquired by New York Public Library each year.

References

Annie Quito, “The New York Public Library has adopted a very unusual sorting system,” Quartz, October 13, 2016.

“New York Public Library Installs New State-Of-The-Art Conveyor to Deliver Collection Items Throughout The Iconic 42nd Street Library,” press release by New York Public Library, September 21, 2016.

Corey Kilgannon, “Below Bryant Park, a Bunker and a Train Line, Just for Books,” New York Times, November 21, 2016.

Tom Mashberg, “Beneath New York Public Library, Shelving Its Past for High-Tech Research Stacks,” New York Times, November 15, 2016.

The post New York Public Library Opens Milstein Research Stacks first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

One of the many things we can learn from the widely popular Netflix series Orange is the New Black is how important books can be to the inmates. The show is based on the memoir of Piper Kerman, a former inmate at a Connecticut federal prison. She told the L.A. Times just how important books were to her and other inmates: “They were complete lifelines. They were the only legitimate forms of escape. I actually avoided the TV rooms because they’ll suck you into some weird places. There was no prison library in Danbury. We just had informal book shelves, but it’s very interesting what books are popular.”[2]

On the show, one of the sought-after job assignments is working in the prison library. Perhaps the best display of how important the books are to the inmates appears in the Season 3 episode “Ultimate Book Return.” Due to a massive bedbug infestation in the prison, all the books are burned. Begrudgingly, the most passionate readers gather up the books’ ashes and perform a eulogy for the books they lost.[3] Among the authors/titles mentioned with reverence are Great Expectations, the dictionary, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, Jonathan Swift, Sister Souljah, and David Sedaris. Others mentioned throughout the series include Moby Dick, The Glass Castle, and Ulysses.

Tony Marx, NYPL president, is hopeful the library will be inclusive and helpful to all the inmates:“‘Everyone is always welcomed at the library. Free books, free use of computers, educational programs,’ he said, speaking directly to several of the inmates gathered for the library’s opening Tuesday. ‘We do not want people locked up. We want everyone — everyone — to have the opportunity to read, to learn, to create, to gain skills and to contribute.’”[4]Last year, Rikers circulated over 22,000 books, and Marx is hopeful that number will increase with this permanent collection.

Check your library for opportunities to donate books to your local correctional facility.

References

[1] Alison Fox, “Rikers Island gets unofficial New York Public Library branch,” amNewYork. July 27, 2016.

[2] Piper Kerman in an interview with Meredith Blake, “Q&A: ‘Orange is the New Black’ author Piper Kerman on Netflix show” by Blake, Los Angeles Times, July 11, 2013.

[3] Jenji Kohan, “The Ultimate Book Return,” Orange is the New Black, web television series, Netflix, 2015.

[4] Tony Marx, president of the New York Public Library, “Rikers Island gets unofficial New York Public Library branch” by Alison Fox.

The post NYPL Opens New Branch at Rikers Island first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

The Fedelers weren’t the only ones who didn’t have to pay attention to their library’s closing hours. Superintendent Patrick Thornberry and his family lived in the New York Society Library, a private Upper East Side library on 79th St. near Madison Avenue. While they weren’t directly attached to a park like the Fedelers, their apartment came with a penthouse-level garden and was only one block from Central Park. And if they saw something they liked while thumbing through an art book, they might be able to find it at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, also one block away. The Thornberrys must have thought they had a good deal and lived in the library for twenty-two years.^[2]

It goes without saying that, at both these libraries, the superintendents’ and their families had access to the stacks twenty-four hours a day, so finding a book wouldn’t have been a problem. But lest we fantasize too much about these unbelievable apartments and their unique amenities, let’s remember that there were downsides. If you’re in a garage band and really need the practice, this probably isn’t the ideal living environment. In fact, John Fedeler, Jr. explained in a New York Times article that “singing and stomping were strictly forbidden in his home until all library staff had gone home for the evening.”^[3] Getting shushed by a librarian in your own home would be just too much to bear!

Sadly, neither apartment currently has residents, not even via Airbnb. The New York Society Library’s apartment is used for closed stacks,^[4] while the Schwarzman’s apartment was divided up for many uses after it was no longer tenable. The kitchen became a mimeograph room, the switchboard moved into one of the bedrooms, and other rooms became bathrooms or smoking rooms.^[5]

Looking for your own library home?

Despite the current dearth of apartments hidden behind rare book rooms, if living in a library sounds like your dream come true (and assuming your band is on hiatus between tours), it needn’t be completely dashed. You could move into an apartment building built along with a library, like at the Delridge Branch of the Seattle Public Library. According to their website, “The new building was developed in partnership with the Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association. The branch anchors the first floor of a three-story building that includes 19 apartments on the top two floors.”^[6]

There’s a similar operation in San Francisco’s Glen Park Neighborhood, where the Glen Park Marketplace contains the Glen Park Branch of the San Francisco Public Library system, a grocery store, and fifteen residential condominiums in one building.^[7]

Library complexes are popping up all over. The University Dale Apartment complex in St. Paul, Minn., “consists of 92 apartment homes and six brown stone townhomes at the intersection of Dale Street and Aurora Avenue in St. Paul, above the Rondo Community Outreach Library.”^[8] No small library, Rondo has impressive community amenities like a homework center, electronic classrooms, and meeting rooms. It also houses two special collections, the Black Culture and History  and Immigrant and Refugee Battered Women’s Task Force collections. ^[9]

More than a place to live

If these complexes represent a growing trend, it’s not just that cities are trying new ways to mix space. These buildings tacitly operate as public/private partnerships and represent libraries’ continued importance. Libraries are first and foremost community services and must be in the communities they serve. A library couldn’t possibly get closer than by being physically attached to the housing of residents. These buildings, not just through their location but through their very architecture, say, “We are part of your community. You are part of us.” In an era when many library services have been transferred online, there may be no stronger statement a library can make.

As awesome as the Fedeler’s and Thronberry’s apartments were, they were still restricted to library superintendents and their families. In many ways those apartments were cut off from their community. Public apartments or condos built along with libraries have the opportunity to be more. So if living in a library suits you, know that you have options, and if there’s not a development like this in your area, hopefully the trend will continue.

References

[1] Cate Etherington, “Life Behind the Stacks: The Secret Apartments of New York Libraries,” 6SqFt, July 3, 2016.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Meyer Berger, “Engineer To Quit Old Library Home,” New York Times, June 20, 1949.

[4] Cate Etherington, “Life Behind the Stacks: The Secret Apartments of New York Libraries.”

[5] Meyer Berger, “Engineer To Quit Old Library Home.”

[6] “About the Delridge Branch,” Seattle Public Library, accessed July 29, 2016.

[7] “Glen Park Marketplace at 2815 Diamond Street,” San Francisco Modern Residential Real Estate, accessed July 29, 2016.

[8] “University Dale Apartments in St. Paul MN,” Real Estate Equities Living, July 29, 2016.

[9] “Rondo,” St. Paul Public Library, accessed July 29, 2016.

The post Living in the Library first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

On the following Friday, the New York Public Library hosted its annual anti-prom for LGBTQ students, an informal, fun time for students ages twelve to eighteen in the New York City area. “Anti-Prom provides an alternative, safe space for all teens who may not feel welcome at official school programs or dances because of their sexuality, gender presentation, the way they dress, or any other reason.”^[1] The library has been hosting this event since 2004, and the number of attendees has been steadily growing since its debuted attendance of a hundred. Admission is always free, and a DJ provides music. By the end of the night, non-gender-specific King and Queen of the anti-prom are chosen. Some of the guest masters of ceremony over the years has been Simon Doonan, Creative Ambassador-at-Large of the New York City-based clothing store Barneys, and Jimmy Van Bramer, an openly gay councilman from Queens.

The theme this year is based on The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Some of the themes from the past were:

• Fairy Tale (2015)
• Punk Rock (2014)
• Masquarade [sic] (2013)
• Monster (2012)
• Super Hero (2011)

Clearly, this year had a different tone to it based on the Orlando shootings that occurred five days prior. Some people felt the need to show up simply to show solidarity in the face of this horrific occurrence. Others penned “love letters” to their counterparts at the Orlando Public Library. The letter writing was a way for the students—many of which identify as LGBTQ—to cope with what had ensued. The letters were sent to the teen center down at the Orlando library in Florida. A total of fifty-one letters were sent, many of which used the rainbow colors the Pride Flag to show solidarity. Orlando Youth Programs Coordinator Erin Topolesky said she began to tear up moments after opening the letters: “She looked forward to sharing the letters with her teens and was looking for the right time to touch on such a sensitive subject.”^[2] Topolesky plans on having the letters archived across the street from the library, at the Orange County Regional History Center, in addition to many other items of sympathy and condolence that have been sent to the city since tragedy struck.^[3]

References

[1] “Anti-Prom 2016: Secret Garden Prom,” New York Public Library, June 17, 2016.

[2] Erin Topolesky, “New York Teens Send ‘Love Letters’ to their Orlando Counterparts” by Arielle Landau, New York Public Library, July 05, 2016.

[3] Ibid.

The post Anti-Prom Held at New York Public Library first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Children from low income communities use an average of thirty million words less than their affluent counterparts and experience a “drought in heard words” by age three, putting them at a huge language disadvantage long before they even enter school.[1] Early language development is vital to early literacy skills. Verbal interaction with a baby can have a huge positive effect on language development. Whether a parent or caregiver talks, sings, or reads, “neural connections of all kinds are strengthened with the baby’s rapidly growing brain.”[2] New and improved storytimes are addressing these needs.

Library storytimes traditionally focused entirely on children—now, they focus on family literacy and modelling strategies that parents can use to develop early literacy skills. Today’s storytimes emphasize education as much as entertainment and offer suggestions for re-enforcing key concepts and skills at home. Sara Feldman, president of the American Library Association, said, “Such early-literacy efforts are part of a larger transformation libraries are undergoing to become active learning centers for their communities—offering services like classes in English as a second language, computer skills, and career counseling”.[3]

The Public Library Association (PLA) and Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) concluded that a dual approach, early literacy and parent/caregiver education, would provide maximum benefits: “If the primary adults in a child’s life can learn more about the importance of early literacy and how to nurture pre-reading skills at home, the effect of library efforts can be multiplied many times.”[4] So, it’s no wonder that parents of the under-five set are competing for the limited number of seats at storytime at their public libraries. If, as current research suggests, there is a “word gap” between low income families and middle/higher income families, then New York City’s five borough ‘s public libraries, The New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Library, are certainly trying to fill in that gap.

The New York Public Library just added forty-five children’s librarians to support storytime and designated twenty of its eighty-eight neighborhood branches as “enhanced literacy sites”—they will offer storytime as often as four times a week and distribute fifteen thousand “family literacy kits” that include a book and storytime schedules. In Queens, forty-one library branches are adding weekend story times to meet the demand. In Manhattan, the 67th Street branch holds storytime outdoors during the summer when it can have as many as two hundred people. And in Brooklyn, some branches distribute tickets to storytime because of space and popularity. Unlike other New York events, the libraries have yet to see storytime scalpers. City-wide, storytime attendance rose to 510,367 people in fiscal year 2015, up nearly 28 percent from 399,751 in fiscal 2013.

Other efforts in this arena include:

• ALSC has launched Babies Need Words Every Day: Talk, Read, Sing, Play, which provides shareable resources for parents to bridge the thirty million word gap. Eight visually appealing posters (available in English and Spanish) deliver simple, effective rhymes, games, and other suggestions for parents to communicate with their babies. ALSC also provides a recommended list of books.
• United for Libraries sponsors Books for Babies, a national literacy program that provides parents of newborns with a kit containing a board book for baby and baby’s first library card. Most importantly, the kits (in English or Spanish) emphasize the important role parents play in a baby’s early language development and reading tips and information from nationally-recognized educational organizations.
• The PLA/ALSC initiative, Every Child Ready to Read @ your library (ECRR) was published in 2004 and has updated and expanded to a second edition in (2011). Teaching parents and other caregivers how to support the early literacy development of their children is the basis of Every Child Ready to Read @your library^®.[5]

“It is clear that reading and being exposed to books early in life are critical factors in student success,” Anthony W. Marx, president of The New York Public Library, said. “The library is playing an increasingly important role in strengthening early literacy in this city, expanding efforts to bring reading to children and their families through quality, free story times, curated literacy programs, after-school programs and more.”[6]

References:

[1] Maya Shankar. “Empowering Our Children by Bridging the Word Gap,” The White House [Blog], June 25, 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2016.

[2] Ibid

[3] Winnie Hu. “Long Line At the Public Library,” The New York Times, November 1, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2016.

[4] Every Child Ready to Read @ your library: Read, Think Grow. Retrieved January 28, 2016.

[5] Every Child Ready to Read @ your library: Read, Think Grow. Retrieved January 28, 2016.

[6] Winnie Hu. “Long Line At the Public Library,” The New York Times, November 1, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2016.

Resources:

Order/download free ALSC posters.

ALSC’s talking points for librarians

Books for Babies kit contents

Order a Books for Babies kit.

Order Every Child Ready to Read tool kits, manuals, brochures, PowerPoint presentations, and posters.

The post The Hottest Show In Town: Storytime @ your library first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

New York City has over 730,000 homes without internet or broadband access. Unlike smaller cities like Chattanooga, Tennessee, that are making public broadband a reality through their local government, it is simply not feasible for New York’s large and diverse population to do the same thing. In this day and age, people do expect to have internet access anytime and anywhere, just like other public utilities (i.e. water or power). And although the FCC officially classified broadband as a public utility this past February, it will not involve itself in pricing decisions/negotiations. This leaves the cost of internet to be, on average, $60 per month, fundamentally turning a public utility into a luxury item for many.

New York City is trying to give the largest internet companies a reason to become more competitive. The city developed free wireless access points with mobile computer labs and Wi-Fi hubs, including underground and public spaces as well as defunct payphone booths. Unfortunately, many residents in New York are still being left out of these smart communities.

When an affordable internet connection is a problem, it can be extremely difficult to access important online resources from home when someone is unemployed or underemployed. It can be just as difficult for someone’s school-age children to do their homework or do research without online access. Some families struggle with these issues, but find relief in the accessibility of public libraries. However, when the local public library closes at 5pm on some days or doesn’t open at all, the digital divide widens. NYPL decided that all of their patrons should still be able to access online resources, even when they are at home.

Partnering with the Knight Foundation (along with Sprint), which awarded NYPL a $500,000 grant for this purpose, the library rolled out their hotspot lending program this year. And so far so good! A PBS story discusses one family’s journey into digital literacy growth because of the hotspot lending program. Since borrowing a hotspot from NYPL four months ago, a struggling single mother is now working on her nursing degree online, and her children can do their schoolwork at home instead of rushing to the library to complete their assignments before the building closes for the day. It’s clear that for this family and many others, NYPL has given them a sense of stability that most people take for granted.  There are other cities and public libraries developing similar lending programs for their own communities. Look into grants for your library and see your own community’s digital confidence and overall well-being grow!

Source

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/internet-scarcity/

The post Narrowing the Digital Divide: New York Public Library Loans Out Hotspots first appeared on Public Libraries Online.