Brenda Hough's blog

Have you heard of the Library Edge project? If you're a regular visitor to our site, you have seen resources and stories we're shared in support of the project over the last year. You may also have attended one of our Library Edge Benchmark webinars. The Edge Benchmarks are the driving force behind the Edge Initiative. The benchmarks can help library staff understand best practices in  public access technology services for their communities and determine what steps they need to take to improve their public technology. 

Silver Lake, Kansas is a town with a population of 1,439 people (according to the 2010 Census). Thanks to the local library, there’s a whole lot of building going on in the community… and I’m not just talking about renovations and an expansion at the library. Youth in the community have been visiting the library to play Minecraft, a game that allows them to build almost anything they can imagine.

You may have heard of speed dating parties. They are popular matchmaking events during which single people have an opportunity to have quick conversations with lots of other single people. If someone meets a person they would like to get to know better during the event, they can arrange another date. Some innovative minds in the New Jersey library world have borrowed from this approach to create Technology Speed Dating, a training format that helped NJ librarians quickly get introduced to lots of new technologies.

Thank you to Alexis Caudell, Director of the Mitchell Community Library (IN) for sharing her planning experiences and expertise during today's "Planning: A Small Library's Strategies for Tech Success" webinar! If you missed the webinar, but are interested in a thoughtful approach to technology planning, you'll definitely want to check out the recording and the resources.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) created the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP ) to increase broadband access and adoption in the US. State and public libraries have been critical partners in many of these projects. This May 2013 report from American Library Association (ALA) looks at library projects around the country, exploring the impact on communities.

Nothing warms this librarian mama’s heart like my three year old son begging to go to the library and then jumping up and down with joy when I agree.  My son refers to my issue of Public Libraries magazine (which lies next to his issue of Ranger Rick on our coffee table) as “Mommy Loves Libraries” magazine. A Pew Internet report released earlier this week confirms we are not the only library loving mother child team out there.

Happy May Day!

We're delivering your May Basket virtually... in the form of a newsletter. The May TechSoup for Libraries newsletter was emailed to subscribers earlier today.

Please join us for two free upcoming webinars! On Wednesday, May 15th, Alexis Caudell, Director of the Mitchell Community Public Library in Indiana, will discuss Planning: A Small Library's Strategies for Tech Success. On Wednesday June 12th, Wendy Street, Director of the Pella Public Library in Iowa, will discuss how to Support Patron Learning in Small Spaces with Small Budgets.

Do you have a disaster preparedness plan for the library? If not, and you are in the process of creating one, you will be glad to know that TechsSoup's handy resource, The Resilient Organization: A Guide for Disaster Planning and Recovery, has recently been updated. Now, in addition to being available as a PDF or Word document, it's also available in ePUB and mobi formats!

Most libraries now offer wireless Internet access within the building, so visitors can use their own devices to get online. Some libraries are going beyond that and are providing wireless access outside of the library, too (and I don’t just mean in the parking lot after hours). If you’re intrigued, read on! And check out the Mobile Beacon donation program at TechSoup.