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In this paper, the Libraries for Everyone Project and the studies carried out within the scope of the project are presented; the role of libraries as learning environments is discussed; and the data obtained from the library usage research/survey are shared. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The research includes the findings of a questionnaire study that was applied in May, 2017 to 4,566 respondents from 147 libraries participating in the project. The population is represented with a 99% confidence level and a sampling error of 0.02. The sample size was decided based on the number of registered members in the libraries.

Municipal libraries have potential to be used as learning environments.

The usage survey reported in the study is the most comprehensive usage study on municipal libraries so far in terms of the number of participants. The Libraries for Everyone Project is the most extensive project implemented at municipal libraries in Turkey.

The purpose of this paper is to advocate and contribute to a more nuanced and discerning argument when ascribing a democratic role to libraries and activities related to information literacy.

The connections between democracy and libraries as well as between citizenship and information literacy are analysed by using Mouffe’s agonistic pluralism. One example is provided by a recent legislative change (the new Swedish Library Act) and the documents preceding it. A second, more detailed example concerns how information literacy may be conceptualised when related to young women’s sexual and reproductive health. Crucial in both examples are the suggestions of routes to travel that support equality and inclusion for all.

Within an agonistic approach, democracy concerns equality and interest in making efforts to include the less privileged. The inclusion of a democratic aim, directed towards everyone, for libraries in the new Library Act can be argued to emphasise the political role of libraries. A liberal and a radical understanding of information literacy is elaborated, the latter is advocated. Information literacy is also analysed in a non-essentialist manner, as a description of a learning activity, therefore always value-laden.

The agonistic reading of two central concepts in library and information studies, namely, libraries and information literacy is fruitful and shows how the discipline may contribute to strengthen democracy in society both within institutions as libraries and in other settings.

This article explores how public librarians understand and perform the democratic mission of public libraries in times of political and social turbulence and critically discusses the idea of public libraries as meeting places.

Five group interviews conducted with public librarians in southern Sweden are analyzed using a typology of four perspectives on democracy.

Two perspectives on democracy are commonly represented: social-liberal democracy, focusing on libraries as promoters of equality and deliberative democracy, focusing on the library as a place for rational deliberation. Two professional dilemmas in particular present challenges to librarians: how to handle undemocratic voices and how to be a library for all.

The analysis points to a need for rethinking the idea of the meeting place and offers a rare example of an empirically based argument for the benefits of plural agonistics for analyzing and strengthening the democratic role of public libraries.

The research examined Scottish public libraries and the libraries' response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic of 2020–2021. The research focussed particularly around the way that the libraries helped to support community resilience and cohesion during periods of lockdown. The study considered issues around the closure of services in March 2020, digital services, the loss of physical library spaces and governance models. The research presents the voice of service managers rather than being a user study. The research was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UKRI (United Kingdom Research and Innovation), as a part of the council's scheme to provide response to the pandemic of 2020.

This was an exploratory study examining how Scottish public library services responded to the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Three methods were deployed in the investigation. First, the gathering social media and other web-based content from library services over the months March–September 2020 (amounting to over four thousands snips of content) were analysed thematically. Second, 19 semi-structured interviews with service managers across Scotland were conducted. These were recorded, transcribed and analysed. These elements formed the cornerstone of the research but were supported by a short survey distributed to all public library services in Scotland focussed on e-lending during lockdown.

Findings are presented in respect of the lessons to be learnt from the closure of physical services and the migration to digital only provision, the contribution made to supporting communities, health and well-being, the importance of the balance of physical and digital library services around governance models for library services, as well as around the process of reopening services. This research explores how staff responded to this unparalleled situation, how the staff maintained close relationship with the communities the staff serve, what services themselves learnt through lockdown, and how the staff's management practices adapted. The findings present voices from Scottish libraries during 2020.

The research presents a snapshot of activities during a period of fast-moving change. The research, therefore, presents a snapshot of March–December 2020, which is, however, an extremely important snapshot. The first lockdown was perhaps most interesting to study from a research perspective because the authors witnessed, real-time, how the staff responded and reacted (with lessons learnt and applied in subsequent regional or national lockdowns later in 2020 and in the 2021). The second lockdown and subsequent periods were outside the scope of this research.

Recommendations are offered around the need for a national conversation about digital content provision in public libraries and the exploration of possibilities of a national approach, the role libraries have as digital enablers (in supporting effort to overcome the digital divide in society), the crucial nature of continued strong advocacy for public libraries, the importance of the library as a physical space, and on how to maintain the flexibility, agility and autonomy which emerged during lockdown.

The research presents strong testimony about the social value of public libraries as free, safe and public spaces within communities. It also highlights the continued digital divide which exists in many places and the important role that public libraries have in being digital enablers for many members of the public. The closeness of library service staff to users is strongly evidenced in the testimony from managers as is the need for parent organisation (local authorities or in culture or leisure trusts) to recognise more fully the breadth of services the public library provides and how these are “essential” for many users.

The value and distinctiveness of this research lies in the fact that the research captured the voices, thoughts and perceptions of Scotland’s public libraries during the period of lockdown in 2020. The evidence gathered suggests important conversations are required around equity of e-lending provision, the role of libraries as digital enablers, the balance between physical and digital provision and around the ways libraries are managed (directly by local authorities or in culture trusts). The research affords lessons for public library provision beyond Scotland with many issues being transferable to other contexts.

This paper aims to illustrate the importance of a cultural shift to fully embrace and serve persons with cognitive, intellectual or physical disabilities into the library community.

Through a combination of staff training, age- and ability-appropriate programming, accommodating service models, management-led expectations and partnerships, Anythink Libraries in Thornton, Colorado, implemented AnyAbility – a program designed especially for adults with disabilities – in April 2014.

AnyAbility’s success has led to a number of positive impacts, including increased services and collaboration, shifts in user patterns and independent visits and a more inclusive library environment in which staff have increased awareness and a stronger interaction with this population.

The program has transformed the lives of the staff who work at Anythink Wright Farms and the community of Anythinkers who use transformations, the AnyAbility programming has been offered at multiple Anythink locations and libraries from across the country have contacted Anythink for inspiration and advice on programs and training on this topic. Most importantly, this approach has transformed the library experience for customers, specifically adults with cognitive disabilities.

Homelessness has been a growing problem in many countries since the 1980s. The purpose of this paper is to examine homeless peoples’ perspectives on public library services, and to compare these with the attitudes of library staff.

Eight interviews have been conducted with rough sleepers and formerly homeless library patrons to examine their experiences, needs and expectations or the library. In addition, four library staff have been interviewed about their attitudes to services for members of the homeless community.

Most rough sleepers and formerly homeless patrons who participated in this research viewed the public library as a safe place because it offered a welcoming atmosphere, access to a variety of resources and services targeted at the homeless. Nonetheless, sleeping has always been a major reason for their use of the library. Most staff members agreed that providing services targeted toward rough sleepers changed the dynamic between staff and the homeless patrons, but there was some disagreement between staff members about whether targeted services were the most appropriate approach.

Understanding homeless and rough sleepers’ expectations for public library services may be useful in revising policy and developing services for this community. In particular, developing partnerships with organisations supporting the homeless is an effective way of developing relevant services for this often-marginalised group.

Little research has considered public library services from the perspective of homeless people. This research is intended to fill that gap.

The chapter provides a library “state of the state,” discussing the issues, trends, and myths that shape the current library environment in the United States. It cites data from the American Library Association's State of America's Libraries (2010d) report. Issues discussed include library usage, library funding, the adaptation of new technologies, the profession of librarianship, the struggle to preserve public access to information, and the future prospects of libraries. The chapter discusses each of these issues in relation to public, academics, and school libraries, citing comparative data on funding and the adoption of new technologies for each type of library. Acknowledging that reality to libraries is not technological, but perceptual and political, discussion focuses on the growing role of advocacy and specific strategies that have proven successful in securing and/or preserving support for libraries. A number of commonly held myths are also examined, many of which are detrimental to libraries or inhibit our ability to respond to the issues and trends that are affecting libraries. The author concludes with some observations about the historic development of libraries, their continuing relevance in an era of rapid technological change, the need to look beyond short-term concerns and to closely examine and/or reject popular myths as we create libraries of the future.

The purpose of this research was to determine the current status of the library services for visually impaired and physically handicapped people in Argentina.

A survey was made of 20 different libraries throughout Argentina that provide services for visually impaired and physically handicapped people. A questionnaire composed of 114 questions based on American Library Association guidelines was developed and delivered by e‐mail and post to participating libraries. Additionally, visits were made to ten of these libraries with the objective of obtaining information by means of interviews with their respective directors as well as library personnel and users who were present at the time of the visit.

It was concluded that these libraries are not in a position to provide the best library services for visually impaired and physically handicapped individuals: it was seen that there are still many things to correct and improve.

It is considered that the present model of special libraries in Argentina is a possible contributor to the isolation and confinement of visually impaired and physically handicapped people. For this reason a new model of service should be considered. This should take into account an integrated library approach based on the Unesco manifesto 1994 for public libraries. It is suggested that the Unesco model of integrating universal library services will effectively ensure access to information for visually impaired and physically handicapped people, thus ensuring “a public library for everyone”.

To document a library web site redesign from start to finish, with special attention and emphasis placed on process – what worked and what did not.

Documentation and techniques used in the redesign are discussed in depth, with special attention as to why these techniques were chosen, how they were integrated into the process, and what problems were encountered.

One of the biggest problems with a redesign is the political dimension and communication issues involved, rather than the technical problems. Deciding what testing methodology to use to gather patron input and using that input efficiently in the site design are also a challenging area.

Since this is a case study, some of the problems encountered may not be applicable to other libraries in different environments. At the same time, many of the findings relating to problems with communication are general and could apply to redesign efforts in a variety of environments.

It is hoped that this paper may serve as a foundation on which a more generic process for effecting a redesign can be developed, one that may apply to all or most redesigns in all or most libraries.

There are very few papers in the literature dealing with the process of managing a redesign – most focus on other aspects, such as skill sets or test findings.

A significant amount of experimentation in virtual collection building and public service has been underway for the past few years. The time has now come to stop experimenting and commit instead to building collaborative, scalable and sustainable programs to meet patrons at their point of need. Our failure to do so will mean a relegation of libraries to the back ranks of information gatherers and suppliers. While it is unlikely that libraries will disappear altogether, they will become afterthoughts unless librarians consciously rethink their roles in society and academia becoming less the passive retainer and more the active participant in the creation and maintenance of information and knowledge. The resources and means are available to make librarians viable and necessary contributors to efficient information retrieval. However, do librarians have the will, the imagination and the confidence to do so? This chapter will evaluate the development of virtual reference services and will suggest a road map for where to go next.