Those of you who are avid readers of the Libraries Thriving Editor Forum probably realize that we have a vast number of representatives of the academic library environment regularly starting conversations about their work towards e-resource innovation and information literacy instruction. We at Libraries Thriving were inspired by the work of Voices for the Library, the UK advocacy group for public libraries,  to drum up some attention for public libraries here in our community. For that purpose, we established and celebrated February as Public Library Month on Libraries Thriving. Our campaign featured three key actions, described below.

1. Survey of Public Libraries

Public librarians were invited to share information about their library by completing the Libraries Thriving Survey on Public Libraries. View the Public Library Month seminar recording for the results to this survey!

2. “Public Libraries in 2020” Forum Discussion

The following prompt informed a creative discussion on the Libraries Thriving Discussion Forum:

It is the year 2020. The public library of today differs from the public library of 2012 in these three ways...

View the posts (and share your own ideas) here: http://www.librariesthriving.org/component/kunena/Public-Library-Outreach/297-Public-Libraries-in-2022

3. “The Future is Coming! What Does That Mean for Public Libraries?” Spring Seminar Series Presentation

This brainstorming session was the culminating event of the month-long campaign. It featured a discussion panel of library supporters sharing their visions of the public library of the future. The discussion will build on the results of Libraries Thriving’s survey of public libraries and also incorporate discussion forum conversations around the prompt “It's the year 2022. The public library of today differs from the public library of 2012 in these three ways...”

View the recording here!