Founded in 2012, One Book 4 Colorado (OB4CO) is a statewide annual initiative that offers free copies of the same book to every 4-year-old in Colorado. In 2014, the book was Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard. More than 75,000 books were given away at more than 500 sites, including public libraries, Reach Out and Read […]
Library cats are all the rage, at least according to Mental Floss, Flavorwire, and of course, the famous Dewey. But some libraries are going a step further with official library mascots to showcase the library during programs, outreach events, and around the community. Here are a few of our favorites: Colorado’s Poudre River Library District […]
Big changes are underway in the area of academic library survey data. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) formerly gathered data on academic libraries via the voluntary Academic Libraries Survey (ALS), which collected statistics every other year from degree-granting postsecondary institutions. Now, the ALS has been rolled up into a new Academic Libraries (AL) […]
Libraries have fully embraced social media as a way of reaching and engaging with patrons in new ways. But social media is no different than any other technology: Trends and usage ebbs and flows as new groups discover existing tools and new tools become popular. One resource for navigating the changing social media landscape is […]
New research results from the Lilead Project showcase the first national effort to study school district library supervisors since the 1960s. Funded by IMLS and deployed by the University of Maryland College of Information Studies, the Lilead Project collected data via a national survey (which they intend to repeat) for a baseline for future research […]
We recently told you about the State Grants to Libraries Act (CRS 24-90-401) that offered $2 million to Colorado’s libraries and how many libraries were able to purchase materials thanks to the funds. We’ve now received preliminary data for the 2013-14 grant cycle highlighting just how those grants were used, and the impact is clear: […]
In our yearly tradition, our newest Fast Facts reviews the past year of Library Jobline, our popular library jobs posting website. We investigate the kinds of jobs that are posted, what skills are required, and how 2013 was in the larger trends of the library job market. Here’s what we found: In 2013, 431 jobs […]
The book subscription service Scribd recently released some brief stats about its service usage as it nears its one year anniversary. While the results are limited to Scribd’s service alone, it captures a snapshot of reading behavior and choices of its readers over the past year. Romance, Mind, Body, & Spirit, and Business were the […]
Each year, LRS reviews the Public Library Annual Report for information specifically about challenges: How many items were challenged, reasons for the challenges, and what happened as a result of the challenges. In our newest Fast Facts, we take a deeper look into the results as a snapshot of intellectual freedom issues in Colorado for […]
This week, we’re taking a break from the Weekly Number to highlight our other blog series, “Beyond Books.” In our last Beyond Books post, we mentioned Denver Public Library’s ideaLAB, a space for teens to make and play with all things digital media. A small survey released last year shows makerspaces are becoming a solid […]
