Award
PROCESS FOR SELECTION An international advisory committee made up of librarians, information technology experts, and foundation staff evaluates applications based on candidates’
innovative efforts to:
• make computer and Internet access free to the public
• train the public in using techno-logy and accessing information
• educate staff on technology use and
• reach out to underserved communities.
The committee selects a list of final candidates for consideration by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Following an independent finan-cial and organizational review of the finalists, the foundation selects the award recipient.
HOW TO APPLY Deadline
Completed applications must be submitted by 31 october 2008.
Obtaining application forms The Access to Learning Award application form is available for download at:
www.gatesfoundation.org/ATLA.
The form is only available in english and must be completed in english in order to be eligible for review by the advisory committee.
Applications may also be requested by email at:
ATLA@gatesfoundation.org.
hall is closed. The idea is to provide the services as close to the citizens as possible by using the mobile libraries.
The traditional library services and the citizen services are not the only service forms of the mobile library, though.
The new and popular ‘Book a Mobile DENMARK
Mobile library services of today and tomorrow
Following the structural reform in municipal government in Denmark se-veral of the new and bigger municipali-ties have closed down smaller library units and replaced these with mobile libraries. In addition to the more tradi-tional library services such as bor-rowing books and information retrie-val the new mobile libraries also pro-vide citizen services. This could mean e.g. information and guidance on how to register at the daycare centre or how to change your address, how to apply for housing subsidy or health insurance and the forms needed for doing this.
In the case of Brønderslev municipality 15,000 of the 35,000 inhabitants live outside the bigger communi-ties which means long distances to the nearest library or citizen service centre. The subject areas covered by the service at the
mobile library were decided in coope-ration with the citizen service centres.
The subject matters that were chosen are the ones most often asked about and the kind of questions that can be handled at a mobile library. The library staff have a hotline to the citizen services even at times when the town
24 SPLQ:3 2008
Scandinavian Shortcuts
Mobile Library Brønderslev
Mobile Library Ringkøbing-Skjern
Library’ service means that the local communities are able to get tailor-made services where and when they want them.
In the same issue ofDanmarks Biblio-tekeranother mobile library is also presented. Denmark’s biggest munici-pality Ringkøbing-Skjern runs a special mobile library serving the kindergar-tens and daycare centres in the large town. The mobile library not only offers the usual services of borrowing and returning materials but also rhyme workshops, book talks, performances by professional actors, dancers, musi-cians etc. The kindergartens get to book ‘the rolling children’s library’
themselves at a time when it is most convenient for them.
(Danmarks Bbiblioteker 2008:4)
Crime Book Fair in prison
What better place for an event concen-trating on detective stories and popular criminal literature than a former pri-son! Horsens Public Library in Den-mark has organised their Crime Book Fair since 2003. This year’s fair kicked off with a one-day workshop on detec-tive short stories for library staff, authors and high school teachers. On Saturday there were talks, discussions and interviews with authors – plus hot dogs and beer. This year the library also launched a crime wiki with articles on books and films. The local event gets good and well-deserved coverage in the media.
(Bibliotekspressen 10:2008)
FINLAND
Oulu City Library reaches out to housebound users
Oulu City Library and the Department for the services for senior citizens have been working together to improve and develop the outreach services of the li-brary. The aim was to improve the ser-vices for senior citizens and the visually impaired, to increase the number of users and to make the services more effective.
The common goal for the library and the Department for the services to the elderly was to find new ways to support the living at home of the aged. As a part of the Virtual Personified Service Portal for Senior Citizens Project the library took part in a view phone pilot project, organised literature circles for senior citizens and produced a litera-ture CD to support work with the aged.
During the four-year project new features were added to the library sy-stem so that personal profiles on the reading habits of the senior users could be saved in the system. The system can check new titles against a list of pre-vious loans to find books the users ha-ve not read yet. Seha-veral different pro-files can be defined for any one user.
The aim was to increase personalisa-tion of the services and to make distance use of the services easier for housebound library customers.
Kirjastolehti (Link at http://kirjastoseura.kaapeli. fi)
Municipal decision-makers as library users
Oulu is by no means the only city in Finland to carry out projects or user surveys but also the second piece of news from Finland happens to come from the region of Northern Ostro-bothnia where the public libraries mapped out the local decision-makers’
knowledge of library services and their use of the libraries.
All municipal decision-makers in charge of library matters were sent a questionnaire which they could answer anonymously. In the city of Oulu, the response rate was an acceptable 47%.
All the respondents thought the public library to be an important basic ser-vice. The decision-makers proved to be rather active users of library services;
half the respondents reported visiting the library monthly and reading more than 20 books a year.
Most respondents said they used the library mostly for borrowing material but also for reading newspapers and journals and visiting the exhibitions at the library. 37% reserve material and renew loans on the Internet. As many as 80% are happy with the library col-lections – still, half of the respondents would use the library services even more if new titles were more easily available.
When asked about developing the library services the respondents sug-gested, maybe somewhat surprisingly, establishing new libraries for new resi-dential areas, organising literary events, increasing the book budget, listening to user feedback - especially from
chil-Library users: Who are they and what do they really do at the library?
A study of 3,337 library users in Oslo, Trondheim, Kristiansand, Stavanger and Bergen was carried out using observation of user behaviour during library visits. Borrowing and returning books accounted for 50% of user activities which is yet another indica-tion that new measures are needed for describing library use. The mere number of visits or issued books does not tell us how the visitors make use of the library.
According to the results, 71% of the library visits lasted less than half an hour while on average a library visit took 35 minutes. 11% of the visitors were studying or working at the library for over half an hour whereas 2% of the visitors did not use any library services during their visit. A quarter of all visitors approached the staff with questions. The assumption of libraries as complex institutions with numerous uses was confirmed by the results: The library visitors really used the library in different ways for studying, leisure, reading, meeting people, accessing the Internet etc.
(ABM-skrift 46, 2008;
Bok og Bibliotek – aktuellt:
http://www.bokogbibliotek.no)
SWEDEN
The whole of Malmø is reading The biggest reading initiative in Swe-den was awarded the Swedish Arts and Business Award 2007 in the category of
‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ for the successful cooperation between dren and teenagers plus more active
information about the library services.
A lot of the survey results sound very promising and will hopefully make all the decision-makers more aware of the current library services. One of the questions produced mindboggling answers, though. When asked how big a proportion of the municipal budget the library services made up, only 27%
could even roughly estimate the share of the library expenditure while a third of the respondents did not so much as hazard a guess.
(Kirjastolehti) (Link at http://kirjastoseura.kaapeli. fi)
NORWAY
The first demotek in Norway The first demotek in Norway was opened in Bergen in March and is modelled after the 80+ demoteks in Sweden (presented in SPLQ2007:1).
The new department at the library hosts demos in the fields of music, lite-rature, film, photography, graphic arts etc. It is meant to be a stepping stone for aspiring artists from 14 to 30+ in the city of Bergen. Nobody will be re-fused providing the works do not break
the law and the author signs a contract stating she or he owns the copyright to their material. The library believes the demotek to be a real alternative to YouTube and the abstract nature of computer files: to have your music CD or manuscript available at the local library is more concrete and tangible.
While delivering and hanging up posters for the Demotek, the library staff already encountered enthusiastic reception: At a café a member of staff wanted to give two music CDs to the librarian to take to the demotek.
(Bok og bibliotek 2:2008)
A library without barriers
In Kongsberg Library the traditional information desk has been replaced by a round table where the information retrieval takes place in a more demo-cratic setting than before. This has been done in many libraries elsewhere, but in Kongsberg the use of laptops makes searching information and revising the initial searches possible also between the shelves. This simple solution makes it easier to work with the users instead of working for them.
Removing the physical barriers between library staff and users can create a more equal situation. It also makes running back and forth between the desk and the shelves unnecessary.
The use of laptops also made it pos-sible to take the library out to the streets during the yearly jazz festival:
Librarians equipped with laptops and book trolleys could lend out material for relaxed patrons at the pavement café.
(Bok og bibliotek)
26 SPLQ:3 2008
Scandinavian Shortcuts
Bergen Library
Malmø City Library and the Swedish Savings Association Foundation. The target group of the 3-year project are all second to fifth graders in Malmø, 24,000 pupils altogether. The initiative is carried out in cooperation with the local pedagogical centres and other cultural institutions in the city. Well-functioning and permanent structures and networks have also been created between the public library staff and the school libraries.
The two project coordinators have or-ganised seminars in e.g. dramatised book talk for the staff and come up with ideas for activities, but it is up to each library and school class to decide what methods and events they want to make use of and arrange. One of the most exciting sub-projects was the detective story relay where over 500 school pupils in grade 2 wrote a whodunit called The Secret Mission of Konrad and Milouwith the first and last chapters written by an author. The book was also printed and made into a play.
(Biblioteksbladet 2008:5)
Reading aloud for burned-out women The public library in Helsingborg has started a literature circle for women who have been diagnosed with
burn-out. In the region of Skåne, several projects have been initiated where cul-ture is seen as one of the tools towards better health. All the women taking part in the literature circle were re-gistered library users but had not been frequenting the library for a long time, maybe several years. Meeting with the other women, and reading aloud from works of fiction is meant to have a positive influence on the health of the participants.
(Biblioteksbladet 2008:5)
A more silent library by adding sound Contradictions in terms can sometimes work and produce desired effects against all odds. This has been the case at the school library in Viktoriaskolan on the island of Oland in Sweden. After setting up a sound installation of the sounds of wind, water, forest, birds and even frogs, the sound levels at the library have actually fallen. The wall-paper of the sounds of nature has made the school library a quiet and peaceful working and studying envi-ronment. It even drowns the noises from the printers and the ventilation system.
(Biblioteksbladet 2008:4)
Scandinavian Shortcuts are selected by Päivi Jokitalo Licensing Coordinator National Electronic Library Services / FinELib The National Library of Finland
Keep up with developments in the Nordic public libraries in Scandinavian Public Library Quarterly Scandinavian Public Library Quarterly
Volume 41, no. 3, 2008 SPLQ
Ministry of Education and Culture P.O.Box 29
FI-00023 Government Finland
Legally responsible publisher:
Editor-in-chief Barbro Wigell-Ryynänen barbro.wigell-ryynanen@minedu.fi Assistant editor:Tarja Mäkinen tarja.makinen@minedu.fi Ministry of Education and Culture
Co-editors in Denmark, Norway and Sweden Jonna Holmgaard Larsen jhl@bs.dk
Danish Agency for Libraries and Media Tertit Knudsen
tertit.knudsen@abm-utvikling.no Norwegian Archive,
Library and Museum Authority Mats Hansson
mats.hansson@kulturradet.se
Lay-out: Staehr Reklame & Marketing Print: C.S.Grafisk A/S
ISSN 0036-5602 Electronic ISSN: 1604-4843 Scandinavian Public Library Quarterly (SPLQ) is published by the Nordic Public Library Authorities
Selected by Päivi Jokitalo