Tag: Libraries

Talk of the Towns 9/14/18

Producer/Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Engineer: Amy Browne

Community concerns and opportunities: The evolving role of community libraries

Was there a “typical” view of the role of a community library when you started out?
What roles of a community library are staying the same, and what roles are evolving?
What are some of the “drivers” of the evolving role (demographics, technology, changing communities)? Is there a tension between historic and evolving roles?
What is the role of the Maine State Library, and is it changing as well? How does the state library support community libraries and foster collaborations… examples?
What challenges are you seeing, across the library landscape?
What is your vision for the future of community libraries?

Guests:
Amy Wisehart, Ellsworth Public Library
Ruth Eveland Jesup Memorial Library, Bar Harbor
Rich Boulet, Blue Hill Public Library
Jamie Ritter, Maine State Librarian

Talk of the Towns 6/27/14

Guest host: Ron Beard
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: Community Support for Local Libraries

Key Discussion Points:
What are some of the roles that “your” libraries play in the life of your communities?
With yours as example, what difference does a local public library mean for its patrons?
How do community members let you know of the importance of their local library?
How are your libraries structured and supported? What is your annual operating budget and what kinds of expenditures are supported? What are your sources of income, including endowment?
Do you have any sort of strategic plan, and what elements are included?
Each of your library boards are preparing for capital campaigns, in the case of the Moore Library, primarily to build endowment, and at the Jesup, for building improvements and expansion. In each case, what thinking went into the decision to mount these campaigns now?
Both libraries are a century or more old… has the notion of raising significant funds changed over that time? What strategies are you using to reach out to those who have capacity? How will you include those who value their library but have less capacity to give?

Guests:
Keith Goldfarb, Treasurer, Henry D. Moore Parish House and Library, Steuben, Maine
Lavon Bartel, Endowment Campaign, Moore Library, Steuben
Jill Weber, Vice President of Board of Directors, Jesup Memorial Library, Bar Harbor

Notes from the Electronic Cottage 6/12/08

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Topic: These days, we hear that the Internet is killing libraries. That would be a surprise to the hundreds of thousands of Mainers who find that today’s libraries are both “brick” and “click,” both physical spaces and gateways to the cyber world of information, including information we would have to pay for if we tried to access it ourselves.