Free library program increases access to Minnesota state parks

The University of Nevada at Reno’s DeLaMare Library houses a ‘maker space’ which houses creative tools ranging from whiteboards to laser cutters to microprocessors. It is the library’s hope that this space allows students and the general public to fabricate their ideas and form new, innovative collaborations.

Across the United States, tribal lands have the lowest access to internet, an issue that restricts opportunity and education in those areas. In New Mexico, several small tribes have partnered to lay fiber-optic cables that connect the libraries, which serve as primary sources of internet connection, to faster, cheaper internet.

The New York Public Library Insta Novels program makes public domain works available to be read on Instagram. Featuring engaging artwork and a user friendly format, Insta Novels make literature available to users with a smartphone and provide a path to digital engagement for the library.

Public libraries are increasingly using their positions as accessible centers for information to address homelessness and mental health issues - in San Francisco, a team of Health and Safety Associates have helped place at least 130 patrons in stable housing. While adding social workers to their staff has helped libraries provide social services, the libraries have also focused on hiring people who have experiences homelessness or financial instability to fill those roles and act as peer mentors as well.

The first Human Library emerged in 2000 in Copenhagen, and has since exploded in popularity to the point of operating chapters in more than 70 different countries. The concept is that readers should not judge a book by its cover, so in this library, actual people are the books available to read with titles like "Polyamorous", "Soldier (PTSD)", and "Refugee". The 30-minute "reading sessions" (face-to-face conversations) allow people to learn in a judgement-free zone and put a real person behind the story they are hearing.

Sadiya Riyaz Shaikh wanted more students, specifically girls, in her village to have access to books and a place to study. She created the Maulana Azad Library, a repurposed family guesthouse full of hundreds of new and second books, newspapers, coloring books, and a tutor who helps students. “Without the library, I wouldn’t have been able to manage it,” said one of the students who regularly attends the library.

A public library in Madison, Wisconsin, works with an e-bike-sharing company to allow residents with library cards to check out bikes for free for up to a week at a time.

The nonprofit Coombs Outdoors runs summer and winter camps for youth to experience and learn about the outdoors. The camps are in high demand because of the affordable price made possible by donor subsidies.

The New Mexico Rural Library Initiative advocated for an endowment fund to create a perpetual funding source for a group of community libraries in small, low-income towns. The money in the fund is invested, and the interest earned is distributed to the libraries each year.

Mexico City’s Utopias are large community centers that offer a wide variety of services and amenities, including skills workshops, gym classes, landromats, food and music lessons. There are currently 15 across one borough, and the incoming administration plans to develop more than 100 in total.