What is
a Library?

The Royal Library of San Lorenzo, photo by Jose Maria Cuellar

Seattle Public Library, photo by Theodore Scott

Second Life Library 2.0, screenshot by Andrea Mercado

Nemaha Public Library, photo by Sarah (Arahsae)

Vancouver Public Library, photo by Cecil Reniche-Smith

Stella Community Library photo by Nebraska Library Commission

What is
THIS library?

Andrés Figueroa Cordero Library
“ A place where people can learn about, and share with a broader
community of people, the depth of Puerto Rican and Latina/o
history, experiences, and struggles. ... A catalyst space, that is, a
point of initiation that will contribute to and support an informed
practice of community activism.
”

Who is it
here for?

Puerto Rican Cultural Center
Dr. Pedro Albizu Lolita Lebron Family
Campos High School Learning Center
National Boricua Human Cafe Teatro Batey Urbano
Rights Network
La Casita de Don Pedro
Consuelo Lee Corretjer
Centro Infantil CO-OP Humbolt Park
(Daycare) (Community Health)
VIDA/SIDA La Voz del Paseo Boricua

Problems:
People don't know about it
People can't get to it
People find it hard to use

Goals:
Organize the books
Make it easy to access the library
Connect the library with the
community

Step 1: Organizing the Library

Paseo Boricua Community Library Project
photo from PRCC flickr site
Local community members and students from UIUC's Graduate
School of Library Science worked together to sort the books,
develop a mission statement, and create an organization system
that reflected the library's purpose.
... and they won VOYA's \"Most Valuable Project\" award in 2004

Step 2: Creating an \"online library\"

PRCC Library Catalog

Step 3: Community Needs Assessment
photo from PRCC flickr site

What's Next?
Offer consistent library hours and staffing through
volunteers and students
Settle the library into a permanent location
Create local collections of PRCC publications
Partner with UIUC Library Archives to create a
digital archive of the artwork and artifacts
Find funding sources to purchase or otherwise obtain
more recent materials on current topics & projects

Community Libraries 101:
What are the goals of your community?
Who does your library serve?
What do they want the library to do?
What experience do people have with libraries?
What tools already exist that can help you?

From Problems to Solutions:
What does it take to turn a disorganized
pile of books into a library that serves the
goals and needs of a specific community?

Case Study: Subject Headings
Dewey Decimal System
000 Generalities 600 Technology
100 Philosophy & psychology (Applied sciences)
200 Religion 700 The arts
300 Social sciences 800 Literature
400 Language & rhetoric
500 Natural sciences & 900 Geography & history
mathematics

Library of Congress
Classification
A - General Works G - Geography, Q - Science
B - Philosophy, Psychology, Anthropology, and R - Medicine
and Religion Recreation
S - Agriculture
C - Auxiliary Sciences of H - Social Sciences
T - Technology
History J - Political Science
U - Military Science
D - General and Old World K - Law V - Naval Science
History L - Education Z - Bibliography,
E - History of America M - Music Library Science, and
F - History of the United N - Fine Arts General Information
States and British, Dutch, Resources
P - Language and
French, and Latin America
Literature

PRCC \"Subject Organization\"
18. Panama 35. Native Americans
1. Puerto Rico
19. Peru 36. African Americans
2. Latin America
20. Uruguay 37. Women
3. Argentina
21. Venezuela 38. Latinas/os in the U.S.
4. Bolvia
22. Spain 39. Race, Gender, and
5. Brazil
23. Africa Class
6. Caribbean
24. Central Africa 40. Human Rights
7. Chile
25. South Africa 41. Education
8. Colombia
26. Southern Africa 42. Lenin
9. Costa Rico
27. West Africa 43. Mao
10. Cuba
28. China 44. Marxism
11. Dominican Republic
29. Japan 45. Library Science
12. Ecuador
30. Vietnam 46. Children’s Books/
13. El Salvador
31. Asia Young Adults
14. Guatemala
32. Southeast Asia 47. Reference
15. Haiti
33. Southwest Asia 48. Other
16. Mexico
34. Egypt
17. Nicaragua

Case Study: Library Website
How do you make it easy
for people to find the
books they want and the
information they need?
Let's looking at the
most popular websites
for finding books and
information: What
makes them work? What
are their problems?

Why we like them:
Easy to find
Easy to Use
Lots of Information
Instant Results
You can contribute
(reviews, editing)

Problems with them:
Hard to judge quality or
accuracy of information
Can be information overload
Can be hard to find older or
specific local information
May be biased, or hide
unflattering information to
increase sales

What do we want?
A site that's easy to find, easy to understand
Easy to use (create, edit, search, share)
Fast access
Trustworthy information
Customized information

Easy to Start
Easy to Customize
Easy to Connect

Getting 2: Search
Started
1-2-3
3: Add Books
1: Sign Up

Customize LibraryThing
Create a profile for your library
Decide how you want to view your books
(or what language to use on the site)
Change your mind about your tags?
Power editing makes changes easy
Change your book covers
to match the illustrations
or to color code your
collection

Connect & Share
Share your opinions in reviews, or add information to
the \"Common Knowledge\" info for books or authors
Find people whose libraries are very similar to yours -
browse their libraries, send them a message, or even
track their additions
Join conversations about your books or
find groups for topics you're interested in
Check the blog to see what's new and leave feedback