It seems like there’s a McDonald’s or Starbucks on every corner. They’re a sign of dependability. You might be surprised to know that there are actually more public libraries in the United States than individual stores of either of the mega chains. There are approximately 17,000 public libraries, while McDonald’s has approximately 14,000 stores and Starbucks has 11,000.
Public Libraries Outnumber McDonald’s
If you want to get a visual of what that looks like, you can view all the public libraries in America mapped out here.
Behold, Every One of the 17,000 Libraries in the U.S. Mapped
Seattle Public Libraries are reaching out to patrons in a creative new way, with their Books on Bikes program. Librarians will be bicycling to various outdoor events this year with small trailers that function as mobile libraries. The innovative outreach goes a step further by including mobile wifi connections that allow the librarians to demonstrate e-books and other digital technology the library has to offer. It’s a marriage of high tech and lo tech.
Seattle Public Library Puts Books on Bikes
Here are some more library news items we found interesting.
Library Enhances Digital Library
Devon libraries’ self-help mental health scheme
OUR VIEW: Library system vital to community
App puts Pima County Public Library on your smartphone, tablet
Rockford Public Library sees boom in digital borrowing
At Your Library: Empowering people to change their lives
The Future of Libraries: Short on Books, Long on Tech
Digital library to lighten the load in Ridgewood schools
New app launched to help library users in Gloucestershire
Ottawa library first in Canada to offer Google Chromebooks
The house of treasures: your library
Books on wheels: Mobile library, a hit
ALA 2013: The Library of 2020 Will Be…
New One Card Six Libraries service a major success
Sunnyvale: County’s first library vending machine serves books at the push of a button
Little Free Library – A good thing that’s in a small package
Box serves as portable library in Brooklyn
Sacramento Public Library named one of top 3 in North America
Red telephone boxes in Essex to become ‘mini libraries’
Libraries Check Out E-Sales
Kitchener library launches mobile app for smartphones and tablet computers
Rockford library adds magazines to its digital lineup
Found and listed by Mosio for Libraries – Patron Support Software for Libraries. All copyright belongs to original owners.