The future of libraries in the US & around the world

June 23, 2016

TASCHA’s work with public libraries is well-known throughout most of the world, ranging from the Public Access Landscape Study, which was the first attempt to identify and describe public libraries and other Internet public access centers and their services in 25 countries, to the Global Impact Study, which looked at the effect of libraries and other public access centers and their services on the users and non-users in eight countries. But with the selection of TASCHA as one of the three Legacy Partners by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Libraries Program, along with the United States Public Library Association (PLA) and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), more work by TASCHA in the United States will be seen in the coming years.

Ecologies of innovation and public libraries

April 23, 2016

Over the past couple of years, I’ve spent more and more time in the “innovation” space, attending conferences and workshops, speaking with leaders in the public library field, visiting innovation hubs from Africa to South America, doing a bit of research on innovation spaces, and otherwise trying to grapple with what this all means for international development generally (and as it pertains to all of TASCHA’s work), and public libraries in particular (for our public library research).