Libraries Hacked

We don't want to go to Libraries Rewired, we ARE Libraries Rewired. Anyway, looks good so worth checking out.

Great to see the Safest Way app rolling out in more areas. Surrey Libraries should check this out for residents! Susan Wills MBE

🎉 Early Bird tickets are officially open for CILIP Libraries Rewired 2026! This year's online event will bring together library, knowledge and information professionals to explore the technologies shaping our future, including: 🤖 Artificial Intelligence 📊 Data and data sovereignty 💻 AI-supported coding 🧠 Natural Language Processing 🔓 Open source vs proprietary technologies 📚 Information architecture and taxonomies With keynotes, workshops, discussions and expert speakers from across the information profession, Libraries Rewired is your opportunity to discover new ideas, practical insights and emerging trends. 🎟️ Register today: https://lnkd.in/eMjW2xJi

New research on comics in public libraries. But when you see the need for better open data you can't unsee it. All of this information should be publicly available by default, published at least daily, from all public library systems. The contents and usage of the library catalogue are not complex datasets to make openly available, which would allow for far more insight than a survey in which only a third of English library services respond to. We need to stop conducting surveys that give delayed indications of trends and start publishing the public data that systems all hold already. "Libraries Connected surveyed public library services in England in June and July 2026, receiving 55 responses out of a total of 152 library services." "A survey of public library services by Libraries Connected found that 100% of responding services (55) now hold comics and graphic novels, while over a third reported collections of more than 5,000 items." "Demand is strongest among younger readers. Around 78% of respondents identified children aged 6 to 11 as among their most frequent borrowers of comics" Arts Council England CILIP, the library and information association Libraries Connected CILIPS Libraries Rising London Libraries Scottish Library and Information Council

Snapped a couple of tickets up as soon as this was announced, like they were hotcakes. That's near the library too (not that it's ever open), and there's a Premier Inn a few mins away.

Good to see the sector welcome the new public libraries minister. Perhaps a little optimistic to be giving invites for events in 2027 though.

It's that annual data collection time of year, where we request some library usage data from local authorities and beg them not to send it in PDF format, and they respond with "heres that data you asked for, exported to PDF". It's a dance as old as time. Arts Council England Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport CILIP, the library and information association

I'm buying an ePaper display to go on the wall, which allows for custom (or community) plugins to show useful information in a rotating playlist. Like my local train and bus departures, calendar events, weather, etc. But what about libraries? It would be great to have a display with my library account, and publish a plugin for other people to use that integration. The books I have checked out and their due date, how much money I owe, upcoming mobile library dates, whether the local library is currently open, etc. Might try and mock up a sketch today. It's high tech but also lo-fi and accessible information. What other information could be displayed? What is immediately possible, and what's the art of the possible? What about using live data from people counters to show how busy the library currently is? Aude Charillon Claire Back Luke Burton Isobel Hunter MBE Simon Peacock Sheila Bennett. MA, MBA Sean McNamara Tiina Hill Liz White

Andy Burnham has become our new Prime Minister. And everyone will be trying to convince him to focus on various things that they think are a priority. But feasibly, what are the urgent things he should concentrate on in his first 50 days? Firstly, he should be looking to release Public Lending Right loans data held by The British Library as Open Data. Then, committing to more resources into making this data fully automated, more extensive, and published on a nightly basis. This would form the basis of essential library usage data to inform the reading sector across the UK. Next, mandate open publishing and open data policies across publicly funded library orgs, led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and applicable to organisations like Arts Council England and Libraries Connected and their member organisations. Finally, look to establish a 'Government Digital Service for Libraries', with committed future funding, looking at data and digital transformation for public libraries and library systems. It's the year of reading after all, but where's the data? CILIP, the library and information association

We have lots of things we'd like to say about library data but the BBC just won't give us a personal platform for it.