Building Better Communities Awards
Libraries exist to make a difference. Whether they are a public library, on campus, or within a governmental or business organization, they are instrumental in creating better places to live, work, and learn.
The most forward-thinking libraries are using new technologies to become indispensable to their communities and build new relationships. SirsiDynix sponsors the Building Better Communities Awards to recognize libraries that have made a difference in their communities.. The 2007 Building Better Communities Awards winners were announced during a special ceremony at the American Library Association Annual Convention in Washington, D.C., on June 24.
An independent panel of library leaders from around the world selected the awards recipients. Any SirsiDynix library worldwide whose technology leadership has distinguished it in service to its user communities was eligible.
The 2007 recipients are:
Alliance Library System (East Peoria, Ill.): A regional library system in central Illinois started a library in the three-dimensional virtual world of Second Life to gain experiential knowledge about providing library services in a virtual world. http://www.alliancelibrarysystem.com
BOPCRIS Project, University of Southampton Library (Southampton, United Kingdom): Launched on March 23, 2007, at the House of Commons, the BOPCRIS 18th-century parliamentary publications project (based at the University of Southampton), provides the UK academic community with access to 1,400 volumes of core 18th-century official Parliamentary publications that include Parliamentary papers, bills, registers, and journals. http://www.soton.ac.uk/library/, http://www.bopcris.ac.uk/18c/
Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (Charlotte, N.C.): The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County developed Learning 2.0 (http://plcmclearning.blogspot.com), an online discovery and learning program to help PLCMC staff gain a comfort level with new and emerging online technologies. While the program began at PLCMC, it has been offered to the library community at large and has been implemented in libraries throughout North America and the world. http://www.plcmc.org
SUNLINK: Florida Department of Education (Tallahassee, Fla.): SUNLINK uses a variety of technologies to improve access to information to Florida K-12 students, teachers, parents, administrators, and library media specialists. http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu
Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS) (Washington, D.C.): The Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS) is a shared database that provides public access to the holdings in the Institution's 20 libraries, 14 archives, and several specialized research databases at the Smithsonian. http://www.siris.si.edu
Lincoln Trail Libraries System: Their program, "Polly Talk" is an innovative service to help Illinois libraries of all types reach out to people with limited English language skills. It includes a database of volunteer bilingual interpreters who are available in person in the library or over the phone. There are currently 76 interpreters working in 30 languages and 289 registered users from 125 Illinois libraries. The Library System has plans in place to expand the program nationally. http://www.ltls.org/
For more on the Building Better Communities Awards ceremony and the recipients, read the press release.
