Public Library Innovation Inside Out

Abstract

ABSTRACT This poster presents public library innovations during the Covid‐19 pandemic. Many public libraries quickly adapted to the pandemic environment, changing and improving their operations and services to meet the new challenges and demands from their users. We collected two datasets to investigate these innovations: the first dataset comprised 751 tweets from the 12 largest public libraries in the U.S., and the second dataset included 72 articles from 3 major professional magazines. These datasets were analyzed to identify innovative services provided between 2020 and 2021. A rigorous content analysis involving multiple coders was conducted. The findings from both datasets highlight that public libraries quickly changed their service delivery modes and implemented diverse innovative services to bridge the digital divide, support health and technology literacy, and help with unemployment and career development. Libraries made efforts to reach out to their communities during lockdowns and also served as community education centers during difficult times, combating with misinformation and focusing on assisting marginalized populations. Additionally, the magazine articles introduced innovative services that pertained not only to user services but also to internal operations within public libraries.