Next City
14 January 2020
Text / 800-1500 Words
New York, New York, United States
Instrument rentals help to address a gap in privilege. The Central Branch of Brooklyn Public Library in New York City is one of several programs in the US and Canada that loan out musical instruments for free. The program in NYC began with the support of a grant from BKLYN Incubator. Similar programs in Philadelphia and Toronto, Canada, loan instruments to members of their community through funding from grant programs.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/beyond-baby-mozart-students-who-rock
David Bornstein
The New York Times
8 September 2011
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Why do schools teach music in a way that turns off so many young people rather than igniting their imagination? A program that taps into students’ passion for pop and rock is revitalizing music education in many schools.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/rock-is-not-the-enemy
David Bornstein
The New York Times
13 September 2011
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Little Kids Rock has helped to revitalize and broaden music education in more than a thousand schools by encouraging children to learn to play popular music, form bands and compose their own songs. Despite a backlash from traditionalists, teaching children to play music they love doesn’t “dumb down” music education—it enriches it.
http://www.pitchfork.com/features/article/9927-what-it-takes-for-an-independent-record-store-to-survive-now
Joel Oliphint
Pitchfork
3 August 2016
Text / Over 3000 Words
As popular music has become digital and immaterial in the twenty-first century, record stores are hard to find and those in business struggle to be commercially viable. Used Kids record store in Columbus, OH has been in business for thirty years and is perhaps even more popular now that it was ten years ago. The current management treat the medium of vinyl not as a museum artifact, but rather as a commodity in demand by selling online, holding private events with collectors, and selling the materiality to young people.
http://ksfr.org/post/it-takes-library-solutions-journalism
Lucia Duncan
Santa Fe Public Radio (KSFR)
4 October 2016
Radio / 5-15 Minutes
In New Mexico, public libraries are funded by municipalities. That means, if you live in an unincorporated town, there’s no funding stream for a local public library. But, in northern New Mexico, residents in several towns have joined together to create independent libraries that have transformed their communities.
http://www.shareable.net/blog/how-libraries-are-boldly-innovating-to-meet-the-needs-of-changing-communities
Anna Pratt
Shareable
16 November 2016
Text / Over 3000 Words
Libraries in the United States have traditionally been centers to consume information, offering users books in quiet isolation. However, a new movement across the country is transforming libraries by providing internet access, creating spaces to study and learn, and meet with members of the community. There has even been the creation of pop-up happy hour libraries at bars, and bike book deliveries to distribute free books. These new libraries are re-inventing how communities learn and demonstrating that even the oldest institutions are elastic to communities' needs.
https://www.citylab.com/life/2017/06/homeless-between-the-stacks/531918
Jessica Leigh Hester
Bloomberg CityLab
28 June 2017
Text / 1500-3000 Words
With new mayor-ordained shelters and support services unlikely to function until 2020, NYC’s 60,000+ homeless population is left in need of assistance in the meantime. But recently, an anti-homelessness nonprofit—Breaking Ground— has paired up with the Brooklyn Public Library to provide social and administrative services to New York’s homeless population. This unique partnership works collaboratively to build engagement, trust and a housing action plan for homeless people; while the librarians help patrons gather practical housing resources and sift through complex bureaucratic matters, social workers build positive community rapport, and provide more holistic, psychosocial assistance with individual cases.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/30/well/family/free-lunch-at-the-library.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fus&_r=0
Catherine Saint Louis
The New York Times
30 July 2017
Text / 800-1500 Words
From New York to Ohio to California, librarians have teamed up with the USDA summer food service program, along with other non-profits, to feed kids dependent on free/reduced-price lunches during the school year. Using census data to locate communities of greatest need and data to measure participation trends, the collaborative has witnessed a surge in effectiveness and impact across the states. Families, librarians, and public officials alike express satisfaction and enthusiasm for the initiative and its future.
https://civichall.org/civicist/participation-in-nyc-public-libraries-tech-trainings-soars
Jessica Mckenzie
Civic Hall
3 June 2016
Text / Under 800 Words
New York Public Libraries are closing the digital divide by offering tech trainings, that have already been very successful as indicated by their long waitlists. Attention is now turned towards growing these programs, providing free wifi hotspots, and reaching out to demographics that are not well represented in the tech industry.
https://brightthemag.com/need-food-stamps-ask-a-librarian-1ece1512a932?gi=a23a517c2c96
Kristi Eaton
Bright Magazine
6 July 2017
Text / Under 800 Words
Libraries have expanded their roles to be community centers where people can connect with social services and other local agencies for needs from homelessness to food insecurity to mental illness. Libraries are one of the few places where people receive access to resources at no charge and are meeting this need by hiring social workers and other specialized staff.
https://medium.com/small-towns-big-change/a-community-fix-for-rio-arribas-libraries-c2c6a6d20cc6
Ellen Berkovitch
Small Towns Big Change
7 October 2016
Podcast / 5-15 Minutes
In New Mexico, independent libraries that operate as non-profits provide services—in addition to traditional library services—that are not readily available throughout the state and especially in rural areas. Libraries provide early childhood education and pre-school classes as well as spearheading community projects such as a radio station and mural creation.
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