Best Technologies for Public Libraries: Policies, Programs, and Services

Emerging technologies can intimidate with their cost and uncertainty—this book provides flexible options for adopting the most popular ones.

Introducing new technologies to your library can be a daunting process; they can be costly, they may be unfamiliar to many staff members, and their success is far from assured. To address these concerns, Best Technologies for Public Libraries accommodates budgets large and small, providing options for both the ambitious and the cost-conscious.

Authors Christopher DeCristofaro, James Hutter, and Nick Tanzi provide a resource for staff looking to incorporate a number of emerging technologies into their library and makerspaces. Each chapter explores a new technology, including 3D printing, drones, augmented reality, and virtual reality, covering how it works, the selection process, training, sample programming, best practices, and relevant policy. By describing a variety of program and service ideas across age groups, the book gives readers the ability to first evaluate them within the context of their own organization before incorporating ideas à la carte. This approach helps readers to adopt these new technologies and create policies with uses already in mind.

• Learn the basics of how emerging technologies, including 3D printing, augmented reality, virtual reality, and drones work
• Read recommendations for how these emerging technologies can be used to develop library programs and services
• Build a framework for developing policy pursuant to these emerging technologies
• Understand best practices in adopting the aforementioned emerging technologies