Jennifer Nelson's blog

The Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County (PLCMC) in North Carolina has so many innovative programs and initiatives that I could probably write a book about it. I'll spare you that, however, and just discuss the coolest thing that I learned about from my talk with Kelly Czarnecki at PLCMC.

Have you ever wondered how your library compares to other local libraries? Looking for ideas about design, layout and architecture? Do you want more information about PC reservation software? Just needed a little bit of library inspiration?

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to talk with Cara Sawyer from the Cherryfield Free Public Library, a small independent library in Maine. Cara informed me that she recently decided to replace their little-used web site with a MySpace page, and she enlisted the teens that use the library’s two public access computers to help her set it up and maintain it.

Jim Haprian, Technology Services Manager from the Medina County District Library in Ohio had some words of wisdom in his interview with Chris Peters about purchasing servers as well as public access computers. Jim’s attitude towards purchasing new computers is,

Last week I interviewed Lisa Prolman, assistant director at the Greenfield Public Library in western Massachusetts. Lisa provided an amazing amount of information on a huge range of subjects. A tech-savvy librarian who is mostly self-taught, Lisa shared, “I have the unfortunate combination of being curious and fearless. My general feeling is click first, see what happens later.”