Undergraduate Thesis
My undergraduate degree required the completion of a seventy page paper. I chose to write about technology instruction in the public library. I used my experience working in a computer lab in an academic library as well as my experience with a service model overhaul at the public library in Cincinnati as context. In the end, it was about the big picture- the mission, vision, and values of the institution and the sustainably of the idea of public libraries.
Abstract
Technology Instruction in the Public Library: A Reciprocal Relationship for the 21st Century
This project examines technology education in the public library through the lens of a 2007 service model overhaul at the main library of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. The service model plan, understood contextually, raises issues about both the role and scope of the institution. The role and scope continue to fit within the mission, vision and values statement of the library, however, these statements are broad and a tremendous amount of different public services and facilities can ostensibly fall under the umbrella. In order to better understand why the library has gathered so many roles over the years, one must look at the history of the North American public library. In the past 150 years, libraries have moved from relatively simple collecting and borrowing institutions to institutions that offer a wide array of programming and services. Much of that programming is educational and fits within the vision of the first public libraries in North America, which were places for all people to access knowledge. As libraries have picked up technological tools for accessing and collecting information, computers have made their way into a prominent place in the library, and library workers have certainly included digital technology in their educational programming. Many libraries now offer classes to teach the public how to use technology, as well as labs for people to create their own media. This effectively brings the library’s offerings from being a place for patrons to access information to a place where patrons may make their own information resources. These changes act to maintain the place of the library as a central information destination in its community, and its central place in the community serves to keep the institution vibrant and healthy.