Library Stuff

“The Montana State Library and Mineral County Public Library are pleased to announce the release of a series of three videos that highlight the impact libraries have on the lives of Montanans.  The videos feature Montana library users and Montana librarians from around the state. The videos were filmed at the Bitterroot Public Library in Hamilton; the Hearst Free Library in Anaconda; the Lewis & Clark Library in Helena; the North Lake County Public Library in Polson; the Sidney-Richland County Library in Sidney; and the Web on Wheels (W.O.W.) Bus, which is a branch of the Missoula Public Library.”

via vp-mi

Billings Gazette – “Library usage was already high in Bozeman, but it really took off after a new public library opened there in 2006. In 2005, just under 46 percent of the library’s service population of 47,805 people held library cards. That rose to 47 percent in 2006, shot up to almost 54 percent in 2007 and stood at 60 percent last year. In Billings, by contrast, only 39 percent of the Parmly Billings Library’s service population of over 123,000 held library cards in 2010, according to the Montana State Library.”

Internet Archive Blog – “The Montana State Library (MSL) has just completed moving 3,070 born-digital state publications from OCLC’s CONTENTdm to the Internet Archive. This is a key piece of the Montana State Library’s institutional repository for state publications now hosted by the Internet Archive (IA). “

AP – “Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Thursday that his “blood pressure went up” when he learned of the library’s plans, which call for phasing out “services associated with the library as public space.”

Well, it looks like the Montana State Library is not “closing”. See also.

AP – “The Montana State Library plans to close its doors at the start of the year and will instead be offering its resources over the Internet”