First “Library Edition” of Startup Weekend Held in Toronto

Here’s news of a cool event that was held in one of our most favorite cities, Toronto.
The first ever Startup Weekend anywhere in the world focusing on creating, “dynamic solutions to issues facing libraries today” was held at Mozilla’s offices in Toronto last weekend.

First, what is Startup Weekend?

Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures. It is the largest community of passionate entrepreneurs with over 1800 past events in 120 countries around the world in 2014.

Overall, Startup Weekend Toronto (Library Editions) had 11 entries including a  “bookmarking service for erotica” to “gesture-based way-finding technology for use in libraries.”

The Winners

As the event came to a close, the judges [listed below] announced the winning projects.

FIRST PRIZE:
Hub – Hub allows public libraries to include local community resources in their library catalog, alongside traditional library materials like books.  These resources can include non-profit organizations, events and initiatives, even local community experts.  Hub is customizable for individual libraries so content can be tailored to resources specific to their community.
SECOND PRIZE: 
SpaceValet – SpaceValet helps students find study space on campus.  The mobile app allows students to select a library or learning space on campus and determine the availability of student study space.  Students benefit by locating study space more quickly and efficiently while libraries and other academic learning spaces benefit from the analytics around space usage patterns.  A pilot is planned for the University of Waterloo Library.
THIRD PRIZE:
RaisinReaders – Raisin Readers is an app for parents to track reading by their children aged 0-5, to celebrate reading milestones and to better connect parents with their local library.  Find book lists curated by professional librarians by age and interest, book recommendations from other parents, literacy and reading tips, and more.
Hub, will receive an awesome prize pack valued at over $7,000 including: an iPad Air, legal services from Cobalt Business Counsel PC, advisory support from MaRS Discovery District’s education practice, a full MESH conference pass and more.

The Judges

• David Weinberger, Author, Speaker, Co-Director of the Harvard Library Innovation Lab
• Beth Jefferson, CEO, Bibliocommons
• Michelle McBane, Director, MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund
• Chris Eben, Partner, The Working Group
• Candace Faktor, GM, Wattpad

Profiles of Judges and Mentors at the Bottom of This Page
Tweets with #SWOTLIB Hashtag

The Prizes

Hub, will receive an awesome prize pack valued at over $7,000 including: an iPad Air, legal services from Cobalt Business Counsel PC, advisory support from MaRS Discovery District’s education practice, a full MESH conference pass and more.

Thanks to Helen Kula and Dysart/Jones For Their Assistance With This Post

Filed under: Associations and Organizations, Libraries, News, Profiles, Public Libraries