New Report From Ithaka S+R: Exploring Basic Needs: Support Across Public and Community College Libraries

From a Ithaka S+R Blog Post by Sindy Lopez, Sage Love, and Melissa Blankstein:

We are excited to announce the publication of a new report for the Maximizing Public-Academic Library Partnerships project, funded by ECMC Foundation. The project explores how community college and public libraries facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration to create and sustain productive partnerships that promote basic needs services and information.

The first phase of the project focused on examining the landscape of basic need services advertised on library websites. The inventory analysis of websites surveyed eight basic needs categories: Technology, Food Security, Housing Security, Physical Health, Mental Health, Financial Literacy and Assistance, Transportation, and Child Services and Care. There are several key takeaways from our inventory of public and community college websites:

• The most advertised resources across both types of libraries were technology (86 percent), financial literacy and assistance (61 percent), and children’s services (56 percent).
• Public libraries act as community hubs that offer a comprehensive suite of services across all basic needs, while community college libraries focus on services that support academic success and students’ well-being.
• Libraries that have greater financial and human resources promote and communicate basic needs information and services to patrons more than less-resourced libraries.
• While formal collaborations are less common on library websites, the most typical public-academic library partnerships involve shared collections. These collaborations allow students and community patrons to access resources through library cards and direct links to online collections.

Direct to Complete Blog Post

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Filed under: Academic Libraries, Libraries, News, Patrons and Users, Public Libraries