[Asis-l] Simmons SLIS Discusses the Future of American Public Libraries

[Alisa Libby]

Simmons SLIS thanks Dr. Wayne Wiegand, the SLIS 2016 Allen Smith Visiting
Scholar, for bringing the future of the American Public Library to SLIS.
Wiegand presented “Thinking Differently About Libraries: Part of Our Lives
as a Test Case,” which included research for his book, *Part of Our Lives:
A People's History of the American Public Library* to show major functions
of public libraries that have been overlooked and undervalued, for
centuries, for their contributions to the daily lives of public library
users. In addition to informal discussions with SLIS students, Wiegand
participated in a panel discussion, “Reading/Place/Makerspace: The Future
of the American Public Library” with Amy Ryan, Chair of the Digital Public
Library of America and former director of the Boston Public Library, and
Jeffrey Schnapp, Director of metaLAB at Harvard and author of *The Library
Beyond the Book*. In a conversation moderated by SLIS professor Melanie
Kimball, the three panelists discussed the present and future role of
American public libraries as physical space, information repository and
beloved-yet-threatened community institution.

Wiegand visited SLIS from February 22-25, 2016, as part of the Allen Smith
Visiting Scholars Program, established in 2009 by Allen Smith’s family to
honor the memory of this illustrious teacher and scholar. Allen Smith
Visiting Scholars are distinguished practitioners, educators, or
researchers renowned for their work in reference, oral history, or the
study of librarianship and information service in the humanities.

An interview with Dr. Wiegand will be posted to the SLIS News
<http://www.simmons.edu/news/school-of-library-and-information-science>
page within the coming weeks. In the meantime, check out the conversation
on Twitter via Storify
<https://storify.com/simmonsslis/reading-place-makerspace-the-future-of-the-america>
.

-- 
*Follow SLIS on tumblr <http://simmonsslis.tumblr.com/> and twitter
<https://twitter.com/simmonsslis>!*

Alisa M. Libby
Communications Assistant
Simmons College, SLIS
300 The Fenway
Boston, MA 02115
t 617-521-2816
f 617-521-3192

Author, *The King's Rose* and *The Blood Confession*
Buy the Kindle edition of *The Blood Confession*
<http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Confession-Alisa-Libby-ebook/dp/B00DTS7ULW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1431024534&sr=8-1&keywords=blood+confession>
!
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