Category: Publications News

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Free copies of Lankes book now available to ALA Members, Library Trustees and Friends of Libraries

Thanks to ALA for getting out the word and all of their support:

For Immediate Release
Tue, 02/18/2014

Contact:

Mary Ghikas
Senior Associate Executive Director
ALA
312-280-2518
mghikas@ala.org
CHICAGO — The American Library Association has consciously and vigorously embraced the position that libraries of all types are the locus of community engagement. As the facilitator of the first round of Midwinter Conversations, R. David Lankes, professor at Syracuse iSchool, knows first-hand ALA’s commitment to community engagement and to turning outward.

Through Lankes’ generosity, ALA members and United for Libraries members are being given the opportunity to access for free Lankes’ book “Expect More: Demanding Better Libraries for Today’s Complex World.” Download this book for free or read it through Medium by going to the following webpage: https://davidlankes.org/?page_id=4598. Also included are brief videos explaining specific concepts and providing practical examples.

R. David Lankes is a professor and Dean’s Scholar for the New Librarianship at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies and director of the Information Institute of Syracuse. Lankes is a passionate advocate for libraries and their essential role in today’s society. He also seeks to understand how information approaches and technologies can be used to transform industries. In this capacity he has served on advisory boards and study teams in the fields of libraries, telecommunications, education, and transportation including at the National Academies. He has been a visiting fellow at the National Library of Canada, the Harvard School of Education, and the first fellow of ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy. His book “The Atlas of New Librarianship,” co-published by the Association of College & Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, and MIT Press, won the 2012 ABC-CLIO/Greenwood Award for the Best Book in Library Literature.

For further information, contact Mary W. Ghikas, Senior Associate Executive Director, ALA, 312-280-2518 or mghikas@ala.org.

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Save Big on Expect More

Looking for that last minute gift for your favorite library board member, provost, or principal? Look no further. Expect More: Demanding Better Libraries for Today’s Complex World is now just $12 from Amazon…over a 30% savings for the season.

What are folks saying about the book? From GoodReads:
Fish

“An amazing little book that explicates what libraries should be and what we should all expect from them.”

“The author actually made this an interesting read about the future of libraries and what we should demand for them to be even better.”

“FANTASTIC”

“Library boards need to read it. Superintendents, principals, other administrators, teachers, parents, need to read it. Provosts, deans, faculty, and students need to read it. Community members, mayors, city councils, county decision makers need to read it. Library school faculty need to read it.”

4 out of 5 Stars on Amazon

4.5 out of 5 Stars on LibraryThing

Abstract of the Book:

Libraries have existed for millennia, but today many question their necessity. In an ever more digital and connected world, do we still need places of books in our towns, colleges, or schools? If libraries aren’t about books, what are they about? In Expect More, David Lankes, winner of the 2012 ABC-CLIO/Greenwood Award for the Best Book in Library Literature, walks you through what to expect out of your library. Lankes argues that, to thrive, communities need libraries that go beyond bricks and mortar, and beyond books and literature. We need to expect more out of our libraries. They should be places of learning and advocates for our communities in terms of privacy, intellectual property, and economic development. Expect More is a rallying call to communities to raise the bar, and their expectations, for great libraries.

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Expect More at 1

We’re coming up to the anniversary of my latest book Expect More: Demanding Better Libraries For Today’s Complex World. It is also my first foray into self-publishing. A month or two after it was published I put up some statistics on how the book has been purchased (from where, in what format, etc) for those interested in self-publishing. II’m doing this post as a quick update.

First the breakdown of ebook versus print:

evp

Now the Sales Channels where the ebooks were sold:

ech

Now all the sales channels (ebooks and print combined):

allch

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Expect More at SXSW

photo-41

The Digital Public Library of America announced the availability of LibraryBoxes throughout the SXSW conference (and Austin). Folks can connect wirelessly to these boxes and download books, videos and other digital files. We’ve included my Expect More book for those attending the conference. Thanks to Rachel Frick and Margy Avery for making this happen. Enjoy.

More can be found on their blog post: DPLA, LIBRARYBOX AND SXSWI (http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/dplaalpha/2013/03/09/dpla-librarybox-and-sxswi/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter)

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Ned Quist Reviews Expect More

“Lankes provides a cogent view of the best libraries of today and how they will move into the future. He focuses both on the librarians and their role in their communities (and less on their role as keepers of books or their surrogates) and on libraries as places for learning (and less on their function as book museums). It’s a brief, inspirational and breezy read and a great introduction to his larger work The Atlas of New Librarianship (MIT, 2011)”

– Ned Quist, AUL for Research and Outreach, Brown University Library

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A New Review of Expect More

“Yet another magnificent title from Mr Lankes. He discusses some of the same issues that are raised in the Atlas, but he’s coming from a different viewpoint with this book. It’s an excellent read if you want to know how libraries need to change, develop and evolve into the future. His vision is both fascinating and compelling – my own gripe is that I would be happier if it was at least twice as long! To be fair though, it’s intended as a quick read.

This should be read by anyone with an interest in libraries, librarians and librarianship, who has an open mind and is prepared to consider challenging and exciting concepts.”

– Phil Bradley on GoodReads