10:30 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
As Jamie LeRue of the Douglas County Colorado Libraries commented in a 2013 National Public Radio series, "With a digital platform in place, libraries can not only distribute ebooks: they can publish them." This statement highlights the dynamic shift underway with libraries emerging as content creators and, even more recently, as maker- spaces. The maker movement is rapidly revolutionizing the ways in which libraries around the country interact with and deliver value to their communities. As part of this shift, the Sunnyvale Public Library currently offers 3D printing services as well as a series of adult crafting programs. The idea for the Bay Area Library ePublishers (BALE) project developed as a direct response to these maker programs, seeking to provide this same level of support and artistic space for local writers. Founded by a group of like-minded librarians, BALE's committee of professional writing experts and dedicated librarians read and reviewed dozens of manuscripts received in response to a public call for submissions of short stories and poetry set in the Bay Area. Given this unique approach to redefine the library's role within the publishing world and to redefine how libraries connect with local writers, the program was able to receive a modest grant from the California State Library to further its development. This idea of libraries emerging as publishers and content creators, rather than merely content consumers and distributors, holds broad implications for libraries. Get a blueprint for your own publishing/ebook program and platform.
