Tech for All

Lauren Comito has been working to level the playing field for New York City library users for over a decade. Currently the Neighborhood Library Supervisor at the Mill Basin Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, in her previous work as the Job & Business Academy Manager at Queens Library she developed a team that has helped hundreds of people find employment opportunities. She created the Where in Queens mobile website as a development on the ideas put forth by ZenDesk and LinkSF, with whom she laid the groundwork for a partnership while she was presenting at SXSW Interactive. Lauren has logged hundreds of hours training people how to use technology to improve their lives and job opportunities. Lauren is also very invested in the Library ecosystem serving in numerous capacities in ALA (Council, Committee on Library Advocacy) and in the New York Library Association (President Leadership & Management Section, Chair of the Communication Committee). She is the Chair of the Board of Urban Librarians Unite as well as being a founding member of the org. She started ULU’s Urban Librarians Conference and has organized this highly regarded conference for four years with speakers and attendees from across the country. Lauren Comito was awarded a Library Journal Mover & Shaker award for her work with tech training and job readiness. Her workgroup received the 2015 Gale Cengage Award for Excellence in Reference & Adult Library Services for the Where in Queens project. She is regularly asked to speak at regional and national conferences on topics of tech, tech training, women in leadership, cross generational management, and library advocacy.

• ForewordPreface AcknowledgmentsPart 1: Identifying the problem Introduction - Digital Equity in LibrariesLauren ComitoChapter 1: Fund All the Things: Finding Money to Do Great WorkErica FreudenbergerPart 2: Physical AccessChapter 2: Technology on the Border: Bringing STEAM-Based Learning and Digital Technologies to Southern Arizona Emily Scherer Chapter 3: Linux Laptops for LibrariesAlex LentChapter 4: Shifting Focus Toward Imminent Needs: The Importance of Flexibility in Digital Literacy Training to Teens Within the Maker Movement Ricci YuhicoPart 3: TrainingChapter 5: Cracking the Code: The IMLS/Mozilla Web Literacy for Library Staff ProjectDavis Erin AndersonChapter 6: You Can Do I.T.: Raising Tech Confidence and Competencies in Rural TexasCarson Block, Cindy Fisher, and Henry StokesChapter 7: Experiment, Learn, Respond at the Salt Lake City Public Library: The First Year of the Tech League InitiativeTommy Hamby, Shauna Edson, and Elaine StehelPart 4: MakerspacesChapter 8: The Best Things Made in a Makerspace, Aren’t the Physical OnesSteve TeeriChapter 9: Library Makerspaces and Interest-Based Learning as Tools for Digital EquityLyndsey RunyanChapter 10: Improving Education with Library STEM Programs and Access to New TechnologiesMaria MucinoPart 5: Technology for Employment and BusinessChapter 11: Evolution of Community Services in Saint PaulRebecca Ryan and Pang YangChapter 12: Creative Opportunity for All: Makerspaces for Youth and Adult Workforce Populations in an Urban Setting Amanda Feist, Katrina Hartz Taylor, and Xenia HernándezChapter 13: Learning from Our Community – Using an Assessment Tool to Meet Patrons at the Point of NeedAmy Honisett, Gloria Jacobs, Judy Anderson, Jill Castek, Cindy Gibbon, and Matthew TimberlakeAbout the Editor and ContributorsIndex

Even if your shelves are already stuffed with professional development titles, you should find space for this one. It's not another shopping list for your first makerspace or the same summary of computer basics you've already seen. Instead, Tech for All provides innovative ideas on topics like IT-centered training for library staff and methods to measure patron interest in potential tech offerings. It also includes sound advice on grant-seeking to fund it all. Clearly-written and exceptionally practical, the book also separates itself from the pack by addressing a variety of communities and demographics. The ideas here can be applied at libraries of all kinds, not just major metropolitan systems, and it doesn't neglect populations who are often overlooked when we talk about the digital divide. As solid a book on this topic as you're likely to find. — Craig Lefteroff