I maintain a list of all the public library websites in the state of Vermont.

[jessamyn@glammr.us]

I maintain a list of all the public library websites in the state of Vermont. I run a link checker against it maybe once or twice a year to see what's changed. There are ~180 websites. A few trends I noticed on this most recent check.

- fewer libraries using Facebook as their library website
- fewer libraries using part of the town's website as their library website
- more libraries using https

All good trends!

https://vermontlibraries.org/vermonts-public-libraries

#Vermont #Libraries

[wesleymiles@mastodon.social]

👏🏻 that is good news

[scottwilson@infosec.exchange]

@jessamyn This is good stuff! I was wondering, what link checker are you using?

[eldersea@expressional.social]

@jessamyn
When I see a place list their website as Facebook, it's depressing and a bit enraging. It's both inaccessible and awful. Thank you for making this list and noting good trends!

[gdt@mastodon.sdf.org]

@jessamyn
Why is being part of the town's site bad?

[timhare@hachyderm.io]

@jessamyn What link checker do you use?

[jessamyn@glammr.us]

@gdt It's not bad per se but a lot of times the town just sort of shunts them to a single page on the town's site, so there's no way to customize it, to add library content, to have a library calendar which is not mushed in with the town's calendar. For a tiny town, that may make a lot of sense, but in most cases, the specific things a library website is for are better served with them having their own site.

[jessamyn@glammr.us]

@TimHare I use an ancient Firefox plug in called Link Analyzer which mostly Just Works.

https://github.com/damufo/link-analyzer

[jessamyn@glammr.us]

@scottwilson I use this Firefox plug in. Super simple which is all I am looking for.

https://github.com/damufo/link-analyzer

[jessamyn@glammr.us]

@eldersea I agree. It's tough because having a page on FB, if it's all your ten-hours-per-week library can support is maybe better than nothing but it's still not great.

[forestfern@mastodon.social]

@jessamyn Oooh, I like to hear this!

[technicalotter@glammr.us]

@jessamyn @gdt

This surprises me... Here in the UK nearly all the council provided libraries have a subdomain or subset of pages on the council website that is exclusively for them. Often it's just a link to the OPAC for the ILS that has all the info there.

[jessamyn@glammr.us]

@technicalotter @gdt I'm not an expert on UK/US differences but in Vermont, which is fairly rural, there are different ways to fund libraries. Some are a department of the town, some are independently funded (similar, but they make their own budget) and a few are a mix.

Town websites in VT tend to be pretty sparse affairs and sometimes don't allow depts to do their own updating. Some of this depends on the specific relationship. And our library websites often have a lot more than just the ILS.

[jessamyn@glammr.us]

@technicalotter @gdt I can get VERY nerdy about this very quickly, so feel free to ask if you have more questions but I think the big difference here is that the libraries here are all really different from one another so for some, a small link on a larger website might work but for most, being able to have their own identity that is distinct from the town is useful for them.

[technicalotter@glammr.us]

@jessamyn @gdt

Ahh ok. I was aware that some libraries in the US are independent affairs, which may explain things more.

As for the more than the ILS stuff, I think we tend to bundle all that into pages on the ILS because ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (i'm assuming it's all one package these days). This is general trends though (I know Islington has a whole mini-site within their local councils website besides the OPAC).

[technicalotter@glammr.us]

@jessamyn Oh please do!

I'm forever confused by how the state/town/authority structures work out in the US. It seems to vary massively and what gets support from who seems to be super confusing.

I'm assuming a lot of libraries are more akin to a community hub, study space, lending library rather than just a space for books (which is how good public libraries should be imo)

[jessamyn@glammr.us]

@technicalotter Yes! In the US libraries serve as a "third space" a lot. My UK library experience (mostly just in the London area, so prob. not representative) was that the libraries had stuff which was a bit more centralized--ILS, book buying, furniture purchasing--so libraries from one community to the next might be more similar. And if you have a centralized ILS it probably would be a snazzier one that was more website-like. Our ILSes mostly aren't, so what you're saying makes a lot of sense.

[scottwilson@infosec.exchange]

@jessamyn Great, thank you for sharing.

[jessamyn@glammr.us]

@technicalotter And yes, each state funds their libraries differently which is WILD. In Vermont each town funds its own library (this is unusual, I think we're one of maybe 8 states that doesn't have some state funding for libraries) so there is a huge variation in things like hours, materials, programs, websites. Some libraries have cards which are free to non-residents, some don't. In most states, that sort of thing is more centralized so libraries would be a bit more level in big/small towns.

[technicalotter@glammr.us]

@jessamyn Yeah. I think you've hit it mostly on the head there.

We have seen a shift here into the library becoming more of that "third place" (although shows like Last of the Summer Wine indicate it has always been something of a third place).

We've also seen more local authorities banding together because of funding cuts. The most notable is "The Libraries Consortium" (https://thelibrariesconsortium.org.uk/) who are mostly made up of London libraries but a few outsiders like Luton are there too.