'ALL ACCESS' ADVANCES LIBRARIES' ADULT ED, JOBS ROLE

 EDITH LAURENT, at right, is among more than 300 Rhode Islanders who have taken advantage of a two-year program to advance how libraries provide job preparedness and adult education services.  ALL Access in the Libraries began as a team effort by the Providence Public Library and the Cranston Public Library. Among the innovations: "Learning Lounges," where people like Laurent, a certified nursing assistant and Community College of Rhode Island student, can get help with classes, learn computer basics and apply for jobs. Click to read the story by Brian C. Jones.

Presidential Libraries
JFK's LIBRARY RECALLS A FLEETING, GLAMOROUS ERA

THE SPECTACULAR structure overlooking Boston Harbor,  opened  16 years after John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963, honors the life and career of the youngest elected commander-in-chief. Linda Lotridge Levin continues her series about presidential libraries and notes key topics omitted from the exhibits. Click to read the full story - and catch up on previous installments.
A CROSS-COUNTRY RACE TO WITNESS HISTORY
Among Rhode Island's most distinguished journalists, Linda Lotridge Levin covered the Kennedy-Nixon election countdown on election night as a student reporter in 1960. Click to read her account of one of the country's closest presidential elections.

TIVERTON OPENS "CROWN JEWEL" OF R.I. LIBRARIES

    TIVERTON - June 13, 2015 - Capping a long and sometimes perilous campaign, officials dedicated a new, $10.6-million Tiverton Public Library today as the Greater Tiverton Community Chorus sang Take Care of This House and speakers told an enthusiastic crowd of 200 that generations of library patrons will benefit. The building was described by Karen Mellor, chief of state library services, as not only the Ocean State's newest library, but "the crown jewel in the network of libraries across the state of Rhode Island."  Read the story by Brian C. Jones at our News Blog.

RHODE ISLAND libraries navigate the shoals of the Digital Age

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The state's 48 library systems are meeting new challenges as the Digital Revolution changes the culture of reading and access to information. Demand for educational, skills training and other programs is growing, with participation up 16 percent over five years. E-book lending is up, too. But a Library Report analysis finds that cardholders, visitors and circulation have dropped. More at our News Blog.

The Library Report
Keeping Library Doors Open and the (Digital) Presses Running

    The Library Report was begun in 2012, as an effort by former reporters and editors of The Providence Journal to create a new journalism presence with a dual goal of highlighting the challenges facing Rhode Island’s libraries and responding to the changing face of American journalism,  with the decline of newspapers and the emergence of the powerful new tools of the Internet. Read more at our "About" page.
 CORRECTIONS
The Library Report strives for accuracy.  We make corrections as we discover errors or hear about them from our readers. Please get in touch at our Contact Us page.