The role of public libraries in smart, inclusive, and connected communities: current and best practices

Smart community is a term that has been recently used to characterize efforts to transform communities and make them more sustainable, efficient, transparent, and where citizen participation is the norm. Information technologies are many times seen as enablers of these potential changes. In smart communities, the role of public libraries is key. This poster analyzes current practices in public libraries and identifies the expertise, knowledge, and background that help them contribute to citizen engagement in smart community initiatives. Practices in infrastructure, technology, programming and services, and stakeholder partnerships were classified in three levels: building blocks, good practices and unique practices.