Sur son blog, le très prolifique Stephen Abram, le Vice-président pour l'innovation de la société Sirsi-Dynix nous propose un article sur le sujet des valeurs dont sont porteuses les bibliothèques. Cet article a été rédigé pour la revue professionnelle "Arkansas libraries" et s'intitule : The Value of Our Libraries: Impact, Recognition and Influencing Funders [pdf]. En voici la conclusion :

These are challenging times for libraries. We need to communicate our value strongly and in many ways. The studies and opportunities outlined above are fabulous initiatives. We must take our basic statistics and turn them into measurements and then we must share our measurements. Raw statistics are just representations of effort – something bureaucrats view with cost-cutting eyes. Well chosen measurements can demonstrate the amazing value and impact of libraries to their communities, host organizations and funders. All players – vendors, publishers, library workers, institutions, and communities - in the information space have a vested interest to ensure that we communicate this impact and value well. Finally, we must enliven these measurements with the real life experiences of our users. We must share our stories and provide forums for our users to share their stories. It’s these stories that provide the narrative to strongly engage our communities to invest in their own success.

Libraries play an essential, non-partisan role in providing the information that allows citizens to make informed decisions. Libraries make a difference. Libraries transform lives. Let’s never forget that. Let’s speak up.