University at Albany

The Role of Public Libraries in Improving Local Open Government Ecosystems, a national forum project developed by the Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany, is focused on producing actionable models and collaborative partnerships between public libraries and local governments. Local open government ecosystems feature relationships of mutual interdependence with community organizations like libraries. These relationships are of growing concern to the library profession as librarians now help the public navigate online government services. The project will assist local governments in seeing ways to utilize partnerships and provide guide posts for developing partnerships with libraries. The forum will include development of a concept paper, use of online tools to solicit input from stakeholders, a face-to-face workshop, and a widely distributed report.