It’s a tough time to be a public library. With local governments cutting back on hours or shuttering branches, many librarians from across the country will still be making the trek to Anaheim, Calif., this weekend for the American Library Association’s annual conference, where, amid festive appearances by big-name authors like John Irving and George R.R. Martin, attendees will be sitting in on strategy sessions such as ”Keep the Fight Going: Libraries Fight Back” and “Shift Happens: Leading an Evolution.” Feeling squeezed by shrinking budgets and greater demand for their services, feisty librarians are coming up with clever solutions like the tiny outpost the Clinton Community Library in upstate New York opened not too long ago using an old phone booth and a solar panel. Here are five other ways libraries are doing more with less.
