2026 Public Library Technology Survey and more...

We have been asked to make New Hampshire public libraries aware that the 2026 Public Library Technology Survey administered by the Public Library Association (PLA) is now open and to share the following:

“This year’s survey explores current and emerging trends in public library technology capacity, building on the findings from the 2020 and the 2023 surveys. Questions on the 2026 survey cover resources for patrons, technology infrastructure, digital literacy assistance and programming, and technology staff and budget; with a special section on Artificial Intelligence. Your participation will allow PLA to share nationally representative data with the field, policymakers, funders, and the media showing the scope of valuable services libraries provide to their communities.

All public libraries are invited to participate in PLA’s annual surveys. Log into your library’s free Benchmark account to complete the survey. One person should submit the survey on behalf of their library – often that’s the library director, administrator, or data coordinator. [A reference copy of the survey is available for preview.] Libraries that complete this year’s survey will be entered into a drawing to win group registration for a live or on-demand, fee-based PLA webinar.

The survey closes December 15, 2026. Take a few minutes to contribute to the national conversation about public libraries as key partners in the work of bridging the digital divide and advancing digital equity in their communities. All inquiries and assistance required to access your library’s Benchmark account should be directed to the project team at plabenchmark@ala.org.

Survey results will be released next summer via summary report, conference presentations, and online webinar. Each year’s survey report spotlights specific results, providing resources and illustrating how and why the data collected from these national surveys can be applied to and benefit your library. More information is available via the survey launch press release or from the PLA Surveys and Data page.”

   

In the past week we've seen notes icons in the NHAIS ILL System disappear and reappear. This behavior has been observed mostly in the Will Supply/In Process status list but may occur elsewhere, too. It's been reported to Auto-Graphics, which is looking into it.

In one case, a library reported getting an error message after clicking on Acknowledge Notes for a request in Shipped status. Being unable to see the note, Undo Shipped was used to change the status back to Pending, which made the note accessible again. 

   

Yesterday I discovered an error on the Services tab of the 2025 Complete Library Statistics Excel document posted to the NHSL website. Somehow, I managed to leave out an entire column of data when calculating the Grand Total – All Program Attendance (found in column AS of the Services tab). The result was that everyone’s program attendee numbers were falling short. ☹

I’ve fixed this error and the corrected file has been uploaded to the NHSL site, replacing the incorrect version. It’s available on the Library Statistics page (https://www.nhsl.dncr.nh.gov/librarians-library-staff/library-statistics). If you’ve saved a local copy of the original file for yourself, please download this updated version and use it instead.

I deeply apologize for any inconvenience or confusion the data omission may have caused. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

   

The NHAIS ILL System will be offline briefly starting at 10 o'clock tonight (Tuesday, Oct. 13) to update software. Auto-Graphics reports this enhancement: 

"We are continuing to work on improving how quickly staff pages load ILL requests. This release includes speed improvements to the Request Manager status lists and to Search by Request Number, which should be most noticeable for libraries with a large number of requests. There is no change to how these pages look or work."

   

Today is Monday, October 12, and the Lakes Region (LR) van route has been cancelled. 

Libraries on this route:

Tilton
Franklin
Bristol
Meredith
Moultonborough
Wolfeboro
Gilford
Laconia
Belmont
Concord Public


[Also] today’s Capital ILL route has been cancelled due to illness.  

Libraries affected:

Boscawen
Canterbury
Loudon
Chichester
Epsom
Pembroke
Allenstown
Hooksett
Bow
Dunbarton
NHTI

Thank you,
Jennifer M. Finch (she/her)
Supervisor, Reference & Information Services and State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library