The Chicago Public Library is becoming less the hushed repository of static media and more like a coworking space for customers under commissioner Brian Bannon, who took the helm in March 2012 amid layoffs and budget cuts. Since then, he has installed popular office-productivity software for patron computers and expanded computer training classes, and he’s working on a three-year workforce-readiness plan.
“I’m dubbed ‘the technology guy,’” Bannon told the Chicago Tribune, “but I’m really ‘the librarian guy.’” Technology is the means to an end, he believes — not an end in itself. “We can leverage technology to create a great experience for readers. We as a field are not embracing that responsibility.”
When he opened the Maker Lab as an experiment in the Harold Washington Library Center with equipment such as 3D printers, laser and vinyl cutters and a milling machine, the lab earned a Chicago Innovation Award for social innovation.
In January, Bannon spoke to Blue Sky about Internet To Go, a Knight Foundation News Challenge-funded program that will lend WiFi hotspots to anyone with a library card, an important step especially for low-income neighborhoods.
“[People] need to do homework, to do applications for jobs, apply for benefits … but many people don’t have access,” he said.
Previously, Bannon held positions as chief information officer and chief of branches at the San Francisco Public Library. He also worked for the Seattle Public Library and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is a board member and trustee for the Drew Independent High School.
Bannon graduated from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash., with a major in psychology and gay and lesbian studies. He holds a master’s in library and information science from the University of Washington.
Find him on social: @bbannon Brian Bannon Brian Bannon
Age: 44 •Website: chipublib.org
More on Brian Bannon
Toys at Chicago Public Library teach building blocks of code — without a computer – Aug. 3, 2017
Chicago Public Library works up new innovations with staff, patrons – Jan. 28, 2015
Chicago Public Library gives an ear to 6 companies on ISTC Demo Day – April 23, 2015
Brian Bannon on the Chicago Public Library’s digital vision – Feb. 4, 2015
Chicago Public Library announces 3 locations for WiFi lending program – Jan. 28, 2015
Big ideas for 2015: Chicago Public Library to lend out WiFi, decrease digital divide – Jan. 1, 2015
Chicago Public Library wins $400,000 for Wi-Fi access program – June 23, 2014
Chicago Public Library awarded national medal for innovation – April 24, 2014
He explains why it’s worth your time to check out what’s new at the library – Jan. 21, 2014
New leaf: Brian Bannon takes over as Chicago Public Library reader-in-chief – May 8, 2012
Search more on Brian Bannon in Blue Sky
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Brian Bannon explains “create,” one of the focus of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Reader’s Summer Learning Challenge at the Harold Washington Library.
(Junru Huang / Chicago Tribune / 2013)
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Librarian in special collection Glenn Humphreys, left, Brian Bannon and Harlean Hoffman Vision share a laugh as she returns a 1911 limited edition copy of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde. The book, borrowed by her mother, was due back in 1934 to the Harold Washington Library.
(Heather Charles / Chicago Tribune / 2012)