Library Futures & Albany Public Library Discovery Insights

Initial Findings

The goal of this engagement is to pilot an intervention aimed at providing more equitable access to local news for Albany residents and library patrons in collaboration with the Albany Public Library (APL). In order to ensure that the proposed intervention is responsive to the needs and interests of those it intends to serve, we began by conducting some initial research and listening with APL staff, librarians, patrons, and Albany residents.

Key Findings

By and large, respondents claimed they could find local news that was interesting and important to them, though many also had ideas about what they would like to see improved. Nearly 80% of respondents said they were able to find local news that was interesting and important to them, though many followed this with comments that indicated they desired changes or improvements to coverage, quality, or access.
The Times Union (TU) is both the most used and most desired source of local news for APL patrons. 80% of respondents said they use Times Union, while 65% of people who did not use Times Union indicated that they had a desire but not access. After Times Union, respondents tended to go to either WAMC or television channels for their news.
It is clear from the number of requests for access by respondents that patrons are either unaware that APL provides access to TU or find the ways in which access is provided to be unsatisfactory. Access to news in a variety of formats, including print and digital is important for meeting patron needs. Patrons and residents are most often accessing news via their smartphones, with laptop/desktop computers, TV, radio, and print close behind in terms of frequency. Patrons rarely accessed news via tablet. The topics people are most interested in for local news coverage include: politics, news, events, weather and crime.
The majority of respondents recognized all of the local news sources except El Diario and those that used sources overwhelmingly chose to access Times Union and the New York Times. The sources that respondents were most interested in but could not access were NYT (70%) Times Union (65%) and Albany Business Review (60%).
Subscriptions were the most cited need/desire to improve access, followed by requests for curation/aggregation, improved UX/UI and more and better coverage. Several people identified gaps in coverage that were not being filled by any source, especially local events roundups and topics previously covered by independent weekly papers.
About half of people reported no change in their news consumption during the COVID- pandemic while 39% reported an increase. Only 5.5% reported a decrease. Both research and APL librarians indicate that there is a role for the library to act as a resource/curator of local news for patrons.

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