Top Innovators
Congratulations to the Palm Beach County Library System and the Jacksonville Public Library for being named Top Innovators this year by the Urban Libraries Council.
Embedded librarians
Palm Beach won in the Civic and Community Engagement category.
The library embedded staff members (PDF) with research expertise in eight county departments.
In the first month, they logged 70 hours of research supporting the information needs of assistant county administrators and provided resources for lawmakers on proposed legislation.
Interactive training
Jacksonville earned Top Innovator in the Customer Experience category. 
They successfully revamped their training program, which promotes their Transparent Language Online database.
They replaced instructional classes on using the database with three interactive sessions focused on conversational language, travel tips, local cuisine and currency conversion.
This strategy increased database use from a monthly average of 250 to 600 patrons.
