Connecting crowds and funding dreams: crowdfunding initiatives in public libraries

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to give a detailed exposition about crowdfunding as a method that can be adopted by public libraries. The paper highlights several crowdfunding campaigns and illustrates how crowdfunding significantly complements funds received from government exchequer and brings community members closer to encourage contribution around a shared goal. Design/methodology/approach A moderated description of crowdfunding initiatives across continents have been studied with special emphasis on public libraries in India. Findings The paper demonstrates a major portion of social contribution that public libraries make in terms of providing access to resources in economically backward areas, offering information literacy training to marginalized section and upgrading IT facilities, become possible because of funds raised from community contribution. The increasing use of crowdfunding around the world and especially in India is discussed with a focus on its limitations and future prospects. Originality/value For the past few years, it appears from several studies that, public libraries around the world face a huge strain because of budget constraints and changes in government priorities. To mitigate these challenges, a mode of raising funds that is becoming increasingly popular is crowdfunding. The author has tried to give a detailed exposition about crowdfunding with a view to connect crowd as well as generate fund for the public libraries.