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Small Town vs. Big City: A Comparative Study on the Role of Public Libraries in the Development of Smart Communities

Smart city initiatives aim to facilitate sustainable urbanization, promote economic development, and improve quality of life. Due to their socio-technical complexity, some reseachers argued for an integrative view in which multiple dismensions should be considered. In addition, researchers showed that the unique context of each city/community matters for the implementation of smart city initiatives. One important aspect of this context is the collaborations with diverse community partners such as public libraries. However, previous literature on the contribution of these partners to smart commnities often only presents conceptual models and lacks empirical data. This paper provides a comparative study on the smart city/community development in Ignacio, Colorado and Chicago, Illinois with a focus on the role of public libraries on the development of specific dimensions of smartness: (1) technology deployment, (2) innovation, (3) citizen participation, and (4) community stakeholder engagement. We also argue that context is very important when discussing the role of public libraries in building smart cities/communities.