The local public library is an institution that often epitomizes community -- but with the rise of the internet, e-books and computer/mobile technology, the role of libraries is radically changing. The winners of the latest Knight News Challenge, which focused on libraries, are pioneering efforts to create more knowledgable and engaged communities.

According to Knight's Jan. 30 announcement, several themes emerged among the 22 News Challenge-Libraries winners: digital rights and privacy, history and digital preservation, the maker movement, open data and more.

Of the $3 million total prize money awarded, eight winning projects will receive between $130,000 and $600,000 each. Additionally, 14 prototype projects will receive $35,000 each to help turn their early-stage ideas into actual demos.

Here are three examples of community challenges some News Challenge winners are hoping to leverage the public library to solve:

1. Online-only learning can feel impersonal and lonely. Peer to Peer University is partnering with the Chicago Public Library to organize in-person study groups at local library branches to supplement free online education. In prior similar efforts, P2PU has demonstrated that this blended approach enhances engagement with the course material, helps students think creatively and feel empowered, and enhances personal and psychological comfort so they can relax and learn more.

How might this help any community?Access to flexible, affordable education options is a problem in many communities, inhibiting both personal advancement and overall community economic and cultural development. This is especially true for low-income and immigrant communities. This blended learning approach might make online learning more appealing and less intimidating, -- especially to people with lower educational attainment or literacy, immigrant communities, and seniors. Educational engagement also might springboard interest and engagement in other types of community engagement.

2. How can librarians help people understand digital privacy? In Boston, the Library Freedom Project will bring anti-surveillance workshops to libraries across the country and "create an online resource for librarians ready to fight for free speech and privacy." This "train the trainers" project will equip local librarians with knowledge and skills about privacy rights, law, and tech tools for online privacy -- so that they can help community members become more empowered to protect their own online privacy.

How might this help any community?With almost-daily news of data breaches at major companies that community members frequently engage with (retailers, banks, insurance providers and more) many people feel wary, overwhelmed and helpless when it comes to digital privacy. This fear can prevent people from using the internet effectively, or at all. Digital engagement is an increasingly crucial part of civic and community engagement. Therefore, teaching community members to protect themselves online can help them feel secure enough to use the internet in their own interest -- and in the interest of their community.

3. How can library branches make the best use of their space? While many libraries are facing challenges for funding and staffing, one resource they often possess is space -- especially since book stacks keep shrinking as libraries and patrons increasingly rely on electronic resources. The Measure the Future project will develop monitoring toolsets, based on open sensor technology (like Arduino and Raspberry Pi), that will help librarians understand how patrons are using space. This will support data-driven decisions, and reveal new opportunities, about what can happen in a public library.

How might this help any community?Identifying opportunities to reconfigure or consolidate spaces can free libraries up for new functions -- such as a maker space, community rooms, cafes, theaters and galleries, or areas where people can converse quietly. This can help libraries become more of a gathering place where people interact and learn together. It can enhance their sense of connection to their community, and turn the library into more of a fun destination (rather than a dry, silent, somewhat lonely refuge for research or homework). Plus, better data about how many people visit the library, and when, supports more optimal schedules as well as funding for libraries -- something currently done with far more costly and less flexible gate-counter technology.

The 14 $35,000 prototype grants awarded in this News Challenge are very similar to projects that have received grants through the Knight Prototype Fund -- which yesterday announced 10 new winners. (Deadline to apply for the next round of Knight Prototype fund grants is Feb. 16: Apply now.)

Examples of winning News Challenge-Libraries prototypes include:

• Coworking.The Miami-Dade public library will pilot a coworking space -- capitalizing on a growing trend that can jump-start small businesses and independent careers, increasing local career opportunities.
• Ambient awareness of local history. The location-aware mobile app This Place Matters will help people in central Appalachia discover local African American and connect to relevant library resources.
• Preserving the news. Before the internet, microfilm archives of local newspapers were once a popular resource at public libraries. Now, most local news content is published online -- but it's ineffectively or incompletely archived, and thus vulnerable to disappearing. The Reynolds Journalism Institute will prototype a Journalism Digital News Archive -- a "replicable model for preserving and establishing sustainable access of born-digital news content."