I got an interesting question from a reader that I really wanted to open up to the community on my blog rather than pretending that I’m knowledgeable enough to answer this question by myself:

I have been reading your blog and since you have expertise with wikis I am seeking your advice. I am applying for a study tour grant, the aim being to visit US public library services that are doing Web 2.0 stuff well in service to their patrons. I hope to coincide my visit with the Computers in Libraries conference in 2007.

I am looking for suggestions as to which libraries would be worth visiting. I have Ann Arbor down on my list for blogs, but would appreciate any others you could suggest for wikis or any other specialty which you think would be of use to Australian public libraries.

So what public libraries are doing the most innovative things with “2.0 technologies”? The ones I could immediately think of were the Ann Arbor District Library, the Hennepin County Public Library, the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenberg County, St. Joseph County Public Library (primarily for their wiki subject guide — is any other public library using wikis on the public side?), the Kansas City Public Library, and the Seattle Public Library. However, I know there are a lot of libraries that are doing really exciting things with social software and other technologies and deserve a lot more notice. So which public libraries in the United States do you think are doing the best things with Web 2.0 technologies and why?

If you’d like to include non-U.S. public libraries, please do so, but please note that they are outside of the U.S., because this reader’s grant is specifically for visiting U.S. libraries.