Despite dire predictions in the late twentieth century that public libraries would not survive the turn of the millennium, their numbers have only increased. Two of three Americans frequent a public library at least once a year, and nearly that many are registered borrowers. Although library authorities have argued that the public library functions primarily as a civic institution necessary for maintaining democracy, generations of library patrons tell a different story. In Part of Our Lives, Wayne A. Wiegand delves into the heart of why Americans love their libraries. The book traces the history of the public library, featuring records and testimonies from as early as 1850. Rather than analyzing the words of library founders and managers, Wiegand listens to the voices of everyday patrons who cherished libraries. Drawing on newspaper articles, memoirs, and biographies, Part of Our Lives paints a clear and engaging picture of Americans who value libraries not only as civic institutions, but also as social spaces for promoting and maintaining community. Whether as a public space, a place for accessing information, or a home for reading material that helps patrons make sense of the world around them, the public library has a rich history of meaning for millions of Americans. From colonial times through the recent technological revolution, libraries have continuously adapted to better serve the needs of their communities. Wiegand goes on to demonstrate that, although cultural authorities (including some librarians) have often disparaged reading books considered not "serious" the commonplace reading materials users obtained from public libraries have had a transformative effect for many, including people like Ronald Reagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Oprah Winfrey. A bold challenge to conventional thinking about the American public library, Part of Our Lives is an insightful look into one of America's most beloved cultural institutions.

In an economic climate where cuts are becoming the norm, a boutique library service may seem a contradiction. In some academic libraries the trend is still towards centralisation programmes or offering generic services. However, the student as the customer now has an even greater vested interest in the learning process as their financial commitment increases and they are demanding better services. Personalised library services are tailored with a specific clientele in mind and will provide the enhanced service demanded by today's students. These services need not cost more money; but they do require inventive and customer-facing staff. They celebrate and promote collaborative ventures along with excellent communication and marketing. This book unpacks the boutique model and is full of practical advice, supported by a unique set of case studies reflecting international practice including Australian, American and Russian and UK library services.

Libraries in the United States and Canada are facing similar challenges to their futures. Editors Susan Cleyle and Louise McGillis have pulled together an impressive list of contributors to look at the future of the profession and answer the question: is it time to turn off the lights and call it a day? Essays challenge the reader on five different topics: the Web, library as place, pushing to the desktop, certification, and the future of associations. Contributors were asked to think outside the box and take readers to places they may not have been before thus providing both LIS students and practicing librarians with innovative ways to position themselves to serve a future society that is information hungry.

The late twentieth-century brought significant changes in the way music is marketed, consumed, taught, and studied. These changes have had a natural effect on the ways that libraries serve their music-loving populations. This resource examines the profession as it responds to these changes, without losing sight of the human element within it in a collection of essays that provide a practical introduction to the profession of music librarianship, and a survey of current professional philosophies and practices. Topics include: preparing for the field, mid-career options, professional organizations that support the work of music librarians, the music librarian of the future, and thoughts on the value of the work that music librarians do. Music librarians informally describe their day-to-day activities, from maintaining the musical scores for large performing organizations to creating public programs. Speaking with enthusiasm for their chosen profession, these librarians represent a group of professionals that enjoy a special relationship with the materials they work with and the people they serve. A necessary resource for aspiring music librarians, as well as established music librarians looking for a dose of inspiration and current information on the state of their profession.

The changing higher education environment requires a new kind of relationship among faculty, academic liaison librarians, and students. A core resource for any LIS student or academic librarian serving as a liaison, this handbook lays out the comprehensive fundamentals of the discipline, helping librarians build the confidence and cooperation of the university faculty in relation to the library. Readers will learn about connecting and assisting faculty and students through skilful communication and resource utilization with coverage of key topics such as; orientation meetings, acquiring subject specialization, advice on faculty communication and assistance, online tutorial creation, collection development, information literacy instruction, embedded librarianship, library guides, new courses and accreditation, and evaluation methods. Written in a straightforward way that lends itself to easy application, Fundamentals for the Academic Liaison provides ready guidance for current and future academic liaison librarians.

Designed for courses that prepare LIS students for school librarianship, this title teaches basic reference processes, sources, services, and skills and provides authentic school library reference scenarios and exercises. This fourth edition of Reference Skills for the School Librarian: Tools and Tips acknowledges the vital importance of reference skills in school libraries. It focuses on new reference skills for school librarians and includes more online materials such as Webliographies and a glossary. Teaching reference skills and providing reference services to students and staff in schools are extremely important tasks and are required of librarians on a regular basis. Aimed at pre-service and in-service school librarians, this book covers all types of reference materials including almanacs, dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, and other standard information sources, giving extra emphasis to the online sources to which students increasingly turn. This edition addresses more online reference resources than previous editions and offers practical suggestions for use in K-12 student instruction. Includes updated content in every chapter Expands on online reference skills and resources Explains how to combine online reference skills with student questioning skills Offers librarians the chance to practice their skills with scenarios and exercises

An incisive history of the controversial Google Books project and the ongoing quest for a universal digital library Libraries have long talked about providing comprehensive access to information for everyone. But when Google announced in 2004 that it planned to digitize books to make the world's knowledge accessible to all, questions were raised about the roles and responsibilities of libraries, the rights of authors and publishers, and whether a powerful corporation should be the conveyor of such a fundamental public good. Along Came Google traces the history of Google's book digitization project and its implications for us today. Deanna Marcum and Roger Schonfeld draw on in-depth interviews with those who both embraced and resisted Google's plans, from librarians and technologists to university leaders, tech executives, and the heads of leading publishing houses. They look at earlier digital initiatives to provide open access to knowledge, and describe how Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page made the case for a universal digital library and drew on their company's considerable financial resources to make it a reality. Marcum and Schonfeld examine how librarians and scholars organized a legal response to Google, and reveal the missed opportunities when a settlement with the tech giant failed. Along Came Google sheds light on the transformational effects of the Google Books project on scholarship and discusses how we can continue to think imaginatively and collaboratively about expanding the digital availability of knowledge.

As adult instruction becomes a more common part of library practice, librarians need guidance in an area that may not always have been a part of their library science education. This book provides the instruction necessary to instruct adult patrons. Presenting complex concepts and ideas in an easy-to-understand format, this book applies learning theory to real-life situations and provides a much-needed resource for those responsible for or seeking to instruct adults in library settings. The book introduces learning principles and techniques that will enhance your classes, programs, and one-on-one interactions as well as increase the memory retention of participants. It will help you not only to promote learning but also to create positive library interactions and build retention. Current library instructional and theoretical texts address instructional programming but do not explain how the instructor handles learning instruction differently for individuals, general audiences, and specific audiences, or in passive situations such as through handouts or online interactions. This guide differs from other works in that it addresses all adult services positions, not only those with the title of "instructional librarian," and addresses the full scope of instruction that librarians need to better meet patron needs. Helps librarians who don't have teaching degrees to understand how adults most commonly learn Applies educational theory to everyday situations (e.g., why an elderly person may have trouble using an iPhone) Addresses physical considerations external to the teacher-student relationship that affect learning (e.g., a cold or hot room can make it hard to pay attention)

Creating colorful, inexpensive, theme-related bulletin boards will be a snap with Bulletin Bored? or Bulletin Boards! Designed with the non-artist in mind, each bulletin board idea features easily reproducible black and white designs with detailed descriptions of materials, slogans, colors, and curriculum use. The book is organized chronologically to follow the school year. Bulletin board themes revolve around holidays, seasons, social issues, sports, the environment, reading, and more. Pages of patterns, helpful hints, and additional ideas will make implementing and personalizing catchy displays simple. From back to school to graduation, teachers and librarians will find a wealth of ideas to revitalize their bulletin boards. Includes a selected bibliography.

This book helps students from diverse backgrounds and with various learning styles to master the material they learn with these practical examples for librarians teaching higher education information literacy. Cultural influences in students' lives—often tied to aspects of their background such as ethnicity, national origin, socioeconomic status, gender, and religion—play a large role in determining how they learn. Learning styles additionally differ among students, making it difficult to know how to best support all students. This book introduces academic instruction librarians to a differentiated instruction (DI) approach that will help them to offer students a choice of how to engage with course content, assess their understanding of the material, and demonstrate mastery of the material to the instructor, allowing students to actively participate in their education. It explains various instructional techniques used in DI and provides detailed, step-by-step examples for implementing educational technology tools supporting each technique. Accompanying the examples are tips for overcoming known challenges in implementation and best practices for successful adoption of the techniques. Readers will understand how to begin using the most popular types of educational technology tools for academic information literacy instruction.

Most researchers, even with computers, find only a fraction of the sources available to them. As Library of Congress reference librarian Thomas Mann explains, researchers tend to work within one or another mental framework that limits their basic perception of the universe of knowledge available to them. Some, for example, use a subject-disciplinary method which leads them to a specific list of sources on a particular subject. But, Mann points out, while this method allows students and researchers to find more specialized sources, it is also limiting--they may not realize that works of interest to their own subject appear within the literature of many other disciplines. A researcher looking through anthropology journals, for example, might not discover that the MLA International Bibliography provides the best coverage of folklore journals.

In Library Research Models, Mann examines the several alternative mental models people use to approach the task of research, and demonstrates new, more effective ways of finding information. Drawing on actual examples gleaned from 15 years' experience in helping thousands of researchers, he not only shows the full range of search options possible, but also illuminates the inevitable tradeoffs and losses of access that occur when researchers limit themselves to a specific method. In two chapters devoted to computers he examines the use of electronic resources and reveals their value in providing access to a wide range of sources as well as their disadvantages: what people are not getting when they rely solely on computer searches; why many sources will probably never be in databases; and what the options are for searching beyond computers.

Thomas Mann's A Guide to Library Research Methods was widely praised as a definitive manual of library research. Ronald Gross, author of The Independent Scholar's Handbook called it "the savviest such guide I have ever seen--bracingly irreverent and brimming with wisdom." The perfect companion volume, Library Research Models goes even further to provide a fascinating look at the ways in which we can most efficiently gain access to our vast storehouses of knowledge.

A must-read for elementary school librarians interested in starting a makerspace at their school, but who are concerned about the cost and are looking for curriculum links for getting started. Makerspaces are a powerful way to expand a school library's influence as an educational partner in the school community. However, many elementary school librarians and educators are hesitant to consider adding a makerspace to their programming due to concerns about costs. This book focuses on effective ways to start a makerspace in your school on a shoestring budget while simultaneously supporting curriculum standards and inviting the collaboration of other members of your school community. Today's school librarians have many responsibilities and often face a shrinking budget. The Elementary School Library Makerspace: A Start-Up Guide is a one-stop shop for learning the specific steps to successfully starting an elementary school library makerspace, without getting behind on managing your current school library tasks and responsibilities or blowing your budget. You'll learn how and where the makerspace movement started, and why; understand why today's young students crave hands-on experiences; and receive dozens of makerspace examples for each grade level by content area, including ones for language arts, math, science, engineering, arts, social studies, and technology. The book also covers how and why to track particular numbers regarding program performance, explains how to use creativity to start your makerspace with minimal dollars, and outlines how to make your PR efforts in letting others know about your school library makerspace effective in engaging many possible audiences.

One of the only books to offer a behind-the-scenes look at the role of school librarians in student success, this guide offers everything you'll need to develop, align, and evaluate curriculum with your library collection in mind. This reference provides school library professors with strategies and tips for creating future school leaders out of current LIS students. Drawing upon her extensive experience as a school librarian, author Jody K. Howard heralds the library professional's role as information specialist, instructional partner, and curriculum advocate. Her insider's perspective is rich with tested strategies to help students seamlessly integrate the responsibilities of their multiple roles into daily activities. The work explains the process of curriculum mapping and collection development with an eye on teaching these tools to those new to the profession. The content provides methods for developing guided inquiry lessons in collaboration with teachers, illustrates ways to develop leadership skills while aligning the collection with the curriculum, and offers strategies for working alongside curriculum committees and classroom teachers to build a cohesive educational program. The final chapter explores the roles and responsibilities of school librarians at the district, state, and national level.

Legal deposit libraries, the national and academic institutions who systematically preserve our written cultural record, have recently been mandated with expanding their collection practices to include digitised and born-digital materials. The regulations that govern electronic legal deposit often also prescribe how these materials can be accessed. Although a growing international activity, there has been little consideration of the impact of e-legal deposit on the 21st Century library, or on its present or future users. This edited collection is a timely opportunity to bring together international authorities who are placed to explore the social, institutional and user impacts of e-legal deposit. It uniquely provides a thorough overview of this worldwide issue at an important juncture in the history of library collections in our changing information landscape, drawing on evidence gathered from real-world case studies produced in collaboration with leading libraries, researchers and practitioners (Biblioteca Nacional de México, Bodleian Libraries, British Library, National Archives of Zimbabwe, National Library of Scotland, National Library of Sweden). Chapters consider the viewpoint of a variety of stakeholders, including library users, researchers, and publishers, and provide overviews of the complex digital preservation and access issues that surround e-legal deposit materials, such as web archives and interactive media. The book will be essential reading for practitioners and researchers in national and research libraries, those developing digital library infrastructures, and potential users of these collections, but also those interested in the long-term implications of how our digital collections are conceived, regulated and used. Electronic legal deposit is shaping our digital library collections, but also their future use, and this volume provides a rigorous account of its implementation and impact.

Unashamedly a book for the bookish, yet accessible and frequently entertaining, this is the first book devoted to how libraries are depicted in imaginative writing. Covering fiction, poetry, and drama from the late Middle Ages to the present, it runs the gamut of British and American literature, as well as examining a range of fiction in other languages-from Rabelais and Cervantes to modern and contemporary French, Italian, Japanese, and Russian writing. While the tropes of the complex catalogue and the bibliomaniacal reader persist throughout the centuries, libraries also emerge as societal battle-sites where issues of personality, gender, cultural power, and national identity are contested repeatedly and often in surprising ways. As well as examining how libraries were deployed in their work by canonical authors from Cervantes, Shakespeare, and Swift to Jane Austen, George Eliot, and Jorge Luis Borges, the volume also examines in detail the haunted libraries of Margaret Oliphant and M. R. James, and a range of much less familiar historic and contemporary authors. Alert to the depiction of librarians as well as of book-rooms and institutional readers, this book will inform, entertain, and delight. At a time when traditional libraries are under pressure, Libraries in Literature shows the power of their lasting fascination.

"The contribution made by the Edmonton libraries to the sanity and support of the citizens cannot be estimated. No Annual Report can gauge things of this sort." -Annual Report of the Edmonton Public Library, 1931 The Edmonton Public Library turns 100 in 2013! Novelist, journalist, and Edmontonian Todd Babiak tells the story of EPL's birth and coming of age within the bustling narrative of the growth of city and province. Rich with anecdotes and historical photos, records of personal conversations, and tales of expeditions to branch libraries, Just Getting Started immerses readers in a personal journey to the heart of culture in one of Canada's biggest cities. Babiak's history is one-of-a-kind; it reads like a novel, mirroring the institution it commemorates. Edmontonians, librarians, politicians, and historians may glimpse themselves within these pages; all will see how vital a successful public library is to reflecting the needs and aims of a diverse population.

Previously named by Library Journal "a terrific resource for instruction librarians at all experience levels," the updated third edition will foster students' critical thinking skills while empowering librarians to become better, more confident teachers.When done right, one-shot library instruction allows you to build solid relationships with faculty while also making positive first impressions with students. Good pedagogy, collaboration with faculty, assessment, and reflection are all imminently possible in the one-shot. So are incorporating the big ideas of the ACRL Framework. This new edition of a trusted resource will guide you in active, student-centered one-shots that connect to courses' learning outcomes. Demonstrated using vignettes that share teaching experiences drawn from librarians and instructors in the field, you'll get succinct, hands-on advice on such topics as why threshold concepts are well suited to one-shot instruction; online instruction-specific engagement strategies and talking points; a one-shot version of curriculum mapping to help you prioritize; quick and easy activities to work into sessions; how to mix and match the three types of instruction best suited to one-shots; losing the list, ditching the script, and other strategies for student-centered teaching; common classroom management mishaps and what to do about them; talking points for the instruction interview; how and when to say no; and 5 ways to use assessment to improve your instructional style.

Published in cooperation with the American Library Association, an insider's look at one of the most prevalent, yet commonly misunderstood institutions! Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly of librarian William Ottens's experience working behind service desks and in the stacks of public libraries, most recently at the Lawrence Public Library in Kansas. In Librarian Tales, published in cooperation with the American Library Association, readers will learn about strange things librarians have found in book drops, weird and obscure reference questions, the stress of tax season, phrases your local librarians never want to hear, stories unique to children's librarians, and more. Ottens uncovers common pet peeves among his colleagues, addresses misguided assumptions and stereotypes, and shares several hilarious stories along the way. This book is must reading for any librarian, or anyone who loves books and libraries, though non-library folks will also laugh and cry (from laughing) while reading this lighthearted analysis of your local community pillar, the library.

Archivists and archival institutions are reappraising and deaccessioning now more than ever before. Archival reappraisal and deaccessioning have become vital tools for managing archival collections. Reappraisal and Deaccessioning in Archives and Special Collections is the first book dedicated entirely to the topic of reappraising and deaccessioning in special collections and archives. This edited volume features 13 chapters offering informed opinions, practical recommendations, and valuable examples for reappraising and deaccessioning. Readers will gain important insight into the most important element of reappraisal and deaccessioning: decision-making. Through mostly case studies, the chapters address important issues inherent in these practices including: ethical concerns, donor relations, appraisal questions, and disposition options. The case studies cover collaborative and solo projects, various material types such as manuscripts, records, and artifacts, and a range of scenarios from major projects involving thousands of linear feet of material to ad hoc projects removing single items. Chapter topics include: weeding vs. deaccessioning, getting rid of contaminated materials, donor-driven deaccessioning, and using reappraisal and deaccessioning to improve access to existing collections. Readers will find beneficial information on streamlining workflows, carrying out procedures, creating policies, and implementing these practices locally. Additionally, the chapters cover the intricacies of disposition options, such as transferring to other institutions, returning material to donors, and destruction. This volume can serve as a valuable resource for large and small repositories, experienced and novice archivists, and those working with manuscript and archive collections.

This unique guide offers fresh insights on how graphic novels and comics differ from traditional books and require different treatment in the library-from purchasing, shelving, and cataloging to readers' advisory services, programs, and curriculum. Challenging librarians to rethink some of their traditional practices, Maximizing the Impact of Comics in Your Library provides creative and proven solutions for libraries of all types that want to get comics into the hands of fans and promote readership. The author describes how libraries would benefit from an in-house classification system and organization that accounts for both publishers and series. In addition, acquiring comics can often be tricky due to renumbering of series, reboots, shifting creative teams, and more-this book shows you how to work around those obstacles. Shelving and displays that reflect comic readers' browsing habits, creative programs that boost circulation of comics and graphic novels, and how comics can play a vital role in educational institutions are also covered. Addresses common challenges librarians face with comics and graphic novels collections and shows how to surmount them Offers a solutions-focused approach Describes how comics can be used to better engage your community and to educate youth Fills a gap in the professional literature, covering topics not touched upon in the existing literature Serves as a vital resource for public, academic, and school libraries

The digital humanities in academic institutions, and libraries in particular, have exploded in recent years. Librarians are constantly developing their management and technological skills and increasing their knowledge base. As they continue to embed themselves in the scholarly conversations on campus, the challenges facing subject/liaison librarians, technical service librarians, and library administrators are many. This comprehensive volume highlights the wide variety of theoretical issues discussed, initiatives pursued, and projects implemented by academic librarians. Many of the chapters deal with digital humanities pedagogy-planning and conducting training workshops, institutes, semester-long courses, embedded librarian instruction, and instructional assessment-with some chapters focusing specifically on applications of the "ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education." The authors also explore a wide variety of other topics, including the emotional labor of librarians; the challenges of transforming static traditional collections into dynamic, user-centered, digital projects; conceptualizing and creating models of collaboration; digital publishing; and developing and planning projects including improving one's own project management skills. This collection effectively illustrates how librarians are enabling themselves through active research partnerships in an ever-changing scholarly environment. This book was originally published as a special triple issue of the journal College & Undergraduate Libraries.

The many recent changes in higher and further education mean that it is more important than ever to analyse the needs of academic library users, and both promote and provide the service they require. This constructive book, pervaded throughout by the impact of IT on the learning environment, surveys the influences on today's academic library, and explains how to increase user satisfaction through quality management. The author focuses particularly on users' behaviour in the library, the problems they cause or encounter, and how libraries cope. The book examines the varying needs of undergraduate and graduate, mature and part-time students, overseas students, franchised students, distance learners and other groups with special needs, explaining ways in which these needs can be identified and the service evaluated. One chapter is devoted to research and researchers' information demands. The particular requirements of subject communities and their consequences for academic libraries are also investigated, as well as the requirements of teaching staff and ways in which the library can work with them. The author emphasizes the importance of user education programmes and explains how to promote the library effectively with limited resources. For librarians, heads of services and senior library managers in further and higher education, and those, such as subject librarians, responsible for specific student groups, this book provides a comprehensive and realistic guide to providing and promoting a quality service. Students of librarianship and information management will gain valuable insight from this book into user analysis and improving the performance of information provision.

University libraries around the world have embraced the possibilities of the digital learning environment, facilitating its use and proactively seeking to develop the provision of electronic resources and services. The digital environment offers opportunities and challenges for librarians in all aspects of their work - in information literacy, virtual reference, institutional repositories, e-learning, managing digital resources and social media. The authors in this timely book are leading experts in the field of library and information management, and are at the forefront of change in their respective institutions. University Libraries and Digital Learning Environments will be invaluable for all those involved in managing libraries or learning services, whether acquiring electronic resources or developing and delivering services in digital environments.

In the closing decades of the twentieth century, academic libraries responded to rapid changes in their environment by acquiring and making accessible a host of new information resources, developing innovative new services and collaborative partnerships, and building new kinds of technology-equipped spaces to support changing user behaviors and emerging patterns of learning. The "Information Commons" or "InfoCommons" blossomed in a relatively short amount of time in libraries across North America, and around the world, particularly in Europe and the British Commonwealth. This book is more than a second edition of the 2009 book A Field Guide to the Information Commons which documented the emergence of a range of facilities and service programs that called themselves "Information Commons." This new book updates this review of current practice in the Information Commons and other new kinds of facilities inspired by the same needs and intents, but goes beyond that by describing the continued evolution. This new book is an attempt to answer the question: "What might be the next emerging concept for a technology-enabled, user-responsive, mission-driven form of the academic library?" Like its predecessor, Beyond the Information Commons is structured in two parts. First, a brief series of essays explore the Information Commons from historical, organizational, technological, and architectural perspectives. The second part is a field guide composed of more than two dozen representative entries describing various Information Commons using a consistent format that provides both perspective on issues and useful details about actual implementations. Each of these includes photos and other graphics.