This timely special report from ALA Editions provides a succinct but comprehensive overview of the "privatization" of public libraries. It provides a history of the trend of local and state governments privatizing public services and assets, and then examines the history of public library privatization right up to the California…

This paper is an extension of the author's earlier work on developing management information services and creating a culture of assessment in libraries. The author will focus observations on the use of data in decision-making in libraries, specifically on the role of leadership in making evidence-based decision a reality, and will review new…

Describes one search for a middle- or upper-management academic library position within the context of concerns expressed by respondents in a 1985 survey of 1,400 American Library Association (ALA) members by Bernstein and Leach. Factors examined include locale; availability and salary; staff relations; the application; the screening process; and…

This book guides library administrators through stages of long-range needs assessment, particularly taking what they know about their user community, library services, performance standards, and anticipated resources, and using that knowledge to determine space and building needs. Tips, explanations, and hands-on planning tools come through…

The 28 papers in this sourcebook relate to the evaluation of children's services in public libraries: (1) "Introduction to Evaluation" (Jane Robbins and Douglas Zweizig); (2) "Research and Measurement in Library Services to Children" (Adele Fasick); (3) "Evaluating Children's Services" (Diana Young); (4) "What Is…