This paper describes a project that underscores the critical role of this nation's museums and libraries in helping citizens build such 21st century skills as information, communications and technology literacy, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, civic literacy, and global awareness. Recognizing that every individual requires these…

Presents standards for reference services developed by the Suburban Library System (Illinois) and discusses the effects of the standards on youth services. Standards for a written reference plan, reference staff, reference sources, and evaluation are included. (11 references) (MES)

Notes that draft proposal for voluntary public library accreditation prepared by ad hoc committee is now ready for consideration by professional community. This article defines accreditation and proposes possible goals to provide a framework for discussing the pros and cons of establishing a Commission for the Accreditation of Public Libraries.…

Presentation of a scenario in which a city council imposes fees for public library services without consulting the library director or trustees is followed by three analyses of the situation, and ways in which it should be handled by the library director are suggested. (CLB)

Reviews the emergence of lobbies, both from within and outside the library profession, that argue for a fee based approach to the delivery of information, and explores the possible effects of this policy on the role of libraries and equal access to knowledge. (Author/CLB)

With fiber optic networks that can deliver library materials directly to the user from computerized data banks, is there any need for the library function? For the short term, public libraries will survive. The answer for the medium and long-term is much less certain. Libraries will survive if librarians see themselves as active providers of…

Developed through a joint effort of the Oklahoma Library Association (OLA) and the Oklahoma Department of Libraries (ODL), this planning approach to library development is designed to lead a public library through the developmental process and identify a series of actions that will direct it toward planning for excellence. Introductory material…

This report describes the work of the Community Information and Referral (CI&R) Services Task Force, which was appointed by the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) to investigate the status of CI&R in libraries and social service agencies and to make recommendations regarding the appropriate role for libraries…

Introductory materials for these proceedings list acknowledgements and roundtable participants, provide the roundtable agenda, and present both the roundtable goal--to improve the quality of community information services in California public libraries through the development of a plan and program focus for the California State Library--and four…

Describes a process undertaken by small, rural libraries in Massachusetts in which trustees, librarians, and community leaders identified the possible roles of libraries and prioritized needs for individual communities. The results include an emphasis on community standards rather than national, and a list of three basic roles of all libraries.…

Explores the issue of intellectual freedom and the role of the library in the community, and the extent to which community attitudes and values should influence library policy. A specific incident involving a public library exhibit of materials on gay rights in Durham, North Carolina, is described. (CLB)

Examines the relationship between the responsibility of librarians to reject materials that threaten the moral and social values of the community and support for intellectual freedom by the library profession. Criteria that justify the censorship of materials are identified and discussed. (16 references) (CLB)

Summarizes the arguments for and against fees in public libraries, and discusses whether the fee controversy is one of alternative technical means of securing funding, or of competing visions of the role of the public library. (Author/CLB)

Examines the place of fiction in the library collection, the attitudes and practices of Australian librarians with respect to fiction, and the factors, including historical ones, which have shaped these attitudes. A proposal for a new approach to fiction in public libraries is presented. (Author/CLB)

Discusses philosophy and economics of charging users for library services. Free services are advocated for reasons of equal access and intellectual freedom, and alternatives to charging are suggested, citing Seattle Public Library as an example. Opinions and statistics on library fees excerpted from the current literature are included. (CDD)