Family engagement is a shared responsibility among families, educators, and communities to support children's learning and development. For families, it is about the knowledge, attitudes, values, and behaviors that enable children to be motivated, enthusiastic, and successful learners. For libraries, this means having respectful partnerships with…

Open access textbooks (OATs) and educational resources (OERs) are being lauded as a viable alternative to costly print textbooks. Some academic libraries are joining the OER movement by creating guides to open repositories. Others are promoting OATs and OERs, reviewing them, and even helping to create them. This article analyzes how academic…

State library agencies (StLAs) provide key leadership for library services planning and development in each state. Their structure and governance varies widely across states; StLAs are located in various departments in state government and they report to different authorities. This research brief gives an overview of the revenues, expenditures,…

Before 1994 education in South Africa was divided along racial lines. There were separate departments of education for whites, coloureds (people of mixed decent), Indians (people of East Indian decent), and blacks (black Africans). Education for white children was much better funded than any of the others. The quality of the education that white…

Federal legislation now requires the deposit of some taxpayer-funded research in "open-access" repositories--that is, sites where scholarship and research are made freely available over the Internet. The institutions whose faculty produce the research have begun to see the benefit of open-access publication as well. From the perspective of faculty…

The California State Library is charged with performing the following activities as defined by law. The State Library, under the direction and control of the State Librarian, an appointee of the Governor, has responsibility: (1) To collect, preserve, generate and disseminate a wide array of information; (2) To serve as the central reference and…

Even in the best of times, librarians have to be concerned about funding. Librarians who are faced with reducing expenditures have to consider which of them are essential for the institution to fulfill its mission. With all the changes that today's information technologies have brought, the library's role both now and in the future is not as…

Addresses issues relating to federal legislation that provides electronic access to federal databases and information through the Government Printing Office (GPO). Highlights include the role of depository libraries; public access; funding; publishing restrictions; national standards; and political issues, including opposition from the National…

This issue of "The Bookmark" contains 23 essays examining the challenges facing public library trustees and changing community needs. Topics considered include: the role of the trustee, fund raising, lobbying and the legislative process, library building programs, library automation, literacy, intellectual freedom, information access, preschool…

Examines the background and development of a comprehensive plan designed to improve library service in Pennsylvania. The ACCESS Pennsylvania agenda is described, together with obstacles to its success, particularly funding problems. The effects of the agenda on special libraries are also discussed. (3 references) (MES)

Examines the role of the public library in providing outreach services to migrant farm workers, citing experiences of three public library systems in the areas of information and referral, bookmobiles, and funding. Physical and psychological inaccessibility are discussed. Three references are cited. (EJS)

Examination of the downward trend of college and university enrollments and its possible effects on academic libraries notes that fewer undergraduates, fewer full-time students, and more graduate, part-time, and older students will affect clientele, services, and support. Other trends considered include fewer new academic librarians and the…

Reviews the development of public libraries during the twentieth century and examines the influences of public libraries on twentieth-century presidents. It is noted and discussed that presidents who were well served as youths by public libraries or who provided leadership for public libraries during their administrations came from families of…

Living in the vast shadow cast by the spires of the Magic Kingdom presents special challenges for Orlando's Orange County Library System (OCLS), the most formidable of which is increasing its relatively small user base. The library additionally faces tension between the administration and staff, political strife on the board, and looming contract…

This publication provides detailed guidelines on how libraries and library associations can begin the process of lobbying in the state capital for funding or legislation. The first of three major sections covers how to use the legislative process, how to develop a government relations program, and how to select public relations tools. The second…