Describes some of the children's services and creative means for stretching the budget to provide these services at the Peoria (Illinois) Public Library. Topics include (1) use of volunteers; (2) acquisition of materials through donations; (3) guest speakers; and (4) solicitation of prizes and reading incentives from businesses and agencies. (MES)

Profile of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress--which houses one of the world's greatest collections of rare books--includes a brief history, acquisitions, library services and users, processing and preservation of rare books, and the library's mission. (EJS)

Describes genesis of New York Metropolitan Reference and Research Library Agency (METRO) and the interlibrary services it offers. Laws and grants, cooperative acquisitions, continuing education for library staff, and suggestions for planning cooperatives (include all types of libraries, develop effective patterns of communication, develop shared…

Describes the development and operation of the University of Kansas Regents Center Library, which serves nontraditional students within a three county area. Sections cover establishing the library; policy and procedures; staff, collections and acquisitions; reciprocal and liaison services; the library today; and management techniques. (JD)

Describes the services of the General Theological Library in Boston, Massachusetts, a nondenominational, ecumenical institution which provides mail order circulation of religious books for clients throughout the United States. (Author/JL)

Provides description of the Dag Hammarskjold Library which serves the information needs of a multinational, multilingual community of 157 United Nations member states. A brief history of the library, its statement of purpose, library acquisition and collections, reference services, United Nations agencies, and depository library are highlighted.…

Describes the successful use of online database systems by the Library Services Division, Center for the Study of Youth Development at Boys Town for answering specific, limited reference questions; and identifies system use in acquisitions, interlibrary loan verification, name/address verification, and identification of persons, groups, or…

Explains how reference, acquisitions, and serials staff at the University of New Mexico library collaborated to develop systematic procedures to improve the management of problematic serials and monographs in the reference department. Serials reference work is discussed and use of the INNOPAC integrated system is described. (Author/LRW)

Describes a study at Pennsylvania State University Harrisburg in which cost-benefit analysis (CBA) was used to examine the cost effectiveness of an electronic database. Concludes that librarians can use the results of CBA studies to justify budgets and acquisitions and to provide insight into the true costs of providing library services. (PEN)

Major activities of the Library of Congress (LC) for 1978, given more detailed attention in the complete annual report, are summarized here under three broad headings: services to the Congress, to other libraries, and to the public. Services of the Library's Congressional Research Service (CRS) which are briefly described include reference and…

This annual report is the first to be written since the middle 1960's. In order to provide a sense of progress, the problems, and the trends which have occurred during the intervening years, this report is organized around a series of major library concerns including: (1) collections; (2) physical facilities; (3) internal organizational…

Discusses the financial pressures libraries face as the number and cost of serials escalate while funding is reduced. Presents a case study of a small library that eliminated physical subscriptions to journals and enhanced its service to include CD-ROM technology after ranking journals according to a cost benefit analysis. (Author/LRW)

Describes the Booktech 2000 project that was developed at the Denver Public Library as a new work concept to improve acquisitions procedures and customer service. The short-term goal of expanding collections for new branch libraries is discussed, and new relationships with vendors are explained. (LRW)

Technical services staff at Library of Congress (LC) currently number approximately 1,500. In addition to cataloging library materials for LC collections and producing centralized cooperative cataloging, LC's Processing Services staff work to develop standards and formats for machine-readable bibliographic data that can be used in libraries and…

Online database searching experiences of nine Illinois public libraries--Arlington Heights, Deerfield, Elk Grove Village, Evanston, Glenview, Northbrook, Schaumburg Township, Waukegan, Wilmette--are discussed, noting search costs, user charges, popular databases, library acquisition, interaction with users, and staff training. Three sources are…