Nearly two years ago, the Center for an Urban Future published "Branches of Opportunity," a report documenting that New York City's public libraries have become more vital than ever, and are serving more New Yorkers in more ways than ever before. This new report provides an exhaustive analysis of the libraries' capital needs and offers a…

In Japan, only a few public libraries provide e-mail reference services. To help public libraries start e-mail reference services, the authors investigated reference questions received by libraries via e-mail and traditional face-to-face services. The authors found that research questions are more frequently observed among e-mail questions and…

Women who promoted library services to children in the United States in the late nineteenth century introduced the systematic use of survey research on library practice to the field of professional librarianship. They created a series of qualitative survey-based reports, the "Reading of the Young" reports, which were presented at ALA conferences…

In recent years public libraries have experimented with user-generated or community-contributed content through the interactive tools of Web 2.0. For some commentators this not just establishes a new relationship between libraries and their publics, but signals the end of information hegemony and an "expert paradigm". Such claims need to…

This paper presents a summary of the first survey of public library authorities in the UK to explore Sunday opening, undertaken in 2007 as part of the Clore Leadership Programme. It provides a snapshot of Sunday opening practice, set against a context of societal, economic, and policy developments, and examines whether Sunday opening furthers the…

Although the quality, performance and future of public library services in the UK is a matter of debate, there is little doubt that in recent years, despite claims relating to the emergence of a cyber-society, interest in library buildings and the library as "place" has been intense, almost matching that seen during the Carnegie era of…

In the last few years, technology-savvy librarians have begun turning their attention to a host of new tools to connect with their users and colleagues. The umbrella term for these new technologies--Web 2.0--began gaining traction in 2004. Many librarians were quick to embrace the new wave of technology. Early adopting libraries used blogs to…

Libraries are operating in a fluid service environment in which people increasingly turn to the Internet to address everyday concerns. They also face competition from large booksellers that offer potential library patrons access to a virtually unlimited selection of books. These developments have understandably provoked questions and concerns…

In July 2008, over 14,000 public libraries throughout the U.S. received, free of charge, a set of fourteen Audio Guides introducing them to The Big Read. Since 2007, when the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, in partnership with Arts Midwest, debuted The Big Read, the program has awarded grants to…

When resources are scarce, libraries have three basic options, which can be conducted in combination or separately, to bring them into balance: Seek additional funds, reduce expenses, and identify more efficient modes of operation. The authors explore whether, and if so how, the factors that consume or contribute resources--and the tradeoffs…

Under the auspices of the International Reading Association, an evaluation was conducted of Rural Education and Development (READ) program of creating community libraries in Nepal. READ set out to address the high rates of illiteracy and poverty in Nepal through the development of these libraries. To examine READ's approach, a team of…

The public library is a product of modernity that follows in the wake of industrialization, urbanization, and popular movements, while at the same time the public library itself supports the building up and development of the modern. This article will examine the arrival of modernity and the prerequisites for the rise of public libraries, as well…

The four papers contained in this volume were presented at the August 1994 meetings of the American Statistical Association as a session titled, "Public Policy and Data Comparability: New Interest in Public Library Data." The first paper, "Public Library Statistics: Two Systems Compared" (Mary Jo Lynch), describes two systems…

Random samples of monographic materials from U.S. and Canadian public libraries were matched with collections from similar libraries of different sizes. Strong positive correlation appears between percentage find rate and target library size, with regression analysis suggesting linearity over a wide range of collection sizes. (Author)

This paper explores how Scottish public library services have responded to providing a service to a virtually invisible minority group, i.e. lesbians who enjoy reading lesbian fiction. The evidence that provides the foundation for the results discussed in this paper was drawn from the following sources: a study of the 32 public library services in…