Presents an interview with two librarians who are participating in joint-use projects, one between a public library and a school library, and one between a public library and an academic library. Personnel, commingling collections, changing library roles, and governance boards are considered. (LRW)

Presents interviews with Fred Kent, founder of the Project for Public Spaces (PPS) and Phil Myrick, PPS's assistant vice president, about transforming libraries into desirable public spaces. Discusses qualities people value in public spaces; great library buildings and what they are doing right; the first thing library directors should do when…

Addresses the problem of crime committed in a library by its employees. Provides examples of crimes in state and public libraries. Discusses embezzlement in a state library, theft of library funds, falsification of records and violation of library loan policies, and reasons for crimes. Notes that such crimes can be safeguarded against by enforcing…

Three articles focus on preservation of library materials: profile of Bonnie Jo Cullison, book conservationist at Newberry Library (Chicago, Illinois); planning for preservation (administration, conservation training, microreproduction, library binding, environmental control, research and development, educating public); preservation guide for…

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)

Describes the use of docents at the Denver Public Library and explains how to develop a successful volunteer docent program. Discusses their educational background; duties, including training patrons in computer use; cooperation of and acceptance by the professional staff; administrative support; and improved customer service. (LRW)

Four tables present profile of American Library Association (ALA) membership (1982) in following categories: administrative groups; principal work areas; distribution of librarians by type of library (ALA membership, 1980 Committee on Status of Women Study, Department of Education "Library Human Resources" report); members in each type…

This review of the process of retrospective conversion (recon)--conversion of existing bibliographic records into machine-readable form--notes options and services (bibliographic utilities, commercial vendors); new technologies (microcomputer and optical-disc-based systems); collaboration and a coordinated recon strategy; cooperative efforts; and…

A profile of Marty Martelle, director of the Sacramento City-County Library System. (PF)

At Dickenson College, librarians have found ways, such as professional sharing, to become more significant partners with faculty and students in the educational mission of the college. This is one of the top five winners in American Libraries' competition to identify innovative library programs. (LLS)

This essay aimed at large and medium-sized public libraries discusses library administration as a low-level function meant to support, rather than rule, the nonadministrative staff; management and administration as separate functions; the delegation of responsibility; and tasks of the administrator. (EJS)

Presents a functional organizational model for research libraries consisting of six major divisions and subunits: acquisition (buying, borrowing, leasing); organization (records creation, records maintenance); collections (collections management, selection, preservation, special collections and archives); interpretation (reference, instructional…

Discusses the role of library trustees or board members in public library administrative decisions, examines managerial styles among public library directors, and describes situations that invite the board to micromanage. Sidebar "Success in 10 Steps" suggests ten steps to maintain a balance of power between staff and trustees. (LRW)

Discusses corporate sponsorships as a new source of library funding. Highlights include maintaining the library mission, visible endorsement of organizations, use of written guidelines and contracts, and the traditional library role as a "bankable strength." A sidebar describes the Fund for America's Libraries, a source of information on…

This response to suggestions that the technical services librarian may be replaced by a combination of paraprofessional staff and automated processes discusses the catalog librarian's role in staff training, systems analysis, integrated systems design, technical services management, and original cataloging. (CLB)