Description of a mobile information center that provides public information on local events, municipal ordinances, employment, taxes, social security, planned parenthood, welfare, adoption laws, and other topics. The project has been deemed successful because it offers the public an opportunity to communicate face to face in a nonthreatening…

The harsh realities public libraries must face include the low esteem in which cities are held, city-dwellers' doubt of themselves, shrinking financial resources, and decreased readership. (Author/PF)

Advocates development of libraries through statewide approach, using as an example the West Virginia library system where a conference on libraries was sponsored to increase citizen awareness and involvement. Workshops, outreach programs, open access, and library sharing are tools mentioned to make the library more useful to the individual. (SW)