Introduction: The percentage of foreign-born residents in Spain has multiplied almost fourfold over the last decade. Immigration has changed our society, both from a demographic and economic perspective, and from a cultural and political prospective. The Spanish public library network, a democratic institution that provides services, initially, of…

This study reports the results of a needs analysis of literacy programs for a library system serving three rural and suburban counties. It examines the computing skills and needs of literacy tutors as well as native-speaking and English language learner (ELL) literacy tutees enrolled in the programs. Paper surveys were mailed to tutors, who were…

Joint-use libraries have identified staff integration as a problem. Using focus groups, this project investigated the culture, professional ethics, and attitudes of staff in a public-tertiary joint-use library in Auckland, New Zealand. Findings show some difference in organizational cultures, but more variation at the lower level of roles and…

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 study examines children's uses of reading resources in neighborhood public libraries that have been transformed to "level the playing field." Through foundation funding (US$20 million), the public library system of Philadelphia converted neighborhood branch libraries into a technologized modern urban library system, hoping to…

This examination of the feasibility of implementing an automated circulation system within San Mateo County's Peninsula Library System (PLS) was undertaken to determine if the system should automate material circulation systemwide in order to reduce operating costs while improving circulation procedures and increasing patron access to system…

This long-range plan for library services in Wisconsin is divided into four major divisions. The first covers characteristics of Wisconsin affecting library services and includes a population profile, an examination of economic indicators, a discussion of social and governmental concerns, and a review of trends in education. A section on library…

The Florida Interlibrary Loan Improvement Project (FILIP), initiated in 1979 by the Florida State Library to examine and analyze the interlibrary loan patterns and problems of the Florida Library Information Network (FLIN), compared the use of the OCLC Interlibrary Loan subsystem as a mode of communication between FLIN member libraries to the use…

A study was conducted to determine if the centralization of playback machine operations for the national free library program would be feasible, economical, and desirable. An alternative model of playback machine services was constructed and compared with existing network operations considering both cost and service. The alternative model was…

This report describes a demonstration project which used local libraries as the contact and distribution points for academic materials to California State University Chico (CSUC) extension or off-campus students, including students taking courses through the Instructional Television Fixed Service (ITFS). Interlibrary loan (ILL) procedures at CSUC…

A study commissioned by the Milwaukee Federated Library System identified problems and proposed organizational strategies towards their solution. A manifest problem with research and reference service cost allocations led to Milwaukee County's withholding of funds, while latent problems were identified in the interlibrary book circulation system.…

This feasibility study was conducted to (1) estimate the alternative costs in 1980 Canadian dollars of using four bibliographic utilities to accomplish the retrospective conversion (RECON) of eight British Columbia public libraries' manual card catalog files, (2) make recommendations as to which alternative should be selected and how it should be…

Evaluation of Tanzanian experiences in developing nationwide public library system under conditions of limited resources and unlimited user demands discusses six principles as basis for alternative strategy: liquidating irrelevant librarianship theories; establishing valid performance measures; adopting cost-effectiveness; giving primacy to…

Papers presented at the annual conference of the Alaska Library Association (AkLA) focused on the Alaska Library Network with special emphasis on collection development and resource sharing through networking. Papers and reports from the conference, some of which have been updated, are presented in six chapters. The first provides an overview of…

This analysis of an affluent, well educated, family community and its library by a professional consulting organization used statistical and budget data, public meetings, and surveys of citizens, library users, and staff to determine the library needs of the community and to develop a plan for improved library services. Questionnaires were…