Despite the proliferation of online homework websites and tutoring services, public libraries still have an important role to play when it comes to supporting young people's educational needs. Public libraries that take a proactive approach--by setting up organized homework centers--have the potential to become catalysts for better performance in…

Library media specialists are a literacy model. They hold the world of literacy at their fingertips and in their collections. Everything individuals need to know about literacy can be found in some form in the library domain, either in the stacks or in the professional repertoire that librarians posses. There are plenty of ways that library media…

Shows how l'Heure Joyeuse, a children's library started in Paris in 1923 as a gift from U.S. philanthropists, became a model of open-access, user-oriented public libraries. L'Heure Joyeuse's unique role in the development of public libraries in France from before 1900 to the present is described. (41 references) (EAM)

This review traces the history of the public library's role in the diffusion of information about American culture, surveys the influence of that role on library education, and describes five models which reflect the range of cultural roles presently being fulfilled in libraries and which identify the knowledge and skills librarians need to…

Citing the American Library Association's 1964 statement of libraries' responsibilities to the aging, this paper presents a needs assessment of the elderly and suggests methods by which public libraries can attempt to meet some of these needs, e.g., barrier-free design, programs, materials, and services. The needs assessment of older users…

Presents a model for the development of statewide levels of adequacy for public libraries. Recent developments affecting the profession's thinking about standards are reviewed, various dimensions of the concept of standards are discussed, and issues that remain to be resolved are identified. (Author/JD)

Describes the Chicago Public Library model for regional libraries and discusses the planning and implementation of the regional concept by three public libraries. Topics discussed include advantages of the regional approach, criteria for location, levels of services offered, and guidelines for deciding whether the regional approach is appropriate…

Summarizes the results of a survey of state library agencies regarding the degree to which they encourage and assist public libraries in the use of "Planning and Role Setting for Public Libraries" and "Output Measures for Public Libraries," tools that are the accepted standards for planning and performance measurement. (LRW)

Presents preliminary results of a survey that explored public library roles in the use of Internet/NREN (National Research and Education Network) services. Key issues are identified, including risks and barriers to network use, access, suggested services, professional association role, and committing resources; and recommendations to facilitate…

The director of the Queens Borough Public Library (Jamaica, New York) examines the role of the public library in helping to prevent illiteracy and discusses innovative ways libraries can serve adult readers and learners, using the Queens model as an example. Includes a sidebar by Audrey Gorman "Toward a New Definition of Literacy." (AEF)

This comprehensive report details the activities of a study which investigated public, public secondary school, community college, academic, state institutional, and state library agencies, in order to: (1) assess the current status of libraries in literacy education; (2) determine an expanded role for libraries in literacy education; and (3)…

This volume contains descriptions of 62 library programs that have been identified as being exemplary in one of the following program topic areas: (1) services to populations without library or media centers; (2) services to populations with inadequate library/media centers; (3) services to special populations, including the disadvantaged,…

Describes a project in which 15 public libraries in the Bay Area Library and Information System undertook simultaneous local planning using the Public Library Development Program planning and role setting process. Areas discussed include planning team workshops and meetings, implementation of the planning process, writing the planning document,…

Places the cost considerations associated with public library automation in a framework of public finance comfortable to most administrators, discusses the importance of experience with use patterns in the electronic library in opening up new and innovative financing methods, and stresses the role of the library in the information industry. (JL)

In 1988 a research team at The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) completed a study entitled "Developing Partnerships" that documented and analyzed library-based information services for distance education students in Northern Ontario. (The project was funded as part of the Province of Ontario initiative called Contact…