Data collected from a study of school libraries in Massachusetts provide source material that identifies barriers and enablers related to equitable access and meaningful use of school library resources and services. These quantitative and qualitative survey data supplied by school librarians across rural, urban, and suburban schools describe…

This article presents a case for the benefits of knowledge exchange in the academic library. The authors define knowledge exchange and use the concept as a framework for describing a peer learning experience rooted in best digital practices education. Their partnership enabled the authors to extend their professional roles while developing…

"Research Library Issues" ("RLI") focuses on current and emerging topics that are strategically important to research libraries. The articles explore issues, share information, pose critical questions, and provide examples. This issue includes the following articles: (1) Business Intelligence and Data Visualization with Tableau…

In this policy brief, the authors examine and provide examples of the ways that public libraries have become invaluable partners in supporting family STEM learning. Although emerging research points to the strong influence of families on children's growth and development, a focus on joint parent and child STEM learning is still nascent. This brief…

In this essay, we embrace a vision of the future of academic libraries where librarians confront and creatively address the lack of racial and ethnic diversity within our profession and actively pursue a social justice agenda within our libraries and in the communities we serve. This future requires that we acknowledge that many of our current…

We posed the question of what services an academic library can best provide to support the NIH Public Access Policy. We approached the answer to this question through education, collaboration, and tool-building. As a result, over the last four years we have engaged over 1,500 participants in discussions of public access to research results, forged…

In this article, Oakmont Regional High School (Ashburnham, Massachusetts) librarian Jeffrey Aubuchon describes how the school library is developing a new classification scheme called the Spartan system. This system seeks to mirror instructional practices at Oakmont. The major divisions of the collection will be drawn around academic departments…

Games and other forms of play are used in today's libraries to attract underserved patrons, to introduce patrons to other library resources and services, and to facilitate engagement between library patrons. While many perceive gaming as a new library service, gaming services have been part of librarianship since the nineteenth century through…

The purpose of this study was to explore the adaptive measures that academic libraries perform when implementing and operating a 24-hour schedule. Five in-depth interviews were conducted with current managerial-level librarians at 24-hour academic libraries. The exploratory interviews revealed similar measures for security, budgeting, employee…

Jane Maud Campbell's career demonstrated her commitment and passion for library services with immigrants and minorities as one of the first advocates for multiculturalism in librarianship. She began her career working in the Newark Public Library and soon was employed as the librarian of the Passaic Public Library. She was the first woman employed…

Tufts University Hirsh Health Sciences Library created a Facebook page and a corresponding managing committee in March 2010. Facebook Page Insights data collected from the library's Facebook page were statistically analyzed to investigate patterns of user engagement. The committee hoped to improve posting practices and increase user engagement…

Libraries are changing. Although they still provide access to information, they also are tasked with teaching new users how to take advantage of available resources. They are expanding their role as community-wide help centers while continuing to be a place for reflection, sharing and learning. Shelves filled with rows upon rows of books no longer…

Forty years ago, the author arrived in Boston with an associate's degree and two years' experience in the corporate world. The idea of working at a college appealed, so she boarded the B line trolley to Boston College. She arrived on campus, found the human resources office, took a typing test, interviewed with the director of freshman financial…

In today's world of instant everything, everyone has been exposed to some form of Web 2.0 technology, and higher education is not exempt from its long reach. Libraries of all types are incorporating Web 2.0 features to attract users as well as to showcase library services. The Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) has become more user-friendly with…

This guide is based on findings of a year-long study undertaken by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to evaluate Institute-sponsored programs for youth aged 9-19 between 1998 and 2003, and discussion with the IMLS Youth Action Committee and practitioners about the kind of information needed for planning and implementing effective…