Prior to retiring from full-time librarianship to concentrate on readers' advisory (RA) consulting, teaching, and book and media discussions, Ted Balcom, longtime administrator of the Villa Park Public Library (VPPL), Illinois, repeatedly demonstrated a particularly effective approach to shoring up essential library support. Balcom, 1996 winner of…

For two professions so committed to meeting the needs of readers, publishers and librarians have distinct cultures. Put simply, one culture is all about developing and selling books; the other is about sharing them and fostering a culture of reading. But there is another basic difference, too. Publishers work closely with authors and use sales…

Last fall, at the Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science in New York, Barbara Genco, collection development director at the Brooklyn Public Library, taught a course on collection development principles, theory, and practice. "Library Journal" asked her to distill her curriculum down to 20 talking points that address…

The success of any institution depends on the honest involvement of the people it serves. Voluntary action is no threat to the library profession, rather, it is a compliment, a vote of confidence which is enhancing the library field in the public eye and is opening up jobs. (12 references) (Author/NH)

When the author ran into other recent graduates at the American Library Association (ALA) annual conference in New Orleans in 2006, several told her they were not happy with their jobs. After months of searching, they settled for positions in isolated rural libraries, have jobs with little responsibility, or are expected to manage their staff…

In a year of wonders in the world, signs of real change began to be clear in libraries and librarianship. (Author)

Issue is taken with the library-college or librarian-as-educator notion which has gained favor with some academic librarians. The author states that one of the reasons for this movement is: Call librarians educators and they will have an effective talking point when seeking full academic status with the instructional faculty." (7 references) (MM)

The causes for the failure of the High John project--an attempt by liberal white librarians to make a significant contribution to the redress of American blacks' grievences, and to make the public library a more relevant institution--lie in librarianship itself. (11 references) (Author/SJ)

Despite setbacks and hazards, libraries today are a more vital and a more appreciated part of our lives than ever before. (Author/NH)

Briefly reviews the impact of the ideology of professionalism on librarianship and explores the affected labor-management and librarian-client relationships. (RAA)

An ideology of librarianship was created by Shiyali Ramamrita (SR) Ranganathan in his classic The Five Laws of Library Science (Bombay: Asia Pub. House, 1963). He formulated objectives and principles for the organization of, access to, and use of library materials. Given the changing information world, this is a good time to reconsider…

Discusses two basic cultures within the library science field, one that emphasizes "soft-edged" traditional service and the other newer culture which has evolved around information technology and entrepreneurial drive. Topics include historical background; university pressures on library schools to be "tech-oriented";…

Despite obvious and fundamental differences, contemporary library issues strikingly familiar to those of the west also beset the Soviet library world--issues that so far have been bridged in only technical apolitical areas. Governmental insistence on the centrality of ideology to library service remains an international stumbling block.…

Reprints four articles originally published between 1919 and 1967 in "Library Journal." Topics include changing ideals in librarianship, the changing nature of library work (Paul Dunkin), attracting adolescents to the library (Mary Hinant), and the social outlook of the librarian (Marilla Waite Freeman). A sidebar reviews the 1966…