This article features Naturita Community Library (NCL), winner of "LJ"'s 2011 Best Small Library in America Award, sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The library is the largest straw bale library in America. It sits on the western slope of the Rockies, across the Uncompahgre Plateau from the county seat in Montrose,…

In commemoration of the Librarian of the Year Award's 20th anniversary, this article presents brief vignettes on all 19 of the title holders. When "Library Journal" named them Librarians of the Year, these inimitable 19 (for the 20th, Norma Blake, see EJ788676) had singled themselves out as risk takers, visionaries, bulldogs, pragmatists,…

Public library service is a critical service that must be preserved. Despite a current (FY08) budget cut of $5 million and the threat of reductions of nearly $20 million more in the next budget, the Queens Library has maintained massive and excellent programs of service and incredibly high levels of use by a public that lines up at every one of…

This publication provides an overview of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), including programs, initiatives, research projects, publications, and strategic partnerships. It also provides tips for developing competitive grant applications and staff contacts for each program for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2008. Once grant…

Describes the features of the Austin Public Library that made it Library Journal's pick for the 1993 Library of the Year Award. The library's outreach programs, use of total quality management, volunteer program, and the bonds between the library and the city government are covered. (KRN)

Describes services offered and problems encountered at the Medina County (Ohio) District Library, winner of the Gale Research/Library Journal Library of the Year Award. Highlights include resisting pressure from the religious right to limit children's Internet access to protect them from pornography; a successful tax levy; and growth in…

At Dickenson College, librarians have found ways, such as professional sharing, to become more significant partners with faculty and students in the educational mission of the college. This is one of the top five winners in American Libraries' competition to identify innovative library programs. (LLS)

Toni Garvey, director of the Phoenix Public Library (PPL) and LJ 2004 Librarian of the Year, has practiced her profession in a Western county jail, for the politicized board of a Southern public library, in the children's room of a university community, and through the up and down economics of a major American city. She has managed branches and…

Advocates the use of the Total Quality Management (TQM) model for libraries to survive financially and to retain their customers. An award for library quality based on the Malcolm Baldridge Award is proposed to enable institutions to use an evaluation procedure that rewards a commitment to continuous improvement. (Contains five references.) (EAM)

After comparing 1976/77 statistics for library acquisitions, services, and administration personnel with those for 1975/76, the document presents lists, arranged alphabetically by the names of the librarians involved, of the following kinds of information: committee memberships and elective offices held in professional organizations; presentations…

Describes the management, programs, and services at the Brown County Library (Wisconsin), winner of the Library of the Year award sponsored by Gale Research Inc, and "Library Journal." Highlights include involvement of library staff; financial support; total quality management; coalitions with local businesses, community agencies, and…

The Virginia Boucher-OCLC Distinguished ILL Librarian Award is the most prestigious commendation given to practitioners in the field. The following questions about ILL were posed to the two most recent recipients of the Boucher Award: Tom Delaney (2002), Coordinator of Interlibrary Loan Services at Colorado State University and Lynn Wiley (2001),…