No one other than Nancy Pearl has so convinced Americans that libraries, books, and reading are critical to our communities. Her passionate advocacy has done that nationwide for thousands of individual readers and library workers in the trenches at the local level. She has spread book lust via broadcasts to the nation on National Public Radio's…

Librarians, like patrons and researchers, are caught between traditional library service models and the promise of evolving information technologies. In recent years, professional conferences have strategically featured programs and presentations geared toward building a mobile agenda and adapting or adopting services to meet new demands of mobile…

The heart of the public library mission is to provide service to the entire community and serve the underserved. But how does a library identify the people it is not reaching, where they live, and what they need? And what does it mean for a library's services if in its community the underserved are not also underprivileged? Contrary to popular…

Six years ago, the author shared some strategies on managing a cutback ("Budget Shortfalls," "Library Journal" 5/15/03, p. 34-35). Now, people are in an even more severe economic downturn. In this article, the author offers some additional tips on how to cope with more budget shortfalls during this recession.

In the summer of 2006, the New York City-based Spanish-language newspaper "La Prensa" ran a series of articles on the surprisingly stressful life of the young Latina in America. The series brought to light grim statistics uncovered in the academic community that had largely escaped the mainstream. Namely, young Latinas--ages 12-17--are more likely…

Public will--which effectively positions libraries as the critical educational, social, cultural, and recreational resource they so clearly are--goes beyond better promotion, clearer communication, or more partnerships to infect the people in a community with the bug to act on their notion that libraries are good and to turn belief into action.…

Describes a project at the San Bernardino Public Library designed to integrate microcomputers into library public services. Program elements include: (1) a microcomputer laboratory; (2) ongoing computer education classes; (3) access to online databases; (4) a 24-hour communications link between the library and community; and (5) a career…

A study of library services to hospitalized patients since 1971 in the greater Providence, Rhode Island, area. (LS)

An innovative program for senior citizens, available through Wisconsin public libraries, furnishes multi-media kits designed to bring back memories of county fairs, train rides, and other familiar experiences. (JAB)

Reviews demographic and health data on older Americans and describes services at the Topeka Public Library that are targeted to serve adults aged 75 and older, including selection and delivery of books to shut-ins and nursing homes, materials and information for the visually handicapped, and special programing. (8 references) (MES)

Description of a mobile information center that provides public information on local events, municipal ordinances, employment, taxes, social security, planned parenthood, welfare, adoption laws, and other topics. The project has been deemed successful because it offers the public an opportunity to communicate face to face in a nonthreatening…

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)

The harsh realities public libraries must face include the low esteem in which cities are held, city-dwellers' doubt of themselves, shrinking financial resources, and decreased readership. (Author/PF)

Advocates development of libraries through statewide approach, using as an example the West Virginia library system where a conference on libraries was sponsored to increase citizen awareness and involvement. Workshops, outreach programs, open access, and library sharing are tools mentioned to make the library more useful to the individual. (SW)

Discusses private fundraising initiatives for public libraries, often through special foundations with full-time fundraisers. Highlights include experiences at the Public Library of Des Moines Foundation; metropolitan, suburban, and small public library initiatives; fundraising on the Web; effects on public support; outreach programs; bequests;…