This article discusses a public service review and redesign that resulted in a blended service desk combining reference and circulation functions, staffed by nonlibrarians. The redesign implements a number of organizational structures that encourage service excellence, as found in the business literature and in examples of nonlibrary organizations…

Despite the clear negative impact of high textbook costs on students, limits--including space, funding, and policies--prevent many academic libraries from fully supporting textbook collections. Partnering with other campus units on textbook lending requires creative thinking but can provide students access to other services in addition to the…

In 2011 the University of Wollongong Library undertook a significant review of its Resource Sharing services. This was prompted by constraints in the systems supporting this service, changes to the Library's key suppliers, Infotrieve Australia and the British Library Document Supply Service, and the need to deliver effective library services…

In this article St. Vrain Valley (CO) School District (SVVSD) librarian, Holli Buchter describes what took place in the school libraries in the district when the newest elementary school, Red Hawk, opened its doors. Red Hawk asked and answered the question: "Is the Dewey Decimal Classification system still the best way for students to locate…

This report presents findings from RAND's evaluation of the Appalachian Renaissance Initiative (ARI) in 17 districts totaling 99 kindergarten-12th grade schools within the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative (KVEC). The initiative took place from the 2014-2015 through 2017-2018 academic years. The evaluation examined various aspects of ARI…

In 2007, New York University's Bobst Library assembled a group of staff charged with suggesting improvements to circulation policy. As a result of these efforts many changes were implemented at the beginning of the 2007-2008 academic year, including extended loan periods and the elimination of routine daily overdue fines. The changes were…

The theory of expansive learning has been applied in a large number of studies on workplace learning and organizational change. However, detailed comprehensive analyses of entire developmental interventions based on the theory of expansive learning do not exist. Such a study is needed to examine the empirical usability and methodological rigor…

Four librarians from Irish university libraries completed the U.K. Future Leaders Programme (FLP) in 2010. In this article they recount their experience and assess the effect of the programme on their professional practice and the value for their institutions. The programme is explored in the context of the Irish higher education environment,…

Public libraries in Europe have supported lifelong learning for the past 500 years. Since the Lisbon Strategy emphasized the role of lifelong learning in economic policy, public libraries have been repositioning their services to respond to this new context. In some cases, these roles are undertaken with limited legislative or strategic changes…

Living inside built environments--infrastructure--it is easy to take for granted the things that we do not need to engage, but are at work behind the scenes nonetheless. Well-designed systems become invisible, but to engage them, how do we know which perspectives, objects, and relationships are useful? I examine the University of Michigan Digital…

This article uses Wellington City Libraries as the basis for a case study of a future-focused, reorganized staffing structure in a public library network. It covers the change from why, how, departure from a building-based hierarchical structure, new staff and line responsibilities, union involvement, implications for staff training to culture and…

The practicum sought to identify areas of relative strength and weakness in support for the Saint Leo College (Florida) Library Acquisitions Project, a project to improve library support to the Military Education Program administered by Saint Leo College on military installations throughout the Southeast. Using the Interactive Forces Theory of…

This article examines staff training from a different perspective, as a means of transmitting organizational culture to student employees through a closer communication between career and student part-time employees. Results of a qualitative survey suggest communication supports multigenerational relationships and administrators who invest in…

Ryan Information Management conducted a return on investment (ROI) study of the economic value of the Hawaii State Public Library System (HSPLS) and identified potential additional sources of operating revenue. HSPLS economic value was examined from four viewpoints, HSPLS: direct economic impact, market value, peer comparison and value to library…

Academic liaison--the two-way communication between a particular academic area and the library, focused through an individual or group of library staff--has received little attention in the debate about performance measurement. Changes have taken place in higher education libraries in both scale, with the growth of student numbers, and intent,…