This article details the findings from Project LOCAL (Library Outreach as a Community Anchor in Learning), a mixed-methods study that explored how public libraries contribute to educational equity by going into community locations to reach and serve families and children in underserved communities who cannot come into the library due to a variety…

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…

This compilation of primarily narrative reports from 24 federal projects funded by the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) and administered by the California State Library covers the period 1985-1987, with further reports to be published approximately every other year. Each report--excerpted from a standardized summary report form--is…

Library service programs during the 1960s were mainly supported by federal funds. Since 1969 the costs of these programs seem to have been absorbed into regular library budgets. (PF)

One of a series on library services to disadvantaged adults, this guide suggests ways the public library can use volunteers to expand library services. The library should plan to its volunteer program and develop job descriptions for the volunteers. Then volunteers can be recruited through advertising or community organizations. Volunteers can be…

The North Shore Community College Library Training Institute, "Serving the Under-Served", was a five-day conference of public and community college librarians, designed to foster cooperation and communication and to focus attention on those people not being adequately served by either type of library. The activities of the Institute,…

Explores the library and information needs of the aged and the functionally illiterate. (PF)

Disadvantaged adults who need the information a library can provide include those who are poor, in the minority, aging, institutionalized, or handicapped. Methods used to recruit these potential patrons may include the media, mailings, exhibits, posters and billboards, personal contact, classes, bookmobiles, speakers, and advisory committees. Some…

Designed as an annotated guide, this preliminary catalog highlights and describes 30 promising library projects in 10 states that were originally funded under the Library Services and Construction Act. The description of each program includes a one or two paragraph description and information on users, facilities required, financial requirements,…

Urban public libraries are confronted with a decreasing demand for traditional, book-oriented library services. In Detroit, library outreach programs attempted to encourage disadvantaged people to use the library with little success. The information that people needed in their everyday lives was not to be found in the library. To correct this…

One of a series on library services to disadvantaged adults, this guide suggests several ways a library can provide books by mail services. Mail order delivery is a way of making the library's collection available to many who are unable or unwilling to visit the library building. The system can be handled by clerks or volunteers. Planning should…

A deposit collection of library materials in a familiar place may be the only way disadvantaged adults will learn that the public library has something for them. Many libraries have used deposit collections successfully in serving this group by placing them in classrooms, in bookmobiles, in crossroads stores, in private homes, in clinic waiting…

Provides a list of traditional and nontraditional services and programs offered by Illinois public libraries to special populations, including educationally, culturally, and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups; ethnic minority groups; illiterates; the elderly; visually impaired; hearing impaired; emotionally disabled; and residents of state,…

Guidelines are given for expanding library hours so that disadvantaged adults may use library facilities and services on nights and weekends. There are discussions of cost, staffing, security problems, and publicity. Shifting library, bookmobile, and special programs to different hours; moving some programs outside the library; and special…

This publication highlights sixty-two outstanding projects originally funded under the Library Services and Construction Act. Designed as a descriptive, annotated guide, the catalog shares information about library programs selected from 34 states and territories to exemplify some of the diverse services stimulated by Federal funds. These…