Librarians play an active, though often unintentional, role in the out-of-school time (OST) field. Libraries are safe spaces, resource hubs, and community centers for children and teens during OST hours; they are places for young people who otherwise might not have anywhere to go. As young people pour into libraries in the afternoons, on weekends,…

In the present article, the educational needs of Iranian rural librarians are investigated. The rural libraries are the only cultural centers of rural communities, and the librarians of these libraries have limited contact with other librarians as well as professional communities. On the other hand, the rural library is one of the few institutions…

Academic libraries, apart from their main function, which is to provide information services to academic communities, may also perform a number of social roles in the broad meaning of the term. Accordingly, they now tend to serve as the third place offering inclusion and animation activities to academic as well as local communities (including…

Currently "Big Data" is an emerging field that presents several Information Technology challenges regarding the capture, storage search, structure, and visualization of this data. The real challenge for organizations is to find ways to extract value from it and provide better services to their clients. The data generated in academic and…

Drawing on ethnographic research, this paper investigates the gendered involvement in early literacy programs at one central library in the Greater Toronto Area. This study consisted of observations and field notes across family literacy programs, along with in-depth interviews with librarians and mother attendees. In particular, this research…

The purpose of the research was to explore the collaboration between public libraries and schools in Hong Kong from the perspective of school librarians. Three school librarians were interviewed (semi-structured), and their responses were thematically analyzed. Collaboration between public libraries and the three schools was well received and…

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…

Libraries are learning hubs that connect families to free resources, activities, and services to cultivate children's learning about topics that excite them. Despite recent technological developments which have revolutionized how we read and access information, libraries continue to evolve in order to serve their communities, especially families…

Many librarians work in public libraries to make a difference for children, families, and communities and identify family and community engagement as a cornerstone of their responsibilities. For librarians to be successful they must be afforded strong foundations in family and community engagement that begin early in their preparation. Yet little…

This article examines the narratives that drive university staff understanding of the concerns and experiences of regional and remote students at five universities in Australia. Interviews were conducted with thirty university staff members over a period of three months in 2018. Reflexive thematic analysis of the stories told by staff of…

Public libraries have long been considered important spaces of adult education and learning. However, major social changes over the past few decades, and the impact these have had on libraries' work, have received little attention. Our three-year cross-national study of libraries in Canada and Britain explored how librarians navigate the discourse…

Current national and international research indicates the summer break can negatively affect students' reading achievement. To counter this effect, our primary school with a range of students worked in collaboration with our local public library to plan and implement a summer reading programme. The purpose of the programme was to increase…

In the United States, individual states have different means of determining and distributing funding. This influences library service and access to information particularly as it pertains to critical Internet access. Funding and service trends have changed, especially as it relates to public libraries, with some modifications working to their…

The Every Child Ready to Read program encourages parents to interact with their children using the five practices of early literacy: singing, talking, reading, writing, and playing. The program is reaching children in high-need communities who are likely to enter school less prepared their wealthier peers. Every Child Ready to Read has found that…

Introduction: Teachers in Finland are demanded to develop students' competencies in information literacy. However, they can meet this demand only by collaborating with public librarians. The aim in this case study was to explore the perspectives of teachers, librarians and students in a problem-based project and to analyse the advantages and…