This booklet, one of a series of background information papers for the White House Conference, outlines and discusses the important issues of professionalism facing libraries, librarians, and library schools. Public librarians are being asked to assume new roles and perform new tasks for which they are increasingly unable to adequately and…

Only 1 in 20 library directors serving communities of fewer than 2,500 people have an Master of Library Science degree or equivalent. This article examines problems facing small and rural public libraries and the necessity for a new form of librarianship brought about by the Internet. Proposes a professional action plan for library staff…

Presents eight responses from individuals reacting to Suprenant's and Perry-Holmes's article entitled "Reference Librarian of the Future" (RQ, Winter, 1985). Topics covered in the responses include the information poor, information consultants, information interpretation, library education, the human element, revitalizing reference…