The President of ALIA writes about expectations for the Public Libraries Summit, and provides an account of what took place on the day of the meeting, and what has taken place since. In funding terms, the most likely areas of productive engagement with the federal government are considered to be: children, early learning and a literate Australia;…

By and large, there's more active learning going on in libraries these days than in most other places in this society. (Author)

American Library Association standards for public libraries from 1933-1966 are reviewed and analyzed. Directions for standards in the future are discussed. (20 references) (SJ)

Gives a brief overview of a library furniture design project for the Calcasieu Parish Library. Specifications and illustrations for five nonseating items are included. (EA)

Over the past decade and a half, free access to computers and the Internet in U.S. public libraries evolved from a rare commodity into a core service. Now, people from all walks of life rely on this service every day to look for jobs, find health care, and read the latest news. As the nation struggled through a historic recession, nearly one-third…

This paper presents the Fort Washakie School/Community Library and Technology Center, cowinner of this year's SLJ/Thomson Gale Giant Step Award. Nearly four years old, this combination school-and-public library is located in the town of Fort Washakie, on the Wind River Indian Reservation, a vast 2.8-million-acre tract about a three-hour drive…

As Literacy Outreach Coordinator for Opportunity to Read (OTR), the Watsonville (CA) Public Library literacy program, this author has recognized the concept of responsibility through example. Adult learners incorporate concepts easily when these concepts are specifically demonstrated for them by someone similar to them. Sounds simple, but putting…

Public libraries deliver many benefits to their patrons, but understanding these benefits in terms of dollars-and-cents is difficult. In an effort to quantify the return on investment to taxpayers for monies invested in public libraries, the Library Research Service (LRS) initiated the study, "Public Libraries -- A Wise Investment: A Return…

The use of interactive web technologies on public library web sites in the United States has been a topic of much discussion in recent years, and a shift in certain types of user services is underway. Terms like "Web 2.0" and even "Library 2.0" have become common in library literature and at conferences as those on the early…

The American Library Association encourages public libraries to extend their services to people in jails and detention centers, but there is little research that shows exactly how many libraries do so. Research shows that 54% of juveniles arrested are not sent to residential facilities but instead receive court ordered probation into an Intensive…

"California Library Laws 2008" is a selective guide to state laws and related materials that most directly affect the everyday operations of public libraries and organizations that work with public libraries. It is intended as a convenient reference, not as a replacement for the annotated codes or for legal advice. The guide is organized…