Utah's libraries were perceived as instruments for "the establishment of a recognized social order" by each successive group that came to power and were often founded as the result of conflict between Mormon culture and the larger American society. On their arrival, Mormons established libraries primarily to provide access to information…

The Mass-Observation Archive at the University of Sussex sends regular "directives" to its panel of volunteer correspondents around the UK asking them to reflect on various issues relating to the day-to-day lives of ordinary people. Two directives from the 1980s and 1990s relate to libraries, books and reading habits. These sets of…

The surprising success of Live Homework Help, a product of Tutor.com unknown to libraries before 2001, is in very large part owing to the company's effort to understand library funding and help libraries tap into all kinds of potential funding sources. The story is a model for partnerships between other companies and libraries. For the people of…

The Northeast Kansas Library System's filtering project started out as a response to the passage of CIPA, the Children's Internet Protection Act, in January 2001. Originally called "onGuard," it was a service that the Northeast Kansas Library System created for its members. When the Supreme Court ruling did uphold the constitutionality…

The South Dakota Arts Council submitted this FY 2006 annual report to the Governor and Legislature. It presents the 530 grants that were awarded with funds from the State of South Dakota and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Fiscal Year 2006 grant funds of $977,000 generated $12 million in local cash matching funds. These…

Issues 248 through 255 of "Fast Facts" from the Library Research Service present data gleaned from libraries in Colorado and across the nation. Topics addressed in these "Fast Facts" from 2007 include the library labor market, the benefits to libraries of using a statewide courier service, and the results of a patron survey at…

This document reports request for a total of $271,246,000 for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for Fiscal Year 2008. Funds are designed to assist the Institute in expanding its leadership role in creating an informed and educated citizenry, and transmitting the values of American democracy. In recent years the Institute has…

The purpose of this research was to explore the possible roles and responsibilities that public libraries might assume in the National Information Infrastructure (NII). Data was collected from September 1994 through June 1995, relying on the following data collection techniques: focus groups, personal interviews, survey data analysis, case…

This report summarizes findings from the State Library of Florida's "Evaluation of Statewide Youth Services Program" project. The project was designed to assist the State Library of Florida in developing a long-range plan for youth services and to link the public library effort to "Blueprint 2000," the Florida education goals,…

A survey of the reference departments of public libraries in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah was conducted to determine whether CD-ROM products are being used in routine reference work. Previous literature on CD-ROM had primarily been concerned with the response to and acceptance of the technology by patrons. A stratified sample of public…

This document presents a summary of public library statistics collected from fiscal years 1988 through 1993. Statistical information is included on library circulation and interlibrary loan; collections; income; expenditures; expenditures and collections; staff and volunteers; and hours, attendance, reference, and programs. The tables and graphs…

This survey investigated the services offered to older adults by public libraries in northeastern Ohio. Questionnaires were mailed to 120 public libraries in that region, and 80 (66.6%) of them were returned. The responding libraries were divided into three categories based on the size of their service population: (1) over 50,000 people (16.3%);…

This document tabulates the results of a 1994 survey of public library funding in Michigan. The survey discovered that 68.8% of public library funds are provided by local tax support, 13.7% by penal fines awarded to libraries by court systems which have received income for violations of state laws, 7.6% by state aid, and 9.9% by other means, such…

This directory of Alaska's Libraries lists: members of the Alaska Library Association (AkLA) Executive Council and Committee Chairs; State Board of Education members; members of the Governor's Advisory Council on Libraries; school, academic and public libraries and their addresses, phone and fax numbers, and contact persons; personal,…

This paper describes the status of library services in Natal, South Africa. Fragmented services dominate the area, with public, urban, and school libraries existing in complete autonomy from each other and ambivalent about each other's existence. Within school libraries, provision of services varies widely and reflects the wider apartheid…