Explains the concept of Public Lending Right (PLR), which provides for payments to authors based on the circulation of their books by public libraries, and describes the British experience with PLR since 1979. Issues involved in PLR and the possibility of its adoption in the United States are also discussed. (MES)

Provides an approach to dealing with donations and special collections for public libraries serving all sizes of communities with varying levels of funding. Highlights include guidelines for when to accept special collections, how to identify areas of need in the library's collection, and a special collection proposal form. (EM)

Presentation of a scenario in which a city council imposes fees for public library services without consulting the library director or trustees is followed by three analyses of the situation, and ways in which it should be handled by the library director are suggested. (CLB)

Examines library services to Hispanic Americans in general, with reference to the predominantly Hispanic community served by the public library at Fabens, Texas. The concepts of ethnic competence, cultural awareness, and cross-cultural service are discussed in this context. (18 references) (MES)

Discusses the importance of educational and career counseling, and suggests that public libraries take a more active role in providing educational and job information for patrons. (CLB)

Examines the origins of the new emphasis on information in the public library through the work of such authors as Alvin Toffler and John Naisbitt. The effects of technological change on the future of the public library and the role of the library in meeting society's information needs are considered. (MES)

Discussion of the automation of personnel administration in libraries covers (1) new developments in human resource management systems; (2) system requirements; (3) software evaluation; (4) vendor evaluation; (5) selection of a system; (6) training and support; and (7) benefits. (MES)

This study applied discrete choice analysis to the modeling of public library use and choice behavior. Five library use models and two library choice models were estimated from data obtained by a citizen survey in Kashiwa City, Japan. A library choice model was applied to predicting users' library choice under alternative library policies. (17…

Reports on the 1987 Drexel University/Free Library of Philadelphia Conference on Children's Literature. The edited text of the keynote address by Alvin Schwartz, "Children, Humor and Folklore," and the acceptance speech by Deborah Kogan Ray, recipient of the 1987 Drexel Citation, are included. Observations on humor from workshop sessions are…

Provides an overview of issues relating to library services to linguistic, ethnic, and cultural minorities. Following a clarification of the terminology used, the process of immigration is addressed. The role of public libraries in this area and implications for professional associations are then discussed. Twenty-one references are listed. (MES)

Reviews materials on comic books meriting inclusion in a core collection for academic and public libraries. Included are encyclopedias and guidebooks, general histories, collections and anthologies, and books about comic book collecting. Sources of further information on the subject are also briefly discussed. (Author/MES)

Three currently available technologies--telefacsimile, gateway software, and CD-ROM--are defined, and factors to be considered in selecting these technologies for use in public libraries are listed. Seven references are included. (MES)

Describes a public library's newspaper index which provides unique genealogical and historical information, and supplements or replaces lost official records for local counties in the form of a printed index. The process of database design, staffing, software and hardware requirements, working with a programmer, and data entry are explained. (EM)

Review of the status of public library user fees highlights arguments against fees (discrimination against poorer elements of society; libraries provide services of value to society as whole and justify public financing); efficient allocation of resources; situation in Canadian province of Saskatchewan; and the typical Canadian library user. (17…

Describes preparations involved in writing the 115-page "Request for Proposal for the Acquisition, Installation, and Maintenance of an On-Line Integrated Library System for the Genesee District Library" (Flint, Michigan). Preliminary investigations, American Library Association annual conference input, the Automation Task Force,…