It is not surprising that the Library of Congress would be defined as our national monument of art given the scale of the project, its federal sponsorship, and its posture as a public library with access to all Americans. Paralleling the assumption of the Library of Congress as not merely a building for housing books but a ritualistic center of…

With the recession, library budgets have been hit hard just as demand keeps climbing, a paradox that creates a resource gap for even the best-off libraries. Short term, the recession has library leaders scrambling to find ways to close the money gap and keep core services alive. Long term, it has them thinking about how to stabilize their…

In 2008 and 2009, the Edmonton Public Library (EPL), where the author works as an information professional, completed a $6 million CDN (about $5.7 million) RFID conversion project with the installation of automated check-in and sorting equipment at six of its 17 service points. The sorters currently handle about 55% of EPL's system's total…

This study aims to identify the career movement patterns of librarians, analyze factors influencing their career movements, and compare differences in such factors between librarians and chief librarians. Findings showed that the jobs with the highest retention rate were those in public libraries, that library automation system developers showed…

The purpose of this study was to describe the methods--including practices, policies, and roles--used by public and academic library staff in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Racial and Ethnic Approach to Community Health (REACH) intervention that proved successful in reducing or eliminating several diabetes-related health…

With their explosive sales and widespread availability over the past few years, e-books have definitively proven that they're here to stay. In this sequel to her best-selling book of the same title, expert Polanka dives even deeper into the world of digital distribution. Contributors from across the e-book world offer their perspectives on what's…

This article reports on a research study investigating the attitude of twelve- to fifteen-year-old residents of an Eastern Canadian regional municipality to the public library. Phase 1, a quantitative survey, analyzes overall satisfaction ratings and frequency of use of the public library. Phase 2 uses qualitative methodology (focus groups) to…

Since their inception, free public libraries have been a source of information, knowledge and culture for all. They are spaces where anyone can go, for as long as they like, without feeling pressure to buy anything, and without feeling judged for whatever it is they want to read. For these reasons, library services are crucial to adults who wish…

Career and technical education (CTE) has grown and changed tremendously over the past 20 years. While great strides have been made in upgrading CTE in Maryland, many parents, students, policymakers and community members were not familiar with the "new and improved" CTE. In a bid to spread the word about the "new and improved"…

This article presents an interview with Karen Glover of Georgia Tech, a key person behind the planning of the Access Services Conference held last fall, and now going into its second year. Glover started working in libraries as a part-time library assistant at her local public library during her high school years. She later became a Circulation…

This essay served as the basis for the opening keynote speech during the Library Assessment Conference in Baltimore in 2010. It set the stage by tracing the demands for accountability in the beginning of the century and outlining progress made. It provided important background and context for the following four keynote papers delivered by Megan…

On 1 January 2012, early-childhood and out-of-school-hours care services were mandated to begin working under a new framework, designed to deliver greater consistency in service provision across the sector. With the aim of raising quality and driving continuous improvement through consistency among services and service ratings, the National…

Although public library programs for the elementary grades offer explorations in a wide range of topics in which mathematics plays a role, are all too rare: Mathematics offerings are typically limited to homework help. Participating in out-of-school activities that embed mathematics in authentic ways bolsters children's skill development,…

Public libraries are heavily affected by political and policy-making processes that shape the funding, activities, and roles of libraries in society, with the explosion of information policy decisions in the past two decades significantly increasing the responsibilities of libraries while also increasing limitations on their activities. Research…

This research examined the functions and roles of public library systems in New York State and the services they provide for individual libraries and the public. The dissertation further studied the service decision-making processes at three selected New York State cooperative public library systems. Public library systems have played an important…