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Feature Articles List

Baiting the Hook: Grabbing the Elusive Non-User With Arresting Ads

With its array of programs and services for a diverse public, Queens (N.Y.) Library (QL), is well positioned to serve its users of all ages—whether they’re babies, children, teens, adults, or senior citizens. Similar to public library systems across the country, we offer so much more than books, magazines, CDs, and DVDs. We have thousands of free programs each year, and offer free Internet and Wi-Fi throughout each of our neighborhood libraries. Our job information centers help people find work and also offer assistance with résumés and cover letters.

Characteristics and Trends in the Public Library Data Service Report

Access to timely and relevant data is an essential component for public libraries. The Public Library Data Service (PLDS) survey has been providing such data to the library community since 1988. PLDS is an annual survey conducted on behalf of the Public Library Association (PLA) where public libraries from the United States and Canada have provided information on finances, library resources, annual use figures, technology, and additional yearly special categories.

Thrilling Tales: How to Do an Adult Storytime at Your Library, and Why

It is Monday morning at the downtown library. Patrons drop by to pick up their reserves; classes of children flock to storytime; and regulars settle in to chat, read, and ruminate. As the noon hour strikes, people gather in the auditorium, doffing raincoats, unpacking lunches or needlepoint. They are men and women, young and old, singles and couples, and groups. The spiraling strains of Bernard Herrmann’s soundtrack to Vertigo die down, the house lights dim, and the crowd settles into an expectant
hush.

Improving Storytime Delivery with Peer Coaching

From the outset, Maryland Public Libraries (MPL) have been striving toward the same goals as the Public Library Association (PLA) and Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) Every Child Ready to Read @ your library® (ECRR) initiative, with a popular 2001–02 campaign called It’s Never Too Early. It wasn’t immediately obvious after the well-received and highly praised
emergent literacy training program that many storytime presenters did not implement what they learned.

Special Services in Special Times: Responding to Changed Information Needs During and After Community-Based Disasters

In disasters, such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, pandemics, or terrorist attacks, which can affect a whole community and not just a single institution, librarians may be called upon to provide new and modified information services to users whose information needs have suddenly changed, at the same time that access to information resources has dramatically diminished. Traditional disaster planning for libraries has often focused on the preservation of staff, collections,
and the physical plant itself rather than on the provision of information services.

Getting the Most from Donations

In a recent informal survey, I asked librarians whether they considered donations of materials to their library a blessing or a curse—or somewhere in between. Not surprisingly, the responses were all over the map. Many praised donations as an unalloyed blessing, often despite the fact that they are a lot of work. Many gave them actual percentage rankings, ranging from 92 percent blessing to only 10 percent.

Reconnecting with Reading

Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Public Library (CCPL) is one of nine library systems in Cuyahoga County. It has twenty-eight branches that serve forty-seven communities. Though the population in Cuyahoga County has decreased steadily in recent years, CCPL’s circulation continues to climb. Since 2005, our circulation has increased 35 percent and customer visits have increased 19 percent. CCPL consistently ranks among the ten busiest library systems in the U.S. Last year, we circulated more than 19 million items.

Jack-of-All Trades Readers Advisory - How To Learn a Little About A Lot

When it comes to the study of readers’ advisory, there is plenty of sage advice out there on the theory of helping someone find a book. It’s important to get to know what your reader is in the mood for. Try to understand what your reader is looking for by asking questions regarding what they’ve read recently, what they enjoy or don’t enjoy in their books, what are some of their favorite books and authors? All readers’ advisors should be aware of different appeal factors and what they mean: mood/tone, language, story, character, and so on.

Selling the Classics

Not long ago I recommended to a friend that she read one of my favorite novels, Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary.1 I told her of its universal recognition as a first-tier classic, and I hoped to convince her further by offering what I thought at the time was an intriguing hypothetical scenario: How impressive she would be at her next social event by being able to say, "Madame Bovary? Why, of course, I’ve read Madame Bovary."She accepted my challenge to take up this reading opportunity, keeping me informed of her reaction at various points.

Welcoming Newcomers with Practical Library Programs

Tu Biblioteca Hoy/Your Library Today (TBH) is the name for Denver Public Library’s (DPL) programming effort that targets new immigrants and economically and educationally disadvantaged residents. TBH offers practical programs like English Language Learning (ELL), computer instruction, GED, and citizenship study groups and makes materials available in the library to support these programs. TBH also sponsors cultural activities for kids when the adult programs are taking place so that lack of child care is not an obstacle for parents wanting to attend programs.