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Feature Articles List

Taking Stock: Shelf Space and Allocation

Baltimore County (Md.) Public Library (BCPL) has seventeen branches, aged from one year to many decades old. When a branch is built, we purchase enough of each type of shelving to hold the projected collection, based on types of material. Each new branch is designed to hold a specific collection size. Over time, even with weeding, collections tend to mushroom in some or allareas. Shelves become so full that merchandising is ineffective and browsing is difficult.

Collection Development: Western Philosophy

The word philosophy traces its origins to ancient Greece and can be defined as “love of wisdom.” A philosopher, then—in the broadest sense— is someone who seeks wisdom. These are more than academic platitudes or strained justifications; philosophy touches upon and impacts the foundations of all branches of knowledge. Neither philosophy’s significance to the intellectual landscape of humanity nor its significance to a library’s collection and patrons should be overlooked.

Libraries Without Walls: The Opening of the Carnegie Library at Pittsburgh's Public Market

With looming budget cuts and the challenge of adapting to new technologies, libraries are facing hard times of providing new services while surmounting large funding gaps. Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan once wrote that “He not busy being born is busy dying.”¹ This sentiment is certainly true of libraries, which must constantly reinvent themselves to overcome the challenges of budget cuts and rapid technology changes. For libraries today, the skill of adaptation is necessary for survival.

Community Centered: 23 Reasons Why Your Library is the Most Important Place in Town

As librarians, we know the value of our community services, and our patrons appreciate their importance as well. But in an increasingly digital world, we see the role of libraries as community and cultural centers at times undervalued, and occasionally under fire. When shrinking municipal budgets combine with the nonstop technological revolution, public library services that focus on building community face-to-face, inspiring and educating patrons about art, literature, and music, and helping patrons engage in civil discourse can seem quaint.

Getting Lost: Books, Television, and Integrated Advisory

As the world of entertainment constantly changes, expands, and redefines its borders, so too should the libraries that serve as portals for the pursuit of leisure. Moyer’s handbook Integrated Advisory Service bolsters the argument that there is equal value in all leisure and entertainment. The concept of integrated advisory, which melds “the techniques of readers’ advisory and the multiple media that make up modern library collections,”¹ is a way of making connections between different formats and genres that can maximize library resources.

The Public Library Data Service 2011 Statistical Report: Characteristics and Trends

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

PAWS for Reading: North Carolina Libraries Go to the Dogs

Why would you want a Paws for Reading program in your library, you might ask? Hickory (N.C.) Public Library (HPL) has had a Paws for Reading program since 2006. That summer the theme for its summer reading program was Paws to Read, featuring the popular Ike LaRue series of children's books by Mark Teague. When a volunteer with two reading-dog rott- weilers approached HPL about starting the program, it quickly became popular at both the main Patrick Beaver Memorial Library and the Ridgeview Branch.

How to Hire Delightful Employees: Role-Play Has a Role

Responding to a new emphasis on customer service, managers at the Johnson County (Kans.) Library (JCL) devised new methods for hiring all levels of public services staff, systemwide. We’ve used this new approach since December 2009, and it has brought greater insight to our hiring process. Being delightful is now a goal for our employees, reflecting an outcome of the 2008 strategic plan, Experience Johnson County Library, that our patrons experience “delightful service.”

Choose Civility: Public Libraries Take Center Stage

Duly impressed by the scores of vehicles she’d seen sporting “Choose Civility” car magnets, my new neighbor recently asked, “What, exactly, is Choose Civility?” As I happily explained it to her, I was thrilled to learn that she already knew that Howard County (Md.) Library System (HCLS) was somehow involved (see figure 1). Her real estate agent had informed her she could obtain one of the ubiquitous magnets at any HCLS branch.

Using Social Networking to Connect Teens with Young Adult Literature

Connecting teens to literature, one of the many jobs of a youth services librarian, means meeting teens where they are––and they are online. Using social networking Web 2.0 technologies enables librarians to offer teens the services they want and need in an online environment, thus enhancing traditional teen services.