Providing Bipartisan Service in the 2020 Election Year A few weeks ago, a patron approached the reference desk to request that we buy a book titled Unfreedom of the Press by Mark R. Levin. My first reaction was to recoil. Should we be buying a book that fills patrons’ heads with this kind of nonsense, […]
In this webinar presenters will clarify the concept of trauma-informed approaches; detail what this looks like in a public library environment; and preview how understanding and beginning to implement this approach can aid your community and your library.
I had many parents and caregivers call in and ask what the recommended age for the program was. I find this question difficult to answer because children develop at their own rate. Compatibility is not a question of age, but of interest and focus.
We gladly assisted wherever we could and not once did we ever inquire about their “legal” status. They came in, asked for assistance, and we provided that assistance to them.
Public libraries can play a central role in helping community members learn about and apply for these jobs, and a new tip sheet from the ALA can help.
This documentary succeeds in part because of Director Avi Belkin’s skillful use of archival footage to show us how Wallace interacted with public figures ranging from Richard Nixon and Vladimir Putin to Malcolm X and Barbara Streisand.
Managers, avoid these common pitfalls, and stop stressing over employee reviews.
The author of One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps talks with Public Libraries Online about Concentration Camps and the Challenges of Combating Misinformation
Over the past ten years public libraries around the country have been bringing in social workers to connect with and assist customers experiencing life challenges. Some library systems have added social workers to the staff while other systems partner with government agencies and nonprofit organizations that detail a social worker to the library. From Alaska […]
As the presence of 3-D printers grows in public libraries across the nation, patrons utilize them for custom orders and librarians continue to question and discover new ways for their usage to be incorporated into library programming and the overall mission of building community.
The Public Library Innovation Exchange Fosters Creativity and STEAM Programming Central to the mission of public libraries is the facilitation of self-directed learning for all members of the community. Now more than ever, learning includes not just the ability to consume information in the form of text, but the ability to create and share information […]
Just before the 2019 ALA Annual Conference, it was my pleasure to participate in the first-ever Knight Public Spaces Forum in Philadelphia. More than 250 people from across the country, including staff from parks, community foundations, libraries, and arts organizations, joined Knight Foundation staff and government leaders to discuss our civic commons and efforts to […]
21st century public libraries are adapting their internal structures to serve their patrons and communities in new ways. An informal look at public library structures from around the country shows they are becoming flatter organizations. Middle management or “deputy director” positions are not common. Directors often have more than five direct reports. Many support functions, […]
We talk library marketing and PR with Cordelia Anderson, a marketing and communications consultant who works primarily with libraries and nonprofits. She is also the former director of marketing and communications at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Library in North Carolina. Anderson shares her concept of the library marketing funnel, understanding the library user’s wants and needs, the importance of the overall customer experience, and finding where library users are dropping off at your library.
In this post-truth age of fake news and filter bubbles, what are public libraries across the U.S. doing to help community members become more discerning users of media information?
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