Western fiction is unique among the major fiction genres recognized by public libraries (which would include romance, mystery, and sf) in that it is defined principally by its physical setting--the American West (usually anywhere west of the Mississippi River) and in particular the frontier territories of the 19th century. The popular conception…

To quote "Will & Grace," the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 7-10, was "a nightmare/delightful!" Five times larger than even the largest library conference, the show's 35 football field-long bazaar of technology marvels and gimmicks--along with thousands of reps hawking them--was almost enough to put a person off…

Prior to retiring from full-time librarianship to concentrate on readers' advisory (RA) consulting, teaching, and book and media discussions, Ted Balcom, longtime administrator of the Villa Park Public Library (VPPL), Illinois, repeatedly demonstrated a particularly effective approach to shoring up essential library support. Balcom, 1996 winner of…

Summer is fast approaching, and it will soon be time to climb the mountains to get their good tidings, as naturalist John Muir put it. In other words, librarians must now prepare for the influx of patrons making weekend recreational and summer vacation plans by stocking up on books and other resources on the great outdoors. Outdoor recreational…

For two professions so committed to meeting the needs of readers, publishers and librarians have distinct cultures. Put simply, one culture is all about developing and selling books; the other is about sharing them and fostering a culture of reading. But there is another basic difference, too. Publishers work closely with authors and use sales…

This article focuses on resources for building successful stepfamilies and parenting children in stepfamily scenarios. While remarriage after divorce is the basis of most stepfamilies, divorced parenting differs from stepfamily parenting and is covered only peripherally in this article. Worthy stepparenting titles emphasize the singularity of…

Since ancient times, the supernatural has captivated storytellers and their audiences. Some of the earliest surviving literary forms--myths and folktales--feature such preternatural beings as gods, ghosts, fairies, witches, or vampires living among humans. Today, this fascination exists in the current boom in urban fantasy, a genre defined by John…

No one likes being two steps behind, and the fastest way to fall off the pace is by not keeping up with major titles and hot authors. Fortunately, there are numerous resources, both prepublication and postpublication, that can help. It is best when readers' advisory (RA) librarians know what is coming out months ahead of time--in order to think…

It's called GoLibrary in the United States and Bokomaten in its native Sweden. Patrons know it as Library-a-Go-Go in Contra Costa County, California, but whatever its name, the automated lending service this materials handling machine provides has proved a tremendous aid in addressing underserved segments of this sprawling community. It's not hard…

Ten years ago, stories like "B&N: The New College Library" (LJ 2/1/98) and "What If You Ran Your Library Like a Bookstore?" (American Libraries, 3/98) kicked up a controversy about the viability of libraries. Ironically, these days it's the book business that has an aura of crisis and gloom, while visits to libraries are surging. Over two billion…

The "greening" of corporate behemoths like Wal-Mart, DuPont, and Toyota has received much media attention in recent years. But consider small businesses: according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, of the estimated 27 million firms in the United States, 99.7 percent have fewer than 500 employees, 97.5 percent have fewer than 20, and more…

If we read to discover new worlds, we also read to find ourselves. For gays and lesbians, this act of discovery can be problematic: literature has so often excluded them. In the last decades, as gays and lesbians have grown increasingly vocal in the effort to secure their rightful place in society, a broad range of fiction has emerged that…

This article talks about Mormonism, which has been sensationalized more often than most other religions. Since before the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and through Mitt Romney's run for the U.S. Presidency, an unprecedented number of news stories have been published about the Mormon faith. Historian Richard Bushman has termed the last…

Corporate librarians hold the key to determining new ways to work within their environments. They must drive the process to change the view of the company library as a liability--as overhead, as a cost center, as part of the problem--to the library as a solution center, a necessary investment. For the sixth consecutive year, corporate libraries…

Social networking and other Web 2.0 technologies led the social whirl of the information industry. Publishers and librarians tried to keep their products and services relevant by mixing authoritative content with user involvement, but that was not enough. Enhancing interfaces, adding new forms of content, and making strategic acquisitions--all are…