Discusses several economic concepts and principles important for librarianship--opportunity cost, resources, assets, and investment--and notes the difficulty of placing a monetary value on patron benefits. The law of diminishing marginal returns is applied to the relationships between library services and collection size, and between investment in…

Suggests that gender is irrelevant to good library management, questions the argument that women make better managers because they are more nurturing, and stresses the need to challenge preconceptions about the roles of working parents if representation of the sexes among library managers is to reflect the librarian population. (EM)

Recommends that library administrators turn to public administration models in preference to business administration models for network management; this choice is predicated on the not-for-profit aspects of public service organizations. (RAA)

Discusses planning "future of the catalog" decisions given AACR2 and suggests that courses of action for small libraries may be developed through self-study and by reference to a list of 11 resources. (RAA)

Describes the Bibliographic Service Development Program begun in 1978 by the Council on Library Resources. The program's goals include (1) providing effective bibliographic services for all who need them, (2) improving the nature and quality of bibliographic products, and (3) stabilizing the costs of many bibliographic processes in individual…

Reviews current methods of public library financing through governmental support at the local, state, and federal level. The imposition of user fees is proposed as a method of preserving equity; i.e., individuals receiving the benefits would bear the costs. (JVP)

Examines the role of the library in contemporary society and discusses the various options available for their fiscal support in the future. The use of user fees to finance selected services--to expand some and improve others--is advocated only as a supplement to support from general tax revenue. (Author/JVP)

Suggests guidelines for library administrators in dealing with employee substance abuse and related problems. Early warning signs are listed, general organizational approaches (i.e., the write-off approach vs the treatment approach) are discussed and actions that should be taken are described as well as actions that should be avoided. (7…

Discusses mentoring among entry-level librarians and examines whether mentor-protege relationships are truly beneficial. Topics addressed include career advancement for women, the role of library management, staff training and development practices, and advocacy for the library profession. (LRW)

Many movers and shakers inspire admiration and even awe, but those who inspire love are the mentors who have changed lives. That is why many grateful librarians nominated Linda Golian-Lui and George Oberle. Both of them were accidental librarians, work-study students whose supervisors encouraged them to become paraprofessionals, and then…

Three months after Darcy Cahill was promoted to head the Randallstown branch of the Baltimore County Public Library (BCPL), at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning, the branch suffered a devastating fire. When firefighters finally contained the blaze, she was shocked to see the building drenched and in disarray. This article gives a detailed description…

From the ascendance of the reference database and web sites offering endless opportunities for cyber-promotion to the crowds swarming through the doors to avail themselves of new computers, the Internet has transformed the way public libraries do business. That is not news. What is exciting, though, is how the Internet continues to change public…

Reports results of a biennial survey of public libraries serving populations of 100,000 or more, including data on per capita expenditures, directors' salaries, and beginning professional salaries. Sixteen tables break down data by region, size of population, and sex of director. Three references are listed. (MES)

Excerpts from a new book by Kenneth R. Shaffer entitled Decision Making; A Seminar in Public Library Management." (Author)

Examines trends contributing to a high attrition rate among academic library directors: (1) growth of enrollment; (2) changes in the university presidency; (3) proliferation in university management; (4) changes in the world of learning and research; (5) inflation; and (6) technology. Other pressures and possible solutions are also discussed. (10…