Pennsylvania school librarians have ongoing professional learning opportunities to build compelling and inclusive experiences for learners in their libraries and within the school community. From learning the basics about the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Integrated Standards Frameworks to building innovative curriculum and…

This report presents strategies for providing efficient and affordable interlending of actual physical items from special collections for research purposes, as well as advice on determining if a loan is the most appropriate way to fulfill a particular request. Lending physical items ranks among the most divisive issues in the field of archives and…

This article presents a perspective on how the restructuring of a historically black university's library and resulting closure of its special collections and archives puts important records pertaining to African American history in jeopardy. This article traces the recent history of special collections and archives at the Lincoln University…

One of the toughest challenges in an academic library systems office is how to manage and present the extensive selection of electronic resources from a variety of vendors. At York College of Pennsylvania, the authors participated in an admissions-driven web revision cycle and used a campus-provided CMS for 8 years. During this time, they tried…

Everyone in the business of raising funds for graduate and professional schools knows that the effort has certain challenges. Deborah McCreery, of Widener University School of Law, identifies two main hurdles to alumni fundraising at Widener Law: (1) student loan debt; and (2) a perception problem. At Widener Law and other professional and…

Ask Here PA is Pennsylvania's new statewide live chat reference and information service. This article discusses the key strategies utilized by Ask Here PA administrators to recruit participating libraries to contribute staff time to the service, the importance of centralized staff training, the main aspects of staff training, and activating the…

Pennsylvania public libraries began receiving increased allotments of state aid in 2000. In the first two years of enhancement aid, total state aid received by Pennsylvania libraries more than doubled. This reversed the trend of little growth in the years preceding 2000. The enhancement aid program also redesigned certain categories of state aid…

At Dickenson College, librarians have found ways, such as professional sharing, to become more significant partners with faculty and students in the educational mission of the college. This is one of the top five winners in American Libraries' competition to identify innovative library programs. (LLS)

This report of the 95-member Council for the Comprehensive Plan for Libraries, which included representatives from government, libraries, and the public sector, is not intended to answer all the questions for all those concerned about the future of libraries, but rather to bring focus to the issues and to set a direction for solving the problems…

Describes a study that examined the impact of federated library systems on member library services, resources, and operations in Pennsylvania. The discussion includes a rationale for the research methodology used, and comments on the absence of reliable library statistics and published reports as a basis for comparison with pre-systems situations.…

The major purpose of this brief descriptive study was to determine the levels of professional and support staffing within the administrative, technical, public, and media services areas of Pennsylvania's private college libraries. The study also includes comparative data on student assistant staffing. Questionnaires were mailed to library…

This report presents the results of a major 5-year review by the State Library of Pennsylvania Advisory Council on Library Development of the 1984 Comprehensive Plan for Library Service in Pennsylvania, together with related resolutions adopted by delegates to the 1990 Governor's Conference on Library and Information Services. The council review…