This study examines perceptions of provosts from Canadian research-intensive universities regarding their institution's academic libraries. Interviews conducted with nine provosts explored how they perceive academic libraries in terms of alignment with institutional mission, how they envision the future of their libraries, and what they interpret…

This article explores the closing of the Howard Ross Library of Management at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. We hypothesized that closing a branch library would result in a decline in the use of library services. We measured library service using circulation statistics, library instruction workshop statistics, and data from the online survey…

Children and youth learn in countless ways, anywhere, anytime. And one of the most powerful levers of children's learning--from the early childhood years through adolescence--is families. For families, libraries provide the books, media, and activities that help them open doors for children's literacy and lifelong learning. Libraries are poised to…

There is no national policy for school libraries which compels school governing bodies and principals to have a library in their schools. It is thus not surprising that in 2011, only 21% of state schools had libraries, only 7% had stocked libraries and 79% of schools had no library at all (Department of Basic Education (DBE) Republic of South…

This research examined the functions and roles of public library systems in New York State and the services they provide for individual libraries and the public. The dissertation further studied the service decision-making processes at three selected New York State cooperative public library systems. Public library systems have played an important…

Today's library is still at the heart of all university activities, helping students and faculty become better learners, teachers, and researchers. In recent years there has emerged the formalizing of one or more of these activities into an Academic Commons. These centers of information have been labeled variously but they all share a commonality:…

Positive relationships between administrators and school librarians were essential for increasing awareness of, and promoting advocacy for, school librarians who successfully fulfilled their six professional roles in contributing to school improvement and serving as additional educational leaders. The six professional roles of 21st century school…

This user's guide was developed to advance local planning at ARL member libraries. It is written for library leaders writ large and for anyone leading or contributing to research library planning processes. Users do not need advanced facilitation skills to benefit from this guide, but facilitators charged with supporting scenario planning will…

As more and more New Yorkers turn to digital books, Wikipedia and other online tools for information and entertainment, there is a growing sense that the age of the public library is over. But, in reality, New York City's public libraries are more essential than ever. Far from becoming obsolete, the city's three public library systems--Brooklyn,…

The main purpose of this paper is to discuss the political and strategic skills needed by library leaders in today's library environment. The discussion is based on a small scale research project focused on opinions of skills needed by library leaders. The survey involved a questionnaire of librarianship students and library practitioners as well…

The Excelsior College Library is turning fearful faculty members into empowered copyright role models. Geared towards institutions operating without a copyright policy or department, this article outlines a three-step process for fostering faculty collaboration surrounding copyright practices: (1) Give faculty and course developers the tools and…

The purpose of this multi-case study was to describe how library deans and directors at large comprehensive community colleges strategically advocate for and support instructional and technological innovation despite the reality of limited resources and the stress caused by recurring funding crises in higher education. It further sought to examine…

The latest and most comprehensive assessment of public librarians' education and career paths to date, this important volume reports on a large-scale research project performed by authors Jose-Marie Griffiths and Donald W. King. Presented in collaboration with the Office for Research and Statistics (ORS), the book includes an examination of trends…

For-profit schools constitute the fastest-growing sector of higher education institutions in the United States. Yet accompanying the phenomenal growth of these proprietary colleges and universities has been considerable controversy over the role that the profit motive should play in higher education. The literature of higher education contains…

Technology has changed the school yard or neighborhood bully. It no longer requires physical intimidation to be a bully. In fact, bullying can be done anonymously, on or off campus, and physical size does not enter into the scenario. Every year headlines identify children who take their own lives as a result of being victims of various forms of…