The St. Croix bookmobile has a greater circulation than both island libraries despite some serious breaks in service caused by equipment failures, lack of personnel, and bad weather. Radical shifts in the island population have added to the service problems by complicating the planning of routes. There has been no signficant change or improvement…

The Silas Bronson Library in Waterbury, Connecticut received a state grant in 1976 to provide increased accessibility to their services through a books-by-mail program. In 1975, 9,750 catalogs listing the books-by-mail collection were mailed to local households. Newspaper publicity requested that households that received the catalogs share them…

The problem of the conflict between the public's right to free libraries and an author's right to just payment for his work is discussed. (16 references) (SJ)

In adapting the concept of an information system to a public library, the Vigo County Library (Indiana) adopted a suspension of fines program. (JB)

This study concerned pre-school programming in public libraries and the impact of such programs on (1) the circulation of children's books and (2) the number of children visiting the library. The hypothesis was that effective programming for pre-schoolers increases the number of children coming to the library, which, in turn, increases…

The Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Public Library holds training sessions for children on the use of audiovisual equipment, and licenses children who have learned how to operate the equipment so they may check it out and take it home. (LS)

This report presents a model developed to examine costs of public library services, such as reference, circulation, and special programs, to be used by librarians in implementing a program budget and planning a budget system. Allocations for personnel costs, materials costs, costs of supplies and services, technical processing costs, reference use…

Indiana's Michigan City Public Library was the first in the nation to serve all regardless of residence and the first to establish a branch library in a large, enclosed, heated shopping mall. The results of these new services are discussed. (Author/NH)

A trial no-fines" policy on children's books yields temporary but inconclusive results, and raises the question: should such library policy be subject to the results of experimentation. (Author)

Conducted in 1979 to discover the extent of library use by Racine area residents, to determine their awareness of library services available, and to form conclusions and recommendations to help increase neighborhood use of the branch library, this study randomly sampled 179 residences using a questionnaire composed of 25 questions. The survey, in…

In 1974, the Ontario Educational Communications Authority (OECA) undertook a study to measure the feasibility of loaning video tape recording equipment and video tapes to home users. A pilot program in one branch library found that, with the assistance of a video instruction package and an instructional booklet, users quickly mastered the…

As a foundation for the future plans of the Leominster (Massachusetts) Public Library, a study was undertaken to: (1) analyze the physical, economic, and demographic characteristics of the community and their implication for library service; (2) evaluate present library services and identify unfilled needs; and (3) identify goals and objectives to…

The purpose of this study is to summarize and evaluate the Alameda County, California library system's two years of operation under a no-fines policy and a centralized overdues facility, leading to recommendations for future action. The objectives of the study are to: (1) present an historical summary of the changes in the library policies and…

Describes the policies and procedures developed at the Vineland Public Library (New Jersey) for a program to lend laptop computers. Discusses laptops for in-library use and for home use; obstacles, including staffing ramifications and maintenance demands; checking for inappropriate Web sites left on the hard drive; and benefits for the users. (LRW)