In the past three years, the Union County Carnegie Library (UCCL) in South Carolina has "been transformed." The library board, selected by the county supervisors, knew something had to be done. In October 2005, the board hired Nancy E. Rosenwald as UCCL director. Longing to get back to South Carolina from western Connecticut, Rosenwald…

Today's young adult (YA) literature is every bit as complex as the audience it's written for, unflinchingly addressing such topics as homosexuality, mental illness, AIDS and drug abuse. In this much expanded revision of his 1996 book, veteran author Michael Cart shows how the best of contemporary YA lit has evolved to tackle such daunting subjects…

Libraries have traditionally tended to be one of the few institutionally provided public resources for local residents in poor, urban, neighborhoods. This paper presents findings from the exploratory phase of an ongoing research project which examines, through participant observation, the "value" of a public library in a poor urban neighborhood.…

U.S. public libraries provide free public internet services to the communities that they serve, but require robust, high-speed broadband internet connections to continue meeting public demands. The 2008-2009 "Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study" ("PLFTAS") illustrates challenges that public libraries encounter in achieving broadband…

In commemoration of the Librarian of the Year Award's 20th anniversary, this article presents brief vignettes on all 19 of the title holders. When "Library Journal" named them Librarians of the Year, these inimitable 19 (for the 20th, Norma Blake, see EJ788676) had singled themselves out as risk takers, visionaries, bulldogs, pragmatists,…

Books on the topic of pregnancy abound; in fact, publishers are more attentive to the subject than ever. According to R.R. Bowker's "Books in Print," 226 nonfiction pregnancy titles were published in 2006, a 30 percent increase over the decade before. Add to this glut all the magazines, DVDs, web sites, and TV programs available on the topic, and…

As published critics of Hennen's American Public Library Ratings (HAPLR), the authors propose a new ranking system that focuses more transparently on ranking libraries based on their performance. These annual rankings are intended to contribute to self-evaluation and peer comparison, prompt questions about the statistics and how to improve them,…

In 2007, "Library Journal" and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation named Hanover's Howe Library one of four "Best Small Libraries in America." Hanover is an affluent community with a long history of support for the public library. In fact, the town's taxpayers support two: Howe and Etna Library, a small, independent institution in the village of…

The "New South Wales Learning 2.0" training program is being made available to the entire NSW public library work force of over 2300 people in 2008-2009. This paper is a snapshot of the impact of the course as at September 2008, five months after it was launched. It explores how the training impacted on the staff skill levels, knowledge,…

First offered to public libraries in 2004, downloadable audiobooks have grown by leaps and bounds. According to the Audio Publishers Association, their sales today account for 21% of the spoken-word audio market. It hasn't been easy, however. WMA. DRM. MP3. AAC. File extensions small on letters but very big on consequences for librarians,…

Over 2000 participants made the daylong programming at the "Library Journal"/"School Library Journal" Virtual Ebook Summit, September 29, a robust conversation and not just within the summit interface but also in tweets with the #ebooksummit hashtag (and beyond) and in libraries across the country where participants logged in to take part. The…

Take a look around the bus or subway and see just how many people are bumping along to an iPod or an MP3 player. What they are listening to is their secret, but the many signature earbuds in sight should give one a real sense of just how pervasive digital audio has become. This article describes how that popularity is mirrored in library audio…

According to "Library Journal's" latest annual book-buying survey of public libraries, e-service is at the heart of current efforts to maximize library use through more, and more direct communication with patrons. Nearly four out of five respondents report offering some sort of e-service to facilitate these conversations. This article presents…

This article features Chelsea District Library (CDL), Michigan, which claims recognition as the 2008 Best Small Library in America, an award sponsored by "Library Journal" and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The aggressively responsive staff of CDL has created a model for small libraries all over America. There, careful…

Librarians role as partners in education is to instruct customers on how to find information. Their purpose is to get information to customers. Often, that takes the form of delivering a book. Sometimes, it is accomplished by typing a URL into a web browser, reading text, and copying some of it into a text document for manipulation and…