The authors are both managers in OhioLINK libraries and have complex experiences working within a variety of simultaneous library consortial agreements. Their librarians'-eye view of consortia allows for a discussion of the nature of that landscape, some perspectives on the benefits and advantages of consortia as well as thoughts on the challenges…

In this article, the author shares her accomplishments as the 2006-2007 president of the American Association of School Librarians. Many of her accomplishments help fulfill the goals, objectives, and strategies of the AASL strategic plan. These include the sold-out AASL National Institute on assessment, new innovative reading grants, and its…

Following a 2003 survey that benchmarked the research and publication activities of Florida librarians, administrative support for these efforts was investigated. Library administrators were asked to identify various types and funding levels of travel and research assistance. Results suggest that Florida librarians receive support comparable to…

The President of ALIA writes about expectations for the Public Libraries Summit, and provides an account of what took place on the day of the meeting, and what has taken place since. In funding terms, the most likely areas of productive engagement with the federal government are considered to be: children, early learning and a literate Australia;…

"Forbes" recently reported that Americans spent $11 billion in 2008 on self-help books, CDs, seminars, coaching, and stress-management programs--13.6 percent more than they did in 2005. Why the uptick? According to a recent "Publishers Weekly" cover story, conventional publishing industry wisdom holds that personal improvement titles do very well…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of The Bridging Worlds Conference which was held in October 2008 in Singapore. Design/methodology/approach: One of the main topics the National Library Board of Singapore, the organising party, wished to address was the roles cultural institutions, such as libraries, may play in…

This narrative, single-case study examines how liaison librarians at the University of Minnesota (UMN) came to include advocating for reform of the scholarly communication system among their core responsibilities. While other libraries may hire a coordinator or rely on a committee to undertake outreach programs, UMN has defined baseline expertise…

To raise the library's profile within the campus community, it is critical to create a strategic plan and align library goals with those of the university. At George Washington University's Gelman Library, the instruction librarians gained internal and external support to hire two new instruction librarians to better support collaboration with the…

In the world of grant-making, there are private, corporate, and government sources at the local, state, and federal level, and each of them has funds to award. The trick is to make a good match. This article offers tips for finding grant funds and writing grants.

Writing a mission statement is difficult, especially today when the need for libraries is being openly questioned. Now more than ever, librarians, trustees, and patrons must determine how libraries can best serve their communities and express their conclusions in their mission statements. A clear sense of purpose provides an essential foundation…

"California Library Laws 2008" is a selective guide to state laws and related materials that most directly affect the everyday operations of public libraries and organizations that work with public libraries. It is intended as a convenient reference, not as a replacement for the annotated codes or for legal advice. The guide is organized…

The University of Denver's Penrose Library's Stacks Maintenance unit is a separately managed unit that works in collaboration with all library departments to ensure complete access to the library's print collections. This unit takes advantage of a variety of techniques and tools to fulfill its mission, including a fine-tuned tracer system for…

Ever since North Carolina State University Libraries launched their Endeca-based OPAC replacement in the beginning of 2006, the library world has been completely obsessed with ditching their old, tired catalog interfaces (and with good reason) for the greener pastures of more sophisticated indexing, more accurate relevance ranking, dust jackets,…

Tribal college and university (TCU) libraries try to be everything to everyone. In addition to the typical college students working on papers, they serve mothers with small children, faculty working on advanced degrees, and community members seeking photos or recordings of their ancestors. TCU's could not exist without their libraries; they would…

Reference desk scheduling is one of the most challenging tasks in the organizational structure of an academic library. The ability to turn this challenge into a workable and effective function lies with the scheduler and indirectly the cooperation of all librarians scheduled for reference desk service. It is the scheduler's sensitivity to such…