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…

This paper reports the progress made by the Illinois State Library for 2008-2011. The library's achievements are presented according to the following goals: (1) Promote the use of technology to improve library services; (2) Provide leadership to the Illinois Library community to enhance library service; (3) Increase access to library services for…

The "ARL Annual Salary Survey 2007-2008" reports salary data for all professional staff working in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) libraries. It is the most comprehensive and thorough guide to current salaries in large U.S. and Canadian academic and research libraries, and is a valuable management and research tool. Data for 9,983…

Web 2.0 challenges libraries to change from their predominantly centralised service models with integrated library management systems at the hub. Implementation of Web 2.0 technologies and the accompanying attitudinal shifts will demand reconceptualisation of the nature of library and information service around a dynamic, ever changing, networked,…

Social networking tools have been getting quite a bit of press in libraryland for the past couple of years. It is considered to be one of the key aspects of a library joining what is referred to as the Library 2.0 movement. In this context, social networking is seen as a library service or library outreach mechanism that utilizes popular social…

This article reports on selected results of a comprehensive survey of children's reading in England, carried out online in 2005 by the National Centre for Research in Children's Literature at Roehampton University. With 4182 responses from children living in England aged from 4 to 16 years, the survey is a follow-up to a similar study completed in…

How librarians came to their careers is as varied as the people themselves, but despite some often highly publicized challenges for college and university librarians in the digital age, academic librarianship is good work, according to the "Library Journal's" Job Satisfaction Survey. This article presents the results of this survey. The…

Individuals who have been actively involved with the program comment on specific aspects. (PF)

An attempt is made to delineate the idea of what it is to be an administrator of an academic library and to suggest changes that could be made, unlikely though they may be, to ameliorate the present situation. (Author)

A step-by-step guide to binding magazines on site at school and public libraries with illustrations. (STS)

Discusses the backgrounds and qualifications appropriate for a library personnel administrator, including (1) a master's degree in library science; (2) library work experience; (3) additional training in administration, personnel management, organizational development, and psychology; and (4) personal attributes such as good communication skills,…

The think big; paint an elephant" philosophy of planning is appealing in theory but appalling in practice. Too often, making no small plans results in making no plans at all. (11 references) (Author/NH)

Provides practical tips on three key traits of successful library managers: ability to motivate, utilization of authority to reward or discipline, and ability to delegate. Encouraging library support staff interested in becoming professional librarians is stressed. (EAM)

Every now and then the fates snip a thread and all unravels. You struggle, practice and try to figure out the Cataloging-In-Publication data on the verso of the title page.

This article reports the findings of a survey examining the current performances of libraries. The libraries that were surveyed this year reported a solid performance in 2005, with a budget growth of 4.7 percent. For the next fiscal year, libraries predicted a 5.5 percent increase in budgets which exceeded the inflation. Many of them, however,…