Although the economic expansion of the 1990s was felt even in small towns and rural areas, events in recent months point out that the economic health of rural America remains fragile. Rural manufacturing has suffered sizable employment declines in recent months and only modest expansion has occurred in the service sector--the lifeblood of rural…

The Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), administered under the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), mandates a five-year plan and assurances. Under guidelines developed by IMLS, the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) was charged with submitting a Five-Year State Plan by August 1, 1997. This document describes the planning…

In April, 1919, at the request of the Board of Education of Memphis, Tennessee, the United States Commissioner of Education submitted the conditions on which the Bureau of Education would make a survey of the public school system of that city. This study of the Memphis schools is intended to be a study of policies and practices; not of persons.…

Five decades of international assistance for economic and educational development failed because of top-down management and the questionable premise that defined development problems, interventions, and human factors solely in economic terms. In contrast, the Inter-American Foundation (IAF) supported communities' capacity to formulate their…

Examines changes in public libraries of the Czech Republic resulting from the Communist collapse which caused library closings and a move to a free market. With domestic and international cooperation, Czech library services have changed to meet new political and social conditions by improving services to meet community needs.(JMV)

States that tribal colleges are not Ivory Towers standing above and beyond their communities. American Indians have higher rates of poverty, unemployment, sickness, mortality than others in the United States. Tribal colleges must provide health services, childcare and other community services as well as education to meet the needs of their…

Provides a critical perspective on service learning, and raises issues about focusing on the growth of students, which often ignores the service recipients and fails to ask how service is affecting the communities in which it is being performed. A new service-learning paradigm is offered to overcome some perceived inconsistencies in the existing…

Historically, rural General Practitioners (GPs) in Australia tended to be male, Anglo, middle-class and in nuclear family structures, whereas the contemporary workforce demographic is increasingly female and of diverse ethnicity. Demographic trends and changing social values of university-educated professionals directly affect services in rural…

In January 1995, five community colleges were selected to participate in a year-long project to implement new teaching methods in associate degree nursing programs to better meet community needs. Supported by the American Association for Community Colleges, with seed money from the Metropolitan Life Foundation, all of the projects also had…

In 1981-82, a community needs assessment study was conducted to assist Schenectady County Community College (SCCC) in improving programs, meeting educational needs, evaluating promotional efforts, facilitating attendance, providing information to the community, evaluating program quality, and planning programs. A survey, sent to 1,173 SCCC…

The legislature of the State of Maryland enacted a bill that requires each county in the state to conduct a needs assessment for the delivery of before- and after-school child care services to children 4-14 years of age and offer recommendations for the delivery of care. This document provides Prince George's County's response to the legislation.…

This Spanish-language publication of the Association of Puerto Rican Executive Directors (APRED) presents recommendations for action by the New York State legislature to improve opportunities and services for the Puerto Rican and Latino community. The agenda for legislative action calls for the integration to the community in the social, economic,…

This publication of the Association of Puerto Rican Executive Directors (APRED) presents recommendations for action by the New York State legislature to improve opportunities and services for the Puerto Rican and Latino community. The agenda for legislative action, produced by the APRED Legislative Task Force, calls for the integration of the…

Rural and economic development efforts are inadequate responses to changing rural conditions. They fail because they are often top-down driven and few influential people are involved. Minnesota's Project Future is designed to help distressed communities take charge of their own direction. Developed on the principle of collective empowerment, this…

A telephone survey was conducted by Diablo Valley College (DVC) in 1979 to determine the characteristics of community residents and their opinions concerning DVC's programs and services. In addition to demographic data (i.e., length of residence in Central Contra Costa County, age, size of household, head of household's employment and marital…