Readings:

Public Library Association: Survey of the Public Library Field

Social Wellbeing Report (IMLS)

Discussion:

This week you read about current trends in public libraries. 

After doing the readings (Chapter 1, IMLS Social Wellbeing Report, and PLA Survey of the Public Library Field) go to Public Libraries Online. What are some of the most important trends that you can discern from the readings, in terms of (1) staff and (2) library services for the public?

Readings

DPLA: History of Public Libraries

Oldest Library?

Online Exhibition: early Printing in the U.S.

Stearns, W. (10/30/2019) “Free Talk about Free Books”: Tracing the evolution of America’s libraries through primary source documents.

Conversation Starter:

Shiflett (2000) wrote: “How can a student fully understand the rigid hierarchical structure of library organizations without an understanding of the growth of libraries and the necessity for the administrative and organizational structures that developed in the nineteenth century? The status of librarians in academic institutions and public libraries and the image of librarians an American society only makes sense when we look at the nature of the occupation as it developed from its form in the nineteenth century” (p. 255). Studying history provides perspective. What did you learn in the readings this week that gave you a new perspective on early libraries in the United States?

Reference:

Shiflett, L. (2000). Sense-Making and Library History. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 41(3), 254-259.  

Readings:

Choose at least three articles from three decades this week from the following, or find your own (1965 - 2000, about public libraries, written for practicing librarians). 

• Legg, J. M. (1965). More Or Less Direct Service? RQ, 5(2), 32–34. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25823005

• Goode, W. J. (1967). The Librarian: from occupation to profession. ALA Bulletin, 61(5), 544–555. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25697637.

• Izard, A. R. (1971). Children’s Librarians in 1970. American Libraries, 2(9), 973–976. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25618480

• Vavrek, B. (1972). Ethics for Reference Librarians. RQ, 12(1), 56–58. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25824649

• Williams, J. (1978). Career Leads: Librarian/Working Mother. American Libraries, 9(8), 469–477. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25623422

• Balcom, K. M. (1986). To concentrate and strengthen: the promise of the Public Library Development Project. Library Journal, 111(11), 36–40.

• Social issues and ALA organization. (1987). Library Journal, 112(13), 25–40.

• Serebrin, R. (1987). Video in public libraries: a guide for the perplexed. Library Journal, 112(9), 29–33.

• Hiott, J. (1999). Making online use count. Library Journal, 124(16), 44–47.

• Estabrook, L. S., & Horak, C. (1992). Public vs professional opinion on libraries: the great divide? Library Journal, 117(6), 52–55.

• Childers, T. (1994). California’s reference crisis. Library Journal, 119(7), 32–35.

• Larson, J. C. (2000). Public libraries: a trek across time. Texas Library Journal, 76(3), 108–111.

• Sullivan, M. (2000). Giving them what they want in small public libraries. Public Libraries, 39(3), 148–155.

Conversation Starter:

What was it like to be a librarian between 1965 - 2000? Discuss changing technologies and social trends that were reflected in both the textbook and the readings that you chose this week.

Readings:

• Szetela, A. (2021). Should Public Libraries be “Safe Spaces”? Journal of Intellectual Freedom & Privacy, 6(3), 3–6. https://doi-org.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/10.5860/jifp.v6i3.7561

• Brown, J., & Mulligan, N. (2022). When First Amendment Auditors Visit Your Library. Public Libraries, 61(1), 24–30.

• Auditing the First Amendment at your Library: https://www.oif.ala.org/auditing-the-first-amendment-at-your-public-library/

• First Amendment Auditing

The following are news stories - check for new articles!

• Lynch, J. (2017, May 11). Iowa City Library’s bathroom cameras removed to comply with new state law. The Gazette. https://www.thegazette.com/government-politics/iowa-city-librarys-bathroom-cameras-removed-to-comply-with-new-state-law/.

• Rea, A. (2022, Feb. 14). Library Workers Unite: Unionization efforts grow across all sectors. Library Journal. https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/Library-Workers-Unite-Unionization-Efforts-Grow-Across-All-SectorsLinks to an external site.

• Sherman, M. (2022). Accessibility in Libraries: A Landscape Review. American Library Association and Knology. https://www.ala.org/tools/sites/ala.org.tools/files/content/220928-ppo-ltc-access-landscape-review.pdf

• Woodcock, C. (2022, July 21). Oklahoma Threatens Librarians: ‘Don’t Use the Word Abortion’. Motherboard: Tech by Vice. https://www.vice.com/en/article/4axwqw/oklahoma-threatens-librarians-dont-use-the-word-abortion

Discussion Starter:

• Politics is how power is gained and/or maintained. People who are interested in creating change have to learn to navigate existing political structures to influence how decisions: law, financial allocations, etc. They might eventually change the law and power structures, but within an existing system there are structures to prevent wholesale overthrow of existing laws, etc. Let's talk about where libraries are within the political structure...but as you read, it varies from state to state. What do you see as advantages and disadvantages for being part of a city, or being an independent political subdivision? If that question doesn't work for you, you are free to discuss something else in the readings that did. Also bring up at least one news article that might shed light on how politics work. 

Readings and Resources:

• Van Auken, A. (2019). How to Conduct a Community Needs Assessment. Medium. https://medium.com/galaxy-digital/how-to-conduct-a-community-needs-assessment-5d6f46595d76.

• Community Tool Box: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources

• CARES, University of Missouri Extension: https://careshq.org/

Conversation Starter:

• Use the "Make a Community Needs Assessment" (https://sparkmap.org/report/) to make a report for your county (you will use this for an assignment, so hold on to it). Discuss one indicator that surprised you (note that not all indicators are available in the free report, but there is a lot). Refer to the Community Toolbox to determine one way that you could deepen your understanding of that indicator. For example, under Education, I see that in some parts of Boone County, MO, over 55% of 3 - 4 year olds are enrolled in preschool, but in other census tracks under 35% is enrolled. If I consult the Tool Box, I might decide to look at Understanding and Describing the Community, and then examine the groups and organizations that are in the areas. What resources are available? (this could help you determine who the library might work with, or what resources the library could provide). 

Readings:

• Disher, W. (2010). Budgeting . Chapter 5, Crash Course in Public Library Administration. Libraries Unlimited.

• Public Libraries Survey: https://www.imls.gov/research-evaluation/data-collection/public-libraries-survey

Discussion Starter:

You have two readings this week: Chapter 6 of the textbook, and Chapter 5 of Disher's Crash Course in Public Library Administration. They're all about library budgets and funding.

You have some choices this week (from the end of Chapter 6) (choose one of the following):

1. Find out if your local library is independent, municipal, city/county, etc., using the Library Search and Compare tool from IMLS. Next, provide at least three other facts about your library using that tool, and make a comparison between the funding for your library and a similar-sized town/city in a neighboring state. What differences are there between the libraries? 

2. Does your library have a Friends group? A coffeeshop? A Foundation? In other words, does it have methods of generating funds outside of the taxes? How much funding does it generate, and what sorts of activities do they cover? Relate this to the entire budget. What percentage of the budget is from federal, state, and local funds? You might need to go to the Public Libraries Survey to find this.

3. Use the Public Libraries Survey to find out as much as you can about your local library: budget, number of programs, number of internet sessions, etc. 

4. The Disher chapter is very practical. Briefly discuss something from Disher that illustrated or gave more insight into Chapter 6.

Readings:

Watch: Managing During the Great Resignation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVDfwt54ZW8&t=92s

• Training for Library Supervisors: https://www.webjunction.org/news/webjunction/training-for-library-supervisors.html. Look through this and bookmark it for future use.

• Library Worklike newsletter: https://ala-apa.org/newsletter/past-issues/volume-20-no-1-january-2023/ (look through past issues, bookmark or subscribe)

Discussion Starter:

You might be a manager or library director, or you might aspire to work in a library. This week you had several readings: a chapter about staffing, a recorded webinar on the Great Resignation, a WebJunction course (just look through that and bookmark it) and ALA's Library Worklife newsletter. After reading/ going through the materials, what stands out to you as some of the most difficult staffing issues today? Here are some things that stood out to me: 1. Motivating workers; 2. Conflict resolution; 3. Creating opportunities for advancement; 4. the role of non-MLS employees in libraries

You might want to discuss something else, based on your own experiences. What can you take into your own work from the readings? 

Readings and Resources:

• A story about Story Walks: https://programminglibrarian.org/articles/what%E2%80%99s-story-ideas-creative-storywalk-programming

• Hall, T. D. (2021). Information redlining: the urgency to close the digital access and literacy divide and the role of libraries as lead interveners. Journal of Library Administration, 61(4), 484-492.

You'll need to log into WebJunction for the following: 

• Library Signage: https://www.webjunction.org/events/webjunction/library-signage.html

• WebJunction: Smart Spaces are Community Spaces. https://learn.webjunction.org/mod/page/view.php?id=5121

• Toolkit for Creating Smart Spaces

Discussion Starter:

Space, Place, and Buildings: This week we are reading about creating great community library spaces. The chapter was written by an architect who has been involved with a lot of library construction projects. Library spaces have a lot of requirements and a lot of different functions - they are complicated, multipurpose buildings (see the Smart Spaces module from WebJunction and illustrations in the text for the Library of Things, etc.) that often extend to the outdoors. Flexibility and movable shelving are important. What did you take from any of the readings that you would like to see in your library/favorite library? As an aside, have you ever been involved in a community input process for placemaking? 

Have you been in a library or similar space that you would call a 'great public space' and what made it that way? 

Readings:

• Dalmer, N., Griffin, M., Baluk, K. W., & Gillett, J. (2020). Aging in (Third) Place with Public Libraries. Public Libraries, 59(4), 22–30.

• Zulkey, C. (2021). Big Ideas for Small Business: How libraries strengthened their small business programs to reach those who needed them most. American Libraries, 52(11/12), 22–26. 

• American Library Association - Libraries and Incarceration

• National Library Services for the Blind and Print Disabled (peruse)

• Free Readers’ Advisory Resources Beyond GoodReads and LibraryThing.  It has some broken links - see below for the right URLs.

• Gnooks: https://www.gnooks.com/

• Literature map: https://www.literature-map.com/

Conversation Starter:

Choose two subjects from the readings (e.g., incarcerated people; older adults; bibliotherapy or Readers Advisory; note that you can include the textbook), and discuss something new that you learned about library services for adults that you think might be useful in your hometown library. Be specific and refer to the readings!

Readings and Resources:

Explore: 

• Cloud901

• Association for Library Services to Children

• Young Adult Library Services Association

• Cahill, M., Ingram, E., & Joo, S. (2021). Storytime Programs as Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors? Addressing Children’s Needs through Diverse Book Selection. Library Quarterly, 91(3), 269–284. https://doi-org.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/10.1086/714317

• Eades, R. (2020). Creative Community Connections: Trauma-Informed Services for Teens at Athens-Clarke County Library: Sometimes, working with established organizations is the best way to provide trauma-informed services. Young Adult Library Services, 19(1), 18–21.

• Lewis, T., & Sweeney, C. (2020). Bee-Tweens at the Bee Cave Public Library: Listening to Tween Voices Leads to Opportunities and Successes. Young Adult Library Services, 18(4), 15–19.

• Riso, A., Middlebrook, C., Whinihan, E., & Wigdahl, M. (2020). Are We Creating Opportunities for Homeless Children to Succeed in the Digital Age? Serials Librarian, 79(1/2), 30–37. https://doi-org.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/10.1080/0361526X.2020.1772171

Choose one:

Creative Spaces and Family Engagement in Libraries.

Fun, Easy, and Inexpensive Teen Nights (aka After Hours)

Help Teens Build Financial Well-being at Your Library

Conversation Starter:

This week we are discussing library services to children and youth. Children's services are usually well-funded. Teen services tend to be less well-funded across the board, because it can be harder to get teens interested in going to the library. I have a few questions that you can tackle this week. Choose two, and support your ideas with the readings, which might include the websites that I posted (ALSC; YALSA; Cloud 901). 

1. Have you worked with teens in libraries, and if so what were the challenges in getting them interested in library services? If you can remember your own experiences as a teen library user/non-user, you can also discuss that. What brought you in or what do you think would have brought you in? 

2. Did anything about the history of services to children surprise you? If so, what, and why? 

3. One of the biggest concerns that librarians have right now is censorship. What other concerns have you heard about - in your state, area, or just in the reading that you've done? (you are also free to talk about censorship). What are some recommendations from the readings that might help you become a better, more informed professional when dealing with problems regarding library services to teens? 

Readings and Resources:

ALA: Office of Advocacy and Public Policy

Build your political skills - a course from WebJunction

Advocacy Case Studies

Conversation Starter:

You have a couple of choices here:

1. What do you need to advocate for in your own town/city, and how might you do it using both "grassroots" and "grasstops" methods (or, local activism vs. advocacy in the statehouse)? Mention a couple of tactics you, or your library, could use, based on the readings.

2. Visit the "Build your Political skills" course from WebJunction. Summarize what you learned in two paragraphs.

Readings and Resources

• Watch: Nate Hill, Executive Director of the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) and member of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard, "Library Consortium as Studio, Platform, and Metacommunity." 

• MOBIUS Consortium

• NOTE --- these two are about academic libraries but provide good details about forming a consortium.

  1. Burke, R. (2021). SCELC: The Early Years Journal of Library Administration, 61(5), 597-602.

  2. Burke, R. (2021). SCELC: How a Library Consortium Empowers Libraries. Journal of Library Administration, 61(7), 878-888.

• The International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC) is an informal group comprising approximately 200 library consortia from around the world. Go to: https://icolc.net/participating-consortia/ (the website is mostly for members, but look at the statements and links of members). 

Conversation Starter:

This chapter began with the idea that libraries are founded in collaboration. Discuss why, and choose one example from the readings (e.g., technology; health/wellbeing; children) in how that type of collaboration began and briefly how it has evolved. You can also speculate about the future! What are barriers to collaboration that might arise the area that you've chosen, and do you see any way to overcome barriers? 

Readings and Resources:

• FEMA Recovery Management Toolkit

• Library of Congress: Risk Management

• Ready.gov

Conversation Starter:

What are the risks in your community? Use the Library of Congress's Risk Management tool (in the module) to find out! Next, use the FEMA Recovery Management Toolkit to identify several things that you could do to manage a disaster. Please refer to the chapter at some point - what did you learn? Remember: post twice for full credit (one response to the prompt; one response to a classmate). 

Readings and Resources:

• RIPL: PUBLIC LIBRARY DATA AND PERFORMANCE MEASURES.

  • Go through all of the links on the initial page to explore the site.

• Lopez, S. (2018). Project Outcome results in action. Public Library Quarterly, 37(2), 150-165.

Conversation Starter:

What are some of the tools that you would want to use to prove your library's value to your community? Discuss the types of data that you think you need to have, and what you would like to have. Are those available in any of the tools presented in this chapter? You might take a look at this webinar on Project Outcome. Think big, be creative! 

Readings and Resources:

• Canadian Public Libraries: Overdue

• An Independent Review of British Public Libraries

• Or another country's report on public libraries (your choice...search IFLA or Google)

• IFLA Resources

• IFLA Library Map of the World (go to SGD Stories)

• Search IFLA for Public Library Resources (this link should work, I think!)

• Search Fulbright  for library and information science. 

Conversation Starter:

Chapter 15 has a lot of links. Follow a link or two and do a little extra research. There were a couple of reports that were suggested (Canada and British libraries), or you could search for a different country in either IFLA (not easy to navigate, IMHO) or in Google (country reports seem to be 'all over the place', so take this on of your own volition). 

What are some of the similarities and differences in the country that you read about? Did you find anything else interesting in either the chapter or the suggested readings?