A study of libraries and the role they play in both inner city areas and dispersed rural communities. It examines the library as a cultural institution, considering its spatial and symbolic presence and exploring its public service remit. The book is intended for undergraduates and postgraduates on library and information science courses and as supplementary reading for cultural and communications studies, tourism and recreation, human geography and sociology - as well as for public and academic librarians.

Managing Cultural Change in Public Libraries argues that changes to library Strategies and Systems can lead to transformations in library Structures that can, in turn, shape and determine Organisational Culture. Drawing on Management theories, as well as the ideas of Marx and Maslow, the authors present an ambitious Analytical Framework that can be used to better understand, support and enable cultural change in public libraries. The volume argues for radical – but sustainable – transformations in public libraries that require significant changes to Strategies, Structures, Systems and, most importantly, Organisational Culture. These changes will enable Traditional Libraries to reach out beyond their current active patrons to engage with new customer groups and will also enable Traditional Libraries to evolve into Community-Led Libraries, and Community-Led Libraries to become Needs-Based Libraries. Public libraries must be meaningful and relevant to the communities they serve. For this to happen, the authors argue, all sections of the local community must be actively involved in the planning, design, delivery and evaluation of library services. This book demonstrates how to make these changes happen, acting as a blueprint and road map for organisational change and putting ideas into action through a series of case studies. Managing Cultural Change in Public Libraries will be of particular interest to academics and advanced students engaged in the study of library and information science. It should also be essential reading for practitioners and policymakers and all those who believe that communities should be involved and engaged in the planning, design, delivery, and evaluation of library services.

The advent of globally networked information is a historic change. Educational, commercial and industrial institutions depend on its effective exploitation for their success, but cultural and human factors are the biggest obstacles. This book looks at the roots of these problems and how they may be overcome, through understanding recent developments in technical services, the difference between service and technical orientation, organizational culture, the role of subject expertise and the cultural heritage of the information profession. The book provides guidance and outlines best practice in: managing converging technologies; supporting change with organizational models; using cultural audits; the role of focus groups in implementing change; characterizing a learning organization; succeeding as a change agent, and managing change through technical services. Several chapters discuss the Electronic Libraries programme and the TAPin (Training and Awareness Programme in networks) model as examples of how cultural change takes place, particularly in the academic environment; one chapter concentrates exclusively on the characteristics of special libraries. This illuminating insight into the evolution of information cultures and how they do or don’t adapt to networked services will help information and library managers to achieve change with deeper understanding, and will provide useful advice for senior managers restructuring IT and information departments. The book is core reading for students of Information Studies.

Academic libraries are facing uncertain times. The international higher education environment is very volatile and academic libraries and librarians can play a major role in helping to strategically position their parent institution within it. In doing so, there needs to be clarity as to what the position of the academic library is with regard to the role and function it has within the university and how library leadership can have pan-institutional influence and impact. There are several ways in which the academic library can position itself and this collection demonstrates many of these. Strategic alignment with the university and its mission is a fundamental part of successful positioning, as is being flexible, adaptable and responsive to changing needs, requirements and expectations. Developments in research support and scholarly communications, as well as super-convergences with other academic support departments, are examples of such responsiveness. These topics along with other emerging themes, such as library functions and institutional partnerships and collaborations, are all discussed in the book and provide the reader with a rich variety of reflections and case studies on how academic libraries, from across the globe, have addressed their position within their institution. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal New Review of Academic Librarianship.

Beginning in the early 1980s, readers' advisory services were a widely discussed topic in North American public libraries. By 2005, almost every public library in the United States and Canada offered some form of readers' advisory service. The services offered have changed significantly, in ways perhaps disadvantageous to adult North American library patrons. This book provides a critical history of readers' advisory philosophy and offers a new perspective on the evolution of the service. The book analyzes the debate that shaped readers' advisory and discusses how the service has assumed its present form. The study follows readers' advisory through its three prominent stages of development, beginning with the period 1870 to 1916, when the service was still a subject of much crucial debate about its meaning and purpose. During the second phase (1917 to 1962), readers' advisory systematically committed itself to meaningful adult education through serious and purposeful reading. The book argues, however, that during the most recent phase of readers' advisory, from 1963 until the present, contemporary public libraries have turned their backs on the rich heritage of readers' advisory services by valorizing the reading of entertainment-oriented and commodified genre titles and bestsellers. Historical analysis, case studies and statistical charts augment the book's central argument.

This seven volume set reissues a collection of out-of-print titles covering a range of responses to modern culture. They include in-depth analyses of US and Australian popular culture, works on the media and television, macrosociology, and the media and ‘otherness’. Taken together, they provide stimulating and thought-provoking debate on a wide range of topics central to many of today’s cultural controversies.

Safely guide your library into the new millennium! Like so much else in the information professions, leadership styles are being forced to change to meet the demands of technological innovation. Leadership in the Library and Information Science Professions is among the first books to focus on this increasingly important job qualification. It offers practical advice for developing strong, flexible, and creative leadership skills in yourself and your staff. This fascinating volume stresses the leadership needed to manage change. The essential skills taught here will help you update library services at a reasonable pace while preserving valuable low-tech alternatives. As one chapter recommends, “Every librarian at every level should have ready an answer-multiple answers-to the ubiquitous questions: Why do we still need libraries when everything is on the Web? How can you justify an expanding budget in the Internet Age?” Leadership in the Library and Information Science Professions offers fresh ideas for developing and using leadership skills, including: recruiting tips for identifying potential leaders staff training and development restructuring the organization to encourage full staff participation budget strategies for successful leaders issues of gender and ethnic diversity evaluating and assessing leadership Leadership in the Library and Information Science Professions is an essential resource for library administrators and staff. By developing your leadership skills and those of your staff, you can confidently face the hectic pace of change in the information sciences.