Which are the oldest public libraries in the world? In what years were the first books printed in French, Thai, Japanese, Arabic, Turkish? What are the oldest extant texts written in Chinese, English, Russian, Spanish? When was the first major computer database used in libraries? What are the titles of the largest, smallest or most expensive books ever published? Where is the world's busiest public library? Which three books were the first to contain photographs? In its updated and expanded third edition, this reference work provides hundreds of fascinating facts about libraries, books, periodicals, reference databases, specialty archives, bookstores, catalogs, technology, information science organizations and library buildings.

This book presents international librarianship and library science through insightful and well written chapters contributed by experts and scholars from six regions of the world. The role of public, academic, special, school libraries, as well as library and information science education are presented from the early development to the present time. Its lively, readable approach will help the reader to understand librarianship in Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and North America. Edited by Ismail Abdullahi, Professor of Global Library and Information Science, this book is a must-read by library science students and teachers, librarians, and anyone interested in Global Librarianship.

Libraries as social and service-based institutions are constantly seeking innovative and effective ways to meet the needs of their users and maintain relevance amidst alternative information sources. They are constantly adjusting to meet the needs of users, contribute to the personal development of users, and alight with national development. All of these have placed a burden on libraries to engage in sustainable practices both to increase their capacity to drive current developmental endeavors and to sustain future relevance. Global Perspectives on Sustainable Library Practices provides a rich and robust knowledge resource that brings together diverse sustainable library practices that will revamp library operations towards optimally meeting the current objectives of libraries as a developmental institution as well as sustaining value for future operations and service transactions. Covering topics such as access efficacy, green space development, and library service delivery, this premier reference source is an essential resource for librarians, library administrators, educators and administration of both K-12 and higher education, students of library sciences, pre-service teachers, researchers, and academicians.

This 2nd edition of the highly successful Global Library and Information Science presents an up-to-date review of international librarianship and library science through insightful and well written chapters contributed by experts and scholars from all regions of the world. The role of public, academic, special, school libraries, as well as library and information science education are presented from the early development to the present time. Its lively, readable approach will help the reader to understand librarianship in Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America. Edited by Ismail Abdullahi, Professor of Global Library and Information Science, this book is a must-read by library science students and teachers, librarians, and anyone interested in Global Librarianship.

Limited time offer. A local library, passport to a larger world for its individual patrons, is also a democratic institution whose contribution to the strength of a community is out of all proportion to its size or membership. Several thousand Carnegie libraries were built a century ago when Andrew Carnegie, who had risen from poverty to become "the richest man in the world" vowed to donate all his money before he died and set about giving millions of people around the world the same "gift of reading" he had with access to a library as a factory working boy. Across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and other corners of the English-speaking world, he created "the free republic" of libraries. This is the story of one of them. By tracing evolution of library service in the Canadian town of Bracebridge from 1874 to the present day within the broad sweep of larger cultural and economic patterns, Boyer’s engaging book provides a specific example of the universal transformation of books and information technologies and the libraries that house them from the 19th to 21st centuries. Most readers will find endearing and tantalizing parallels with their own library experience, wherever they live. Written to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Andrew Carnegie Library in Bracebridge in 2008, Boyer’s book is an inspired and engaging effort to show patterns and perils that probably hold true for most local libraries although some of the dramatic and comedic episodes here are surely unique. This story is so rich it could be a feature movie.

An international collaboration between IFLA, the UNESCO Institute of Statistics and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed standards for new library indicators for the twenty-first century. The existing international library statistics were developed nearly 40 years ago. This book presents the first results using the new statistics, and look forward to the next steps. It also contains other initiatives and developments in the fields of library statistics, benchmarking and indicators.