The Big Read was developed by the National Endowment for the Arts to revitalize the role of culture in American society and encourage the reading of landmark literature. Each year since 2007, the DeKalb Public Library, Northern Illinois University, and Kishwaukee Community College have partnered to foster literacy in the community. This article…

The article examines some of the non-routine challenges that an academic library director can expect to deal with during his or her career. Each challenge is discussed in a paragraph or two, beginning by characterizing the challenge as an animal that serves as a metaphor for unusual but nonetheless important conditions that can, sooner or later,…

Librarians who staff the reference desk at a community college are familiar with the moments when multiple patrons need assistance concurrently. Their needs can vary from technical issues to directional questions, such as the location of the restroom, to deeper reference questions that require the librarian's time and focused attention to conduct…

There is an ongoing paradigm shift in librarianship that prompts the application of pedagogy throughout our professional practice. In light of the special attention to basic writing development in community college curricula, this article provides an overview of basic writing pedagogy. It discusses the overall college-level writing and research…

School librarians should consistently build relationships to foster collaborative work. For the school librarian, collaboration begins with both the business side of the library and personal interactions. True collaborations involve varied partnerships with shared planning and responsibilities. A co-teacher is expected to share in all aspects of…

Librarianship places an ethical demand on practitioners to put patrons or library users' interests before self-interest, and indeed, this is the hallmark of any service profession. But what obligation do school librarians have to their peer librarians and educators? The Code of Ethics of the American Library Association offers this principle, "We…

U.S. public libraries provide free public internet services to the communities that they serve, but require robust, high-speed broadband internet connections to continue meeting public demands. The 2008-2009 "Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study" ("PLFTAS") illustrates challenges that public libraries encounter in achieving broadband…

In the Fall of 2009, the Moraine Valley Community College Library, using guidelines developed by Jakob Nielsen, conducted a usability study to determine how students were using the library Web site and to inform the redesign of the Web site. The authors found that Moraine Valley's current gateway design was a more effective access point to library…

When school librarians are hired, most of them will find positions as the only librarian in the school. Their training, their ideals, and what was once a clear vision of the profession can become murky when removed from their classrooms, their professors, and their peers. New school librarians can look for help in the district policies and…

To assume the role of technology leaders and information literacy specialists in their schools, librarians need access to the most current information. And, they do this by helping each other. There are many definitions, but professional learning networks (PLNs) involve sharing work-related ideas with a network of colleagues via various digital…

Through the power of easily accessible and engaging new digital media technologies, family and oral histories can give voice to the unknown and overlooked stories of immigrants and their families--stories that often never make it beyond the children or the grandchildren. The academic library can be a natural focal point for this interaction and…

Communities of practice offer reference librarians a conceptual model through which to develop and maintain general and subject specific knowledge. Reference librarians acquire general and subject-specific knowledge in many ways, sometimes independently and sometimes collaboratively. Applying the concept of the "community of practice" to reference…

This study examines local research guides created by academic business librarians to assist patrons with researching the communities (towns, cities, and regions) where their schools are located. A key finding is that only 33% of the libraries surveyed provide guides to local research, while 80% provide guides to international research. (Contains 2…

Many community colleges are located near rural areas where significant folkloric research could be done. Community college librarians may be pleasantly surprised to find many of the standard folkloric resources on their reference shelves. In addition, folklorists may be professors of English, anthropology, history, sociology, art, or music, who…

This article describes a library renovation project in a community college that involved using existing space and reorganizing it to support the way students learn both individually and collaboratively. The article also looks at the importance of the academic library as place.