This article explores recent developments in national policy for academic libraries. It considers the shift from traditional to managerial academic librarianship; the move to "social space" and multi-use systems; changes in the balance between meeting teaching and research needs and in public funding priorities; the difficulty of making…

Respondents to "Library Journal's" ("LJ") annual book buying survey of public libraries nationwide reported that adult book budgets were down eight percent overall, the largest plunge recorded since the survey began in 1998. What's more, for the first time ever, cuts were reported for every region of the country and every size of population…

Anyone at the helm of a small public library knows that every little detail counts. But juggling the responsibilities that are part and parcel of the job is far from easy. Finally, here's a handbook that includes everything administrators need to keep a handle on library operations, freeing them up to streamline and improve how the organization…

ARL is the bimonthly report on research library issues and actions from ARL (Association of Research Libraries), CNI (Coalition of Networked Information), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). ARL reports on current issues of interest to academic and research library administrators, staff, and users; higher education…

The "Victorian Free Library Service Board Act" of 1946 was the culmination of a long campaign to replace the mechanics' institute model of library provision with free libraries funded by state and local government. Given that library reform required legislation by the state government, this paper is mainly concerned with the political…

Reviews the development of the Western History Department of the Denver Public Library and describes the current collection, which includes military records, manuscripts and personal papers, newspapers, photographs, and paintings. The discussion covers library policies that balance public access and preservation, financial support for the…

Committed to utilizing information technology, the Westchester Library System (New York) made the World Wide Web publicly accessible. Describes the planning, implementation, and management process; obstacles involving financing; establishing Internet connectivity; and vendor negotiations. Westchester hired a Web manager, created Internet use…

A survey was developed for the Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) to gather information on how Association of Research Libraries (ARL) academic libraries set salaries for new hires and how these libraries determine salary adjustments for professionals after employment. The survey was mailed to 103 ARL libraries, with 87 institutions…

This orientation manual serves as a general guide to the role of the public library trustee in the state of Nevada. It is designed to provide the trustee with basic information and to be used as a quick reference tool for helping the trustee do the job in an efficient and effective manner. The guide endeavors to provide a map by which the…