The Retired Senior Volunteer Program was established to help older Americans avail themselves of opportunities for voluntary service in their communities. Aspects of the program covered in this report include: administration, financing, program development, organization, Standards, recruitment, training and supervision of volunteers, resource…

Discusses the history of a citizen's organization on San Antonio's West Side, Communities Organized for Public Service (COPS), which only organizations such as churches, block clubs, and civic groups, can join. Concludes that "COPS has proved that it has vote-getting ability far past the 5,000 people who attend citywide conventions."…

Describes the results of a survey of rural public libraries that examined the impressions of librarians involved in establishing the role of the library, the degree to which planning is accomplished, and current socioeconomic data relevant to rural libraries. The discussion focuses on the finding that librarians are not planning for future…

Involvement of the church in rural community life was investigated by examining the "Fifty-Year Index to Rural Sociology." Findings revealed that 43 separate articles were published from 1944 to 1977 under categories of community life (7 articles); ministers: elite control (4); attitudes (5); beliefs, practices (6); churches (6); church…

This collection of articles addresses the role of community colleges in serving the specialized interests of organized community groups. After introductory comments on the topic, Seymour Eskow discusses how societal changes necessitate a reexamination of the role of the community college and an increased orientation to community organizations.…

A study of the needs and services available to parents of exceptional children in Southern California is described. The first section reviews results of a mail survey in which 78% of the agencies and programs serving exceptional persons indicated they also provided some type of service to parents. Additional results discussed include that the most…

As a first step toward making the library more responsive to the needs of the community's children, a guide was developed to help libraries compile a community information file. The guide provides a list of sources of information, a list of possible subject areas to be covered, and forms and letters to be used in collecting and verifying data from…

Various characteristics of and information about the area comprising the Plainedge School District in Nassau County, New York, are compiled in this survey. The information is collected in the following categories: census data, history, school district, other educational facilities, the library, community groups, recreation, other governmental…

A switchover by any government to a more integrated, community-based approach to rural development will inevitably require the recruitment, training, and effective "backstopping" of large numbers of front-line workers. (SSH)

This directory, compiled by the Princeton Center for Infancy, inventories a wide variety of organizations and services which parents can utilize in child rearing. More than 130 topics are discussed, including problems relating to health, daily routines, illness, family life, discipline, socialization, environment planning, education, family…

This article suggests that teachers make use of the special student performances offered by many city opera companies. It discusses advantages and disadvantages of these programs and what the teacher might expect of them. The educational programs of 22 American opera companies are described. Part of a theme issue on opera. (SJL)

This report recommends that the House of Representatives pass the School Dropout Prevention and Basic Skills Improvement Act of 1990. The bill would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to improve secondary school programs for basic skills improvement, dropout prevention, and dropout reentry by strengthening reporting…

This handbook reviews displaced worker and community experiences to identify traumatic areas of concern and, thereby, to propose strategies for other communities should they face similar crises. Part 1 focuses on preventing a plant closing. Indications of plant closure are discussed as well as a pre-closure intervention model to reduce…

Conducted as a step toward developing a philosophy of community-wide services to bring the county's citizens and their libraries closer together, this community analysis is divided into two parts, the first focusing on the community, and the second on the public library system. The first section covers the following topics: locale and environment,…

The findings of a task force, appointed to investigate the communication gap between non-English speaking residents in Los Angeles County and available county services, are presented in this report. Two objectives dealt with are: (1) the consolidation of available data on foreign language groups in Los Angeles County and their approximate number…