A critical component of strategic planning is creating a shared-awareness among library staff of the potential societal, political, economic and technological changes that will influence how future users will create and consume scholarly materials, what will be expected of library services, and how facilities will be used. The ACRL Futuring…

Fire, water, mold, construction problems, power-outages--mishaps like these can not only bring library services to a grinding halt, but can also destroy collections and even endanger employees. Preparing for the unexpected is the foundation of a library's best response. Expert Kahn comes to the rescue with this timely update of the best…

For decades, academic libraries made efforts to provide study environments differing in acoustic environment. The present study aimed to provide an evidence basis for this practice by comparing background noise acceptance and personality factors of two groups of college-aged students self identified as preferring quiet or background noise when…

As the digital environment continues to become more pervasive in our lives, academic libraries have had to adapt to ensure that services remain relevant to users' needs. Research was conducted to examine the 2009-2011 refurbishment at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Library and evaluate its success in meeting users' needs in terms of…

This article describes interviews with 40 elementary school librarians conducted by pre-service and in-service teachers. The purpose of the interviews was for education students to understand the responsibilities of the librarian, how the librarian might support them as teachers, and the future of the position in today's schools. Results suggest…

Things are changing. For starters, ebooks, apps, and the web are now a part of students' daily lives. So how do school librarians determine the best way to turn their library space into a learning center that is right for today's rapidly changing digital world? In this article, the author suggests five design considerations that school librarians…

Many libraries have disaster recovery plans, but not all have prevention and action plans to prepare for an emergency in advance. This article presents the author's review of the prevention and action plans of several libraries: (1) Evergreen State College; (2) Interlochen Public Library; (3) University of Maryland, Baltimore-Marshall Law Library;…

Just as literature can be used for learning, the power of storytelling can be very effective when applied to leadership and management. Library expert and author Marek shows readers how they can use storytelling to communicate vision and values with: (1) A primer on how to develop storytelling skills; (2) Tips on how to use narratives to navigate…

Since its inception, Metropolitan State University has demonstrated a strong commitment to community partnerships and the integration of community engagement into student learning and scholarship while meeting community-defined needs. This article presents examples of reciprocal partnerships in the context of a shared community-university library…

This report is based on a series of presentations at the second CLIR Seminar on "Participatory Design of Academic Libraries," held at the University of Rochester's River Campus June 5-7, 2013. Participatory design is a relatively recent approach to understanding library user behavior. It is based on techniques used in anthropological and…

A data-gathering project using elements of Participatory Action Research was conducted at the Auraria Library, which serves the University of Colorado Denver, the Metropolitan State College of Denver and the Community College of Denver. The project was administered in order to shape a plan to develop a Learning Commons environment at the library.…

This book explains how teachers can set up and run a successful school library. In it you will find advice and information on how to: (1) set up a small library and build bookshelves; (2) select books for your library; (3) make a written record of your school's books, pamphlets and other library stock such as newspapers, magazines, audio tapes and…

An imperative to develop the social experience of learning has led to the design of informal learning spaces within libraries. Yet little is known about how these spaces are used by students or how students perceive them. Field work in one such space is reported. The general private study practice of undergraduates was captured through audio…

Two floors of the W. K. Hancock Library at the Australian National University (ANU) were refurbished in 2011 as part of a cooperative project between the library and the College of Science. The refurbishment, costing $5 million, was part of a much larger exercise involving the construction of four new science buildings around the Hancock Library.…

This study is centered on the utilization of secondary school libraries by teachers and students in Idah Local Government Council of Kogi State. A survey method was adopted for the study with questionnaire constructed, validated and used for the collection of data related to the research questions formulated to guide the study. The population of…