What do school librarians fear most? Hands down, their biggest fear is a formal challenge to a resource in the school library. There are no accurate statistics about the number of challenges to school library resources. The staff of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom estimates that only about 20 percent are reported to ALA annually. For the…

Considers how privacy issues related to online profiling affect library patrons and what librarians should do to protect them. Discusses the need for a privacy policy and provides guidelines from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) privacy statement generator that can be adapted for libraries. (LRW)

Part of the Striving for Excellence program of the Utah State Library requires participating public libraries to conduct community needs assessments. This is a way for library directors and trustees to find out if the mission they have chosen and the policies they have written are still appropriate as they identify the strengths and weaknesses of…

This collection development policy of California State University Library states clearly what the library is now doing and provides a structure and mechanism for making adjustments to policies and procedures on a continuous basis. Declining budgets and the loss of purchasing power are contributing to a general awareness of the needed changes in…