Are librarians preoccupied with the future? There are countless books, articles, blog posts, webinars, and conference presentations filled with speculation about what libraries will become. This is understandable with the emergence of new roles for libraries and librarians as we determine our identity across the digital landscape. This essay…

Succession planning and management are critical parts of strategic planning for libraries in the twenty-first century. Making certain that the right people are in place with the prerequisite training and experience to assume leadership positions is a vital part of strategic planning and talent management in libraries that rely on teams of people…

Evidence-based library and information practice (EBLIP) provides school librarians a systematic means of building, assessing, and revising a library program, thus demonstrating a school library program's worth to the larger school community. Through survey research collecting both qualitative and quantitative data, 111 public school librarians in…

Conducted to obtain information for use in developing a revised five-year plan of library service for the state of Alabama, this study was designed to determine the priorities of the state's public libraries as perceived by librarians, chairpersons of library boards of trustees, and library users. Two survey instruments were designed and…

This list of citations covers three broad areas: (1) redefining librarianship: organizations, people, and technology; (2) continuing education for librarians; and (3) librarians and libraries in the 1980's: the White House Conference on Library and Information Services (WHCLIS) and beyond. The last is divided into three main sections devoted to…

The long range plan provides for the orderly establishment and expansion of programs needed to carry out the objectives of the Texas State Library. The following five major development goals were identified for the 1994-1997 period: (1) improve library services and increase library resources through financial support; (2) make materials and…

Proposes that training paraprofessionals for routine reference desk service is an inexpensive way for libraries to allow professionals to address tasks such as long-range planning, policy making, and sophisticated information retrieval. Suggests that training should focus on specific questions that are likely to come up and on appropriate…

In preparation for its Five-Year Plan for the years 2008 through 2012, the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services has reviewed a variety of information resources, including studies, publications, surveys and stakeholder meetings, to assist in understanding the state, its people, its future and the potential role of libraries. This…

This paper reviews the principal sources and methods used by the Manpower Research and Information Branches of the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations (DEIR) to forecast the over or undersupply of librarians in Australia. After differentiating between manpower policy, planning, and forecasting, the role of the commonwealth government…

In order to explore the possibility of basing the Ontario Library Association's (OLA's) professional development programming on systematic needs assessment, a pilot project was undertaken to determine the professional development needs of library workers in Ontario and to experiment with the Nominal Group Technique (NGT)--a means of providing for…

Successful higher education institutions of the next century will be learning-centered; successful college libraries will become teaching libraries that equip students with lifelong learning skills; librarians of the future will be knowledge managers. Libraries must become user-centered, which will require a substantial initial investment that…

Describes the potential impact of contemporary and soon-to-be-developed information processing and communications technologies on the roles and functions of school media centers and school librarians and media specialists. A list of tips to aid librarians in understanding and adjusting to coming changes is included. (JL)

American Library Association Goal 2000 fails to resolve conflicting theoretical perspectives about the purpose and scope of public library services. While allowing for temporary unity of political action, ALA Goal 2000 may create contradictory service priorities that confuse both the public and librarians. Strengths and weaknesses of the social…

Discusses the importance of evaluation of school library resource centers for effective schools and the professional development of teacher librarians. Provides a chart profiling the role of the teacher-librarian in the awareness, mechanical, routine, and refined stages of the implementation of critical educational components in a cooperative…

A faceted classification scheme was developed for use as the conceptual foundation of two surveys which were conducted in order to gain a current and comprehensive picture of continuing library education (CLE) in North Carolina. The scheme structured a database that, when computerized, will allow flexible search capabilities and easy updating. In…