Building Your RA Knowledge Through Reading Journals
My cataloguing professor often referred to his “card catalogue mind”. I’m not quite sure what he meant by that phrase, but I like to…
Developing a Community-Led Service Culture
My previous postings have explored how strategies, structures and systems must be community-led if public libraries are to meet community needs. But the most…
Systems
Systems are policies, procedures and processes which enable a library to operate. They are the rules and regulations which determine attitudes and behaviour. They…
Judging a Book by Its Cover
The old stern warning not to judge a book by its cover has been superseded by today’s advanced visual marketing techniques – we can rely on…
Services
The service structure should be determined by the purpose, values, vision and strategic directions of the public library. Form should follow function. This will…
Do-It-Yourself Readers’ Advisory: Empowering the User
One of the greatest strength of libraries is the ability to provide “personal touch” assistance. Indeed, the capacity to personalize service is what distinguishes…
Structure
What is Structure? There are two types of Structure in public libraries – the Staff Structure (how staff are organized and managed) and the…
Strategy
Strategy is at the heart of a community-led library. It drives everything we do, from Structures (staff and services), to Systems (policies and procedures)…
Transformative: Understanding the Reading Experience
How can understanding our own experience of reading help us improve our Readers' Advisory (RA) service to our library users? How can understanding more…
Class
Public libraries must be transformed from provider-led agencies of social control (their historical role) into community-led agencies of social change (which can identify, prioritize…
Adopting Readers’ Advisory Practices in the Academic Library
Over the course of the past century, public libraries have increasingly promoted reading for pleasure while academic libraries have moved away from doing so.…
Politics
One of the more depressing similarities between the UK and Canada is library closures. In Canada it is government, scientific and special libraries which…
Power
Canadian Chief Librarians have the kind of power and authority that their UK counterparts can only dream about. In Canada the Chief Executive Officer…