Am. Library Association

Bite-sized marketing; realistic solutions for the overworked librarian.

Three veterans of marketing libraries and schools suggest little projects for promoting a library that can be integrated into everyday procedures. The mini-campaigns are intended to make a difference in and of themselves, but also to allow librarians to test out a number of strategies and approaches on the cheap, then put the big money down on the ones that actually work. They cover word-of-mouth marketing, bringing the library to life with a story, how to market electronic resources, public relations, outreach, advocacy, the new marketing tools, design, branding, and marketing best practices. (Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Building a buzz; libraries and word-of-mouth marketing.

Barber, a library consultant, was previously associate executive director for communication for the American Library Association. Here, she details specific word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) strategies for local libraries. The book includes information on attracting patrons, motivating employees, and using electronic and traditional media to deliver the message, plus success stories of 15 public, school, community college, and corporate libraries. B&w examples of marketing materials are given on every page, along with question-and-answer boxes and interviews with library professionals. An appendix offers marketing terms and definitions, checklists, a sample communication plan, a staff survey, and an agenda for a staff workshop. (Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Framing library instruction.

Undergraduate students are bombarded with challenges: new topics to study and new ways to evaluate and use the information gained from their studies. Budd (information science and learning technologies, U. of Missouri) notes that students' success depends to a large degree on their ability to navigate and interpret that information. His book examines the cognitive aspects of students' perceptions and how they use information, and applies his findings to examples that can be used for courses or class sessions. (Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Hiring, training, and supervising library shelvers.

Tunstall shares insights she acquired first as a page then as a supervisor of over 20 pages in a suburban public library, for the benefit of other pages who take the same route, but also for librarians who are set in charge of the pages in their own department or perhaps the entire library. She discusses looking for recruits, interviewing and hiring, training, day-to-day supervision, keeping shelvers in good order, performance assessment, working with other departments, looking after the supervisor, and marshaling the troops when the library moves. Forms are appended. (Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Librarians as community partners; an outreach handbook.

In this volume, school, public, academic, and special librarians and library and information science faculty from the US share their creative solutions to build successful programs that meet customer needs while expanding the library's scope in the community. The 66 short chapters describe different outreach programs, including senior, youth, and correctional facility outreach; special collections; use of local media and book festivals; classroom and diversity outreach; and community group collaboration. Examples include memoir writing, library docent programs, teen theater and student athlete outreach, library art galleries, reading programs, archives, programs for English language learners, computer literacy services, and partnering with an employment center. (Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Libraries got game; aligned learning through modern board games.

Mayer and Harris, educator-librarians who developed a program that brings games to school library media centers, explain how designer board and card games, or Eurogames, can become curricular tools for students of all ages in school libraries and classrooms. They describe what designer games are and how they differ from games like Monopoly in their intellectual engagement; what they teach; and how they connect to national and state standards in library and information literacy skills, English and language arts, science, social studies, math, and other content areas, with many examples. They conclude with sections on how to implement a board game project in a school library and a list of recommended games for different grade levels. No bibliography is provided. (Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Library Rx; measuring and treating library anxiety, a research study.

The results of a research project on reducing library anxiety in first-year undergraduates, performed by two librarians and an economics professor at Slipper Rocky University, are described in this book for educators and librarians. The research team found that a combination of group instruction in a classroom setting and an online tutorial reduces library anxiety the most, compared to one-on-one instruction and no instruction. The book offers a literature review on library anxiety and library instruction, and discussion of the purpose, design, and methodology of the research project. An overview of the needs of the Millennial Generation notes that the Millennials have many characteristics that don't fit well into the traditional model of classroom teaching. Appendices provide 27 pages of data tables related to the study. Information on Malvasi is not given. (Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Moving your library; getting the collection from here to there.

A highly practical guide to moving a library collection, this volume is written by Fortriede (retired associate director, Allen County Public Library), who has directed or consulted for twenty moves since 1972. Although not specifically focused on a type of library, this guidebook seems most appropriate to public, school, or small college libraries. Includes a helpful index and five appendices, as well as worksheets for calculating shelving layout and growth rates. (Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

School library media programs in action; civic engagement, social justice, and equity.

Articles from online and print versions of the journal Knowledge Quest published over the past 10 years invite school library media specialists to explore their potential roles in the areas of civic engagement, equity, and social justice, and offer suggestions for helping students become active global citizens. Articles in the first section consider responsibilities educators have as members of society, and deal with topics such as the civic mission of school libraries and modeling peaceful behavior to students. The second section presents reflections on talking about race in schools, making the school library welcoming to queer youth, and gender issues in media, sports, science. Some articles describe best practices and give examples of programs that encourage civic virtues in students. A final section looks at integrating service learning through the library media program. There is no subject index. Information on editor is not given. (Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The successful library trustee handbook, 2d ed.

Moore, a former librarian who now works as an independent library consultant, trainer, and facilitator, offers a resource for library trustees, administrators, consultants, trainers, and students that explains a library board's basic responsibilities and how to improve its effectiveness. It covers aspects such as advocacy, policy development, evaluation, hiring and firing a director, and budgets and fundraising. This edition has a new chapter on library technology, expanded chapters on advocacy and strategic planning, updated state and federal legislation, and new tips on meeting management. (Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Teaching literary research; challenges in a changing environment.

Essays gathered here represent the perspectives of both English professors and librarians on the significance of information literacy in the teaching of literary research methods at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The essays grew out of a panel discussion program sponsored by the Literatures in English Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries at the 2002 American Library Association conference. Early chapters address questions of how information literacy might advance the goals of the undergraduate literature curriculum. One chapter describes a course for second-year undergraduate English majors. The next section explores the question of research within specific literary methodologies or genres, and describes approaches to teaching non-majors and non-native English speakers. The third section considers training issues for librarians teaching literary research. A review of the literature of literary research instruction from 1978 to 2008 is provided. An appendix offers research competency guidelines for literatures in English. Johnson is affiliated with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Harris is affiliated with the University of New Mexico. (Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Working together; collaborative information practices for organizational learning.

After serving for 15 years as a university professor and nonprofit administrator, Denver-based Somerville resumed her career in library and information science in 2003. She was armed with new insights into organizational life and leadership approaches that could be used to design workplace environments rich in information access and exchange, and strengthened by dialogue and reflection opportunities. This knowledge came from a range of sources, including soft systems methodology tools from England, participatory design philosophy from Sweden, and leadership research literatures from Japan, Australia, and the US. She combines these findings in a concise text offering library leaders case study examples from California Polytechnic State U., San José State U., and the U. of Colorado which demonstrate the effectiveness of collaborative information practices built on inclusive leadership principles. No subject index. (Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Writing and publishing; the librarian's handbook.

Ninety-two brief chapters share advice on starting the writing process and understanding the publishing industry, and describe opportunities for writing both fiction and non-fiction books, newsletters, reviews, magazine and journal articles, essays, children's literature, blogs, and online columns. The closing chapters discuss research surveys, strategic publication, editing books and conference proceedings, leveraging new technology platforms, interviewing for publication, and the local literary community. All the contributors are librarians or academics. Since certain information will benefit many aspiring writers, the collection is recommended for all public libraries. (Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)