County Library System Research Articles

A Case Study Analysis of Library Services for Adults Experiencing Chronic Homelessness in Harrison County, Mississippi

ABSTRACT The author partnered with the Harrison County Library System (HCLS) to create a multilevel program plan for expanding library services to the growing number of homeless people who seek refuge in the library’s facilities. The research for this program plan involved evaluating existing library resources such as collections, programming, and available staff resources; identifying the best practices for providing services to people experiencing homelessness; identifying staff perceptions of working with the homeless; and identifying potential partners for expanded service offerings. The author used document analysis to research data on the library system (IMLS 2021 and reviewed library policy to identify barriers to providing service for the homeless. The author applied qualitative and humanistic research methods involving personal narratives (scenarios) provided through two separate one-on-one interviews with the library director to discuss the library system in general, and one one-on-one interview with six library staff working in the three libraries with the highest use by people experiencing homelessness. This paper discusses the findings from this mixed methods research project and their application to expanding services for chronically homeless patrons who use the HCLS.

How different libraries handle their children’s collections

A Report about the classification of children's libraries in 3 countries: Lebanon, the USA, and Canada. It states the customized classification themes in 5 children's libraries: the Lebanese American University Library, Perrot Memorial Library, Westminster Public Library, Berkeley County Library System, and West Vancouver Memorial Library.

Privacy of Staff Biometric Data in Vulnerable Population Outreach

In restoring Outreach services following COVID-19, Mobile Servcies staff at King County Library System (KCLS) have encountered a growing concern for staff data privacy. A significant number of facilities have begun replacing paper sign-in logs with automated kiosks that record, store, and share a large amount of staff personal, medical, and biometric data. This article provides an example that demonstrates the widespread implications for outreach staff data privacy, and explores broader considerations related to this trend. It shares principles that may assist other libraries in developing guidelines for staff data privacy during outreach visits.

SPOTLIGHT on Public Libraries: Teaching Totes: Interactive Learning in a Box at Greenville County Library System

SPOTLIGHT on Public Libraries: Teaching Totes: Interactive Learning in a Box at Greenville County Library System

“It Was about Time for Our Children to Learn How to Read”: Ruby Duncan, Operation Life, and the West Las Vegas Library

ABSTRACT The history of the West Las Vegas Library and its inception by the welfare rights group Operation Life, and the organization’s founder Ruby Duncan, has largely been unstudied and overlooked in the historical record. The library was considered a branch of the Clark County Library System but was initially run by Operation Life in the 1970s and 1980s. However, in the mid-1980s the Clark County Library System built a new library, dismantling all the work done by Operation Life and Duncan. An examination of the West Las Vegas Library places Duncan and Operation Life as social actors within a community that had been forgotten by the dominant White culture. By analyzing this history, this work adds to a vibrant conversation on the history of race, poverty, and libraries.

Teaching the History and Organization of Libraries: The Coronavirus Pandemic as an Opportunity to Study Public Library Reopenings

Teaching the History and Organization of Libraries: The Coronavirus Pandemic as an Opportunity to Study Public Library Reopenings

Membership Committee: ALSC Member Profiles

Alia Jones, formerly Sr. Library Services Assistant at Cincinnati and Hamilton County (OH) Public Library, 2020 Caldecott CommitteeDenise Dávila, PhD, Assistant Professor of Children’s Literature and Literacy Education, Language and Literacy Studies, University of TexasAnn Crewdson, Children’s Specialist, King County (WA) Library System

Re-Imagining Our Story: Creating a Virtual Summer Reading Program

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Union County Library System (UCLS) opted to solely offer virtual programming for our popular Summer Reading Program. This article focuses on the background, planning, and implementation in creating and executing a fun and innovative summer experience for our community and patrons, including a gamification twist to incentivize our participants.

Georgia Library Spotlight - Fulton County Library System Innovation Stations

Georgia Library Spotlight - Fulton County Library System Innovation Stations

TLC@FCLS: Continuing Education Program for the Staff of Florence County Library System

Florence County Library System created and implemented a continuing education program called TLC@FCLS. The process began in 2016 when a new position was created, Training and Outreach Coordinator. The person hired researched programs and training providers creating a program that is meeting the needs of its staff and customers.

Making the Mock Newbery Their Own: A School/Library System Collaboration

It was a warm June Chicago night, and we were talking about Mock Newbery programs in public and school libraries over dessert. After a bite of dark chocolate mousse, Cecilia said to me, “Well, what if we partnered on a Mock Newbery program this Fall?” I clapped my hands like one of my second grade students and said, “Yes, please!” I had dreamed of this moment for a long time. “Let’s be in touch at the end of the summer and see what is possible.”I teach at an independent school, St. Thomas School, preschool through grade 8, across Lake Washington from Seattle. In the past, I have run small Mock Newbery programs, like a traditional lunch book club. We have used the already curated book list from our local public library, which is part of the King County Library System, and usually a handful of fifth grade students participate.

Library services for all ages – building economical, equal, and complete audio collections

Purpose To provide library service to users of all ages has been one of the primary missions of county libraries since 1908 when the first branch of the first county library system was born in Sacramento as a proud milestone in the history of California public library. It has been a constant challenge to local governments and library staff members alike, especially when there are economic downturns or many priority programs to balance with. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach The paper introduces an innovative methodology in collection development to promote the concept that library collections, traditional or digital, can serve users of all ages as long as they can be adaptable to meet the changing needs of users, and compatible with changing information technologies. Findings By examining the process of an audio collection integrated as part of library collections and deeply rooted in users’ lives, the author reports the findings in the following areas: developing a robust audio collection catering to all users at Santa Cruz Public Libraries, despite technological changes and limited budget; getting involved in the whole organization’s programs and projects by collaborations; offering innovative promotion approaches; providing comprehensive subject coverage and always keeping the local community in mind; and evolving constantly to make technologies your friends, not foes. Research limitations/implications The paper analyzes a successful collection development experience in audio collections to strive to realize the original county library’s ideal to serve users of all ages in California. Practical implications The successful collection development experience is useful not only for acquisition librarians, but a much broader audience such as library managers in charge of library material budgets. Social implications The findings point out a number of social implications confronting library professionals worldwide. They include conflicts between users’ real needs vs our assumptions, limited budget vs expanding coverage, and library services vs the nature of technology. Originality/value The paper helps library professionals to develop, maintain, and succeed in their short- and long-term goals in collection development.

Living the First Amendment: Gordon Conable, Madonna’s <em>Sex</em>, and the Monroe County (MI) Library

Whenever a library fulfills its mission of purchasing popular books, like best-sellers and titles in high demand, it usually will carry on quietly, without much community controversy. But what happens when the best-seller and in-demand title is also a highly charged sex fantasy full of graphic photographs of one of the most recognizable popular figures of the day, who also happens to be the book’s author? Community outrage, organized protest, multiple and counter legal opinions, terrorist threats to the library, and multiple death threats to the library director were some of the responses to Monroe County Library System’s purchase and open circulation of Madonna’s book Sex.

Our Stories Transforming Our Libraries: The York County Library System

These narratives chronicle the authors’ journeys to collaborate and discover the transformative impact that stories have on library culture and library staff. This study describes a research collaboration between York County Libraries and Penn State York. In Phase I, we collected stories from library staff as the library system was being challenged to reimage public libraries for the future. The major themes and types of organizational stories identified in the initial narrative project were presented during a county-wide all-staff in-service training. The library District Consultant (first author) and the Penn State professor (second author) then facilitated a workshop designed to lead staff in their exploration of these topics and generate a written record of their storytelling/discussions. This data became the basis for Phase II of the project and allowed the system to strategically assess its evolving culture and identity.

Douglas County’s ‘Long and Winding Road’

The Douglas County Library System (DCLS) formed in 1953 with the main library located in the courthouse in Roseburg, eight branches located in the several small communities, and a bookmobile. The benefits included the economy of scale, access to a wider collection, and shared functions with greater internal support. Today the DCLS includes the main library in Roseburg, completed in 1994, and 10 branches located throughout the county. Winston and Riddle got their libraries after the system was formed, in 1964 and 1966 respectively. In a county that has historically relied on timber sale taxes, budget reductions began as early as 1982. This became a frequent if not an annual occurrence over the years since. Next year will be our capstone. Our budget direction given to the library system for the fiscal year 2016/17 was to cut $495,000 dollars from last year’s budget, a 42 percent reduction. This decades long and winding road has led us to a fork in the road with the future of the library up in the air. Rest assured, we have not been sitting around waiting and hoping!

Book Review: Film Programming for Public Libraries

Film programming is an engaging way to bring customers of all ages into the library, and this timely primer by Katie Irons offers libraries a step-by-step guide to make each showing a success. Film programming can be tricky, as libraries need to pay close attention to the legality and logistics of film screening in addition to programming. Fortunately we have Irons to show us the way, with her more than fifteen years as the audiovisual collection development librarian for the Pierce County Library System in Tacoma, Washington. Irons selects for and maintains a 500,000-item audiovisual collection for Pierce County, serving more than 560,000 people, and her knowledge and experience in film programming inform this excellent book.

Entrepreneur assistance & economic development in Florida libraries

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to identify essential resources that entrepreneurs need; to determine which resources and services are available at public libraries in two Florida counties; and to suggest additional ways for public libraries to increase their value and visibility among the business community. Design/methodology/approach – Information was gathered using structured and open-ended questions, using the Qualtrics survey technology provider, to obtain both quantitative and qualitative responses. Library administrators were contacted to identify relevant library staff to participate in the survey. Pasco County Library System administrators agreed to distribute the survey to their staff. Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative administrators provided email addresses of staff selected to participate. Web sites of the libraries, their counties, and their partners were also examined for additional information. Findings – The results suggest that the libraries are able to satisfy most of the requests of entrepreneurs. One exception was consulting, which was not consistently available, according to respondents, but could be offered at the library by business service organizations. Suggestions for promoting library business resources were proposed, based on survey responses and the websites of the libraries, their counties, and their business service organization partners. Research limitations/implications – This research studied key public librarians and staff employed at Pasco and Hillsborough counties in Florida. Some of the resources identified as useful for entrepreneurs in these counties may not be generalizable to communities outside the state of Florida, or outside the USA. Additionally, the survey did not explore what is not being done or what could be done if the libraries had more resources. Practical implications – This study provides information on the resources and services that public libraries provide entrepreneurs. It also offers suggestions for libraries to become more valuable and visible to their local business community. Social implications – As entrepreneurs and small businesses contribute substantially to economic development, public libraries that provide assistance to them help their communities prosper. Originality/value – This study is a collaboration between an academic reference librarian with a recent MBA degree, and an Entrepreneur Services Manager and Florida SBDC Center Director, who together provide a unique perspective and interpretive value toward promoting economic development.

Enhanced Access to Mental Health Information—A Multi-Type Library Collaboration

The purpose of this article is to describe the experience of a multi-type library collaboration to enhance access to mental health information in northeastern Pennsylvania. When our medical library learned about the availability of funding in the area of mental health, we decided that a multi-type library collaboration would be the best approach. As a result, The Commonwealth Medical College–Medical Library received a National Network of Libraries of Medicine–Middle Atlantic Region Outreach to Consumers Award to partner with the Lackawanna County Library System to enhance access to mental health information in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Systematic Marketing Facilitates Optimal Customer Service: The Marketing Audit of a Rural Public Library System

This article presents a case study of a marketing audit of the Lee County Library System, a rural public library system located in southwest Georgia. Marketing audits are an underutilized but needed tool for public libraries. In this audit, the library system’s mission, goals, environments, community and employee demographics, and a strengths/weakness/opportunities/threats (SWOT) analysis were evaluated, resulting in several recommendations. These recommendations include a new mission statement, regular SWOT analyses, and potential market segments for targeted library services. Through this case study, the complexities, challenges, and opportunities unique to rural public libraries can be understood.

Georgia Library Spotlight - Clayton County Library System, Forest Park Branch, Forest Park, Georgia

Georgia Library Spotlight - Clayton County Library System, Forest Park Branch, Forest Park, Georgia