The Public Library Service

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users. It is the global voice of the information profession. The series IFLA Publications deals with many of the means through which libraries, information centres, and information professionals worldwide can formulate their goals, exert their influence as a group, protect their interests, and find solutions to global problems.

The public library is the prime community access point designed to respond to a multitude of ever-changing information needs. These guidelines are framed to provide assistance to library and information professionals in most situations. They assist to better develop effective services, relevant collections, and accessible formats within the context and requirements of the local community. In this exciting and complex information world it is important for professionals in search of knowledge, information and creative experience to succeed. This is the 2nd edition of The Public Library Service IFLA/UNESCO Guidelines for Development.

As part of our mission to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all library patrons, our profession needs to come to terms with the consequences of mass incarceration, which have saturated the everyday lives of people in the United States and heavily impacts Black, Indigenous, and people of color; LGBTQ people; and people who are in poverty. Jeanie Austin, a librarian with San Francisco Public Library's Jail and Reentry Services program, helms this important contribution to the discourse, providing tools applicable in a variety of settings. This text covers practical information about services in public and academic libraries, and libraries in juvenile detention centers, jails, and prisons, while contextualizing these services for LIS classrooms and interdisciplinary scholars. It powerfully advocates for rethinking the intersections between librarianship and carceral systems, pointing the way towards different possibilities. This clear-eyed text begins with an overview of the convergence of library and information science and carceral systems within the United States, summarizing histories of information access and control such as book banning, and the ongoing work of incarcerated people and community members to gain more access to materials; examines the range of carceral institutions and their forms, including juvenile detention, jails, immigration detention centers, adult prisons, and forms of electronic monitoring; draws from research into the information practices of incarcerated people as well as individual accounts to examine the importance of information access while incarcerated; shares valuable case studies of various library systems that are currently providing both direct and indirect services, including programming, book clubs, library spaces, roving book carts, and remote reference; provides guidance on collection development tools and processes; discusses methods for providing reentry support through library materials and programming, from customized signage and displays to raising public awareness of the realities of policing and incarceration; gives advice on supporting community groups and providing outreach to transitional housing; includes tips for building organizational support and getting started, with advice on approaching library management, creating procedures for challenges, ensuring patron privacy, and how to approach partners who are involved with overseeing the functioning of the carceral facility; and concludes with a set of next steps, recommended reading, and points of reflection.

Die International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) ist der führende internationale Dachverband, der die Interessen von Bibliotheken und Informationsdiensten und ihren Nutzern vertritt. Sie ist das weltweite Sprachrohr der Bibliotheks- und Informationsberufe. In der Reihe IFLA Publications wird eine Vielzahl der Möglichkeiten diskutiert, wie Bibliotheken, Informationszentren sowie Angestellte in Informations- und Dokumentationsberufen weltweit ihre Ziele formulieren und ihren Einfluss als Gruppe wahrnehmen, ihre Interessen vertreten sowie Lösungen für globale Probleme entwickeln können.

Public Libraries and Their Communities: An Introduction provide an overview of public librarianship today. It covers library organization, policy development, staffing, fiscal organization including funding sources and budgets, the legal framework, relationships with local and state governments, advocacy, services and service development for different age groups and for different groups of users, development of programming and outreach, collection development, promotion and marketing, and current issues and trends. In addition to context and concepts, the book uses many examples from both large and small public libraries to bring principles to life. Examples include real library policies, case studies, strategic planning, organization charts and library budgets. Many think that public libraries are not complicated to run.This book aims to show that public libraries are very complicated and require much skill on the part of the director, staff, and Board of Trustees to meet the needs of their local users.Advocacy and marketing have become important parts of the work of public libraries. Funding is always challenging so public libraries must constantly be making the local government and its citizens aware of the public library – its programs, collections, and services. This book's focus is on how public libraries reach beyond the walls of their buildings and touch the lives of their citizens.Meeting community interests and needs is essential for 21st century public libraries. For students the book offers discussion questions at the end of each chapter. These questions also provide discussion starters for public library staff development.

Trained library support staff play a critical role in assisting the user in locating and interpreting the resources available in libraries. To do so requires the knowledge and practice of library missions and roles in different types of libraries and the delivery of that information to an increasingly diverse clientele. The plethora of resources available today requires that support staff understand and implement the basic principles of information services as well as the responsibility and relationships among library departments and functional areas. Foundations of Library Services is both a text for professors who teach in library support staff programs and an introductory reference manual for support staff who work in libraries. As part of the Library Support Staff Series, this updated edition will guide the LSS to be able to: Understand the mission and role of the library in its community Be familiar with the ethics and values of the profession, including those of the Library Bill of Rights, the ALA Code of Ethics, freedom of information, confidentiality of library records and privacy issues Know the responsibility and relationships among library departments Practice the basic principles of circulation, including interlibrary loan; current cataloging and classification systems; and acquisitions and collection development policies. Understand how libraries are governed and funded within their organizations or government structures Realize the value of cooperation to enhance services Practice quality customer service Communicate and promote the library’s values and services Recognize and respond to diversity in user needs

The public library is the prime community access point designed to respond to a multitude of ever-changing information needs. These guidelines are framed to provide assistance to library and information professionals in most situations. They assist to better develop effective services, relevant collections, and accessible formats within the context and requirements of the local community. In this exciting and complex information world it is important for professionals in search of knowledge, information and creative experience to succeed. This is the 2nd edition of The Public Library Service IFLA/UNESCO Guidelines for Development.