New public library directors quickly learn what seasoned directors already know: running a library means you’ve always got your hands full—balancing the needs of staff, patrons, facilities, library boards, and other stakeholders with professional responsibilities like community interactions, legal and financial requirements, and whole lot else that wasn’t exactly in the job description. Whether you are considering becoming a public library director, are brand new to the role, or have settled in but find yourself thinking “there’s got to be a better way,” authors Hall and Parker are here to help. This book walks you through the core components of getting up to speed and then provides templates, sample documents, checklists, and other resources that will make your job easier. Gleaned from their own decades of experience in library leadership positions, in this toolkit they

• cover such key topics as employees, trustees, finances, legal issues, library policies, emergency planning, and technology;
• discuss strategic planning and share advice on keeping up with trends;
• offer nearly two dozen ready-to-use resources, including a Director’s Report Template, a Social Media Policy, an Employee Exit Questionnaire, a Library Cleaning Checklist, a Vision Statement worksheet, and more; and
• suggest additional learning opportunities in each chapter to help you continue your learning journey.

Does your online instruction program sometimes feel like a constant scramble to keep pace with requests and deadlines? Modular design is the answer. Approaching projects, whether large and small, with an eye towards future uses will put you on the path to accomplishing broader, organizational goals. And by intentionally building documentation and structure into your process, you will create content that can easily be scaled, modified, adapted, and transformed to meet different learner needs. Hess, experienced in online instruction in both K-12 and academic libraries, shows you how, using project examples of various sizes to illustrate each chapter’s concepts. Her resource guides you through such topics as

• the eight components of modular online learning design;
• key considerations for choosing the design model that best fits your organization and project;
• techniques for connecting your online learning goals with institutional strategy; 
• using the IDEA process to align OER content with your instructional needs;
• documenting your planning with checklists, scaffolds, and templates;
• ensuring equity of access with all content formats using the Accessibility Inventory Index;
• principles for scaling up, down, or laterally;
• three models for more meaningful and functional collaboration with internal or external partners; and
• formative testing as a foundation for ongoing evaluation and assessment.

The pedagogical value and real-life applicability of traditional research writing assignments has been investigated since at least the 1990s, and the increase in adoption of alternative assignments could be an indication that students are questioning their long-term benefits. Traditional research writing assignments do not always align with the goals and outcomes that students set for their education.

Embracing Change: Alternatives to Traditional Research Writing Assignments collects existing alternative assignments from librarians and classroom instructors and examines their benefits and drawbacks, impact on various student populations, and the support needed to make them successful. In two parts—Analog-Driven Assignments and Technology-Driven Assignments—authors offer a wealth of insight into the theory and practice of utilizing alternative assignments. Case studies detail the development of assignments, their implementation, lessons learned, and assessment, and provide examples and reference materials for incorporating or refining your own alternative assignments. Projects covered include:

• how students engage with writing gray literature
• producing a local voting guide
• creating museum-level exhibit labels
• composing and printing original poems using a letterpress
• developing finding aids
• writing a children’s book
• creating infographics and lightning talk videos
• learning digital literacy using podcasts
• a variety of digital humanities projects 

Embracing Change is a testament to the power of interdisciplinary collaboration, highlights the value of alternative assignments, and provides librarians and educators with practical guidance for creating, implementing, and supporting alternatives to research writing assignments.

The necessity for library leaders to demonstrate that libraries are innovative, collaborative, and can provide eye-catching, transformational services and programs to their communities cannot be understated. But libraries do not suffer from a lack of big ideas. What library workers really need is a roadmap for making those impactful ideas become reality. Based in part on her extensive experience coordinating large-scale initiatives, this guide from ASCLA Leadership and Professional Achievement Award-winning consultant Horton will walk you through formulating and shaping your ideas into sellable, actionable projects. You’ll learn 

• techniques drawn from project management experts and researchers from many fields;
• why Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAG) are worth your time and effort;
• guidance on upscaling your idea into a project or service that can be launched at a statewide, community wide, or library consortium level;
• several case studies of large-scale library projects, with analysis of why they were successful;
• how to successfully combine foundational principles of innovation with practical methods for collaboration;
• methods for extending your reach beyond your usual sphere to partner with other libraries and organizations;
• how to sharpen your skills of persuasion;  
• no-nonsense advice on leading teams of disparate individuals; and
• evaluative tips for affirming the project is on the right track and then correcting course as needed.

Hosier shows academic librarians how to use context when teaching information literacy, an approach that offers a substantive and enduring impact on students' lifelong learning.

Librarians know that information literacy is much more complex and nuanced than the basic library research skill that it's often portrayed as; in fact, as outlined by the ACRL Framework, research is a contextual activity. But the settings in which we teach often constrain our ability to take a more layered approach. This book not only shows you how to teach information literacy as something other than a basic skill, but also how to do it in whatever mode of teaching you’re most often engaged in, whether that's a credit-bearing course, a one-shot session, a tutorial, a reference desk interaction, or a library program. Taking you through each step of the research process, this book shares ideas for adding context while exploring topics such as

• how conversations about context can be integrated into lessons on common information literacy topics;
• examples of the six genres of research and suggested course outlines for each;
• ensuring that context strategies fit within the ACRL Framework;
• questions for reflection in teaching each step of the research process;
• four different roles that sources can play when researching a topic;
• helping students refine a topic that is drawing too many or too few sources;
• cultivating students to become good decision-makers for the best type of research sources to use depending on their need; and
• how to address the shortcomings of checklist tools like the CRAAP test.

With a renewed emphasis on facilitating learning, supporting multiple literacies, and advancing equity and inclusion, the thoroughly updated and revised second edition of this trusted text provides models and tools that will enable library staff who serve youth to create and maintain collections that provide equitable access to all youth. And as Hughes-Hassell demonstrates, the only way to do this is for collection managers to be learner-centered, confidently acting as information guides, change agents, and leaders. Based on the latest educational theory and research, this book

• presents the argument for why collection management decisions and practices should focus on equity, exploring systemic inequities, educational paradigm shifts, developments in the information environment, and other key factors;
• lays out the theoretical foundation for developing and managing a library collection that facilitates learning, supports the development of multiple literacies, and provides equitable access to an increasingly diverse group of young learners;
• touches upon current competencies and standards by AASL, YALSA, and ALSC;
• uses a learner-centered and equity perspective to cover core issues and criteria such as selection and removal of materials, budgeting, and cooperation among libraries;
• shows how a business viewpoint can assist the learner-centered collector in articulating the central significance of the collection to learning;
• discusses how library staff can work collaboratively to create policy and negotiate budgets; and
• includes customizable tools and templates, including a Stakeholder Contact/SWOT Analysis, Decision-Making Model for Selecting Resources and Access Points that Support Learning and Advance Equity, and Collection Development Analysis Worksheet.

This resource will be as useful to current school librarians and supervisors, youth librarians in public libraries, and educators as it will to LIS students.

Since its original publication Hunter's manual has been "not only a rich and ready reference tool but also a practical resource for solving problems" (Catholic Library World), and no text has served as a better overview of the field of archives. Newly revised and updated to more thoroughly address our increasingly digital world, including integration of digital records and audiovisual records into each chapter, it remains the clearest and most comprehensive guide to the discipline. Former editor of American Archivist, the journal of the Society of American Archivists (SAA), Hunter covers such keystone topics as

• a history of archives, including the roles of historical societies and local history collections in libraries;
• new sections on community archives, diversity, and inclusion;
• conducting a survey and starting an archival program;
• selection, appraisal, acquisition, accessioning, and deaccessioning;
• important points of copyright, privacy, and ethics;
• arrangement of archival collections, with a discussion of new theories;
• description, including DACS, EAD, and tools such as ArchivesSpace;
• access, reference, and outreach, with a look at how recent innovations in finding aids can help researchers;
• preservation, including guidance on how to handle rare books, maps, architectural records, and artifacts;
• digital records, addressing new and popular methods of storage and preservation of email, social media, image files, webpages, Word documents, spreadsheets, databases, and media files;
• disaster planning, security, and theft prevention;
• metrics, assessment, establishing employee procedures and policies, working with interns and volunteers, and other managerial duties;
• public relations and marketing, from social media and the Web to advocacy; and
• professional guidelines and codes, such as the newly developed SAA Statement of Core Values of Archivists.

Providing in-depth coverage of both theory and practice, this manual is essential for archivists at all levels of experience and of all backgrounds.
 

This accessible and compelling Special Report introduces cultural humility, a lifelong practice that can guide library workers in their day-to-day interactions by helping them recognize and address structural inequities in library services.  

Cultural humility is emerging as a preferred approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts within librarianship. At a time when library workers are critically examining their professional practices, cultural humility offers a potentially transformative framework of compassionate accountability; it asks us to recognize the limits to our knowledge, reckon with our ongoing fallibility, educate ourselves about the power imbalances in our organizations, and commit to making change. This Special Report introduces the concept and outlines its core tenets. As relevant to those currently studying librarianship as it is to long-time professionals, and applicable across multiple settings including archives and museums, from this book readers will 

• learn why cultural humility offers an ideal approach for navigating the spontaneous interpersonal interactions in libraries, whether between patrons and staff or amongst staff members themselves;
• understand how it intersects with cultural competence models and critical race theory;
• see the ways in which cultural humility’s awareness of and commitment to challenging inequitable structures of power can act as a powerful catalyst for community engagement;
• come to recognize how a culturally humble approach supports DEI work by acknowledging the need for mindfulness in day-to-day interactions;
• reflect upon cultural humility’s limitations and the criticisms that some have leveled against it; and
• take away concrete tools for undertaking and continuing such work with patience and hope.

This accessible and compelling Special Report introduces cultural humility, a lifelong practice that can guide library workers in their day-to-day interactions by helping them recognize and address structural inequities in library services.  

Cultural humility is emerging as a preferred approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts within librarianship. At a time when library workers are critically examining their professional practices, cultural humility offers a potentially transformative framework of compassionate accountability; it asks us to recognize the limits to our knowledge, reckon with our ongoing fallibility, educate ourselves about the power imbalances in our organizations, and commit to making change. This Special Report introduces the concept and outlines its core tenets. As relevant to those currently studying librarianship as it is to long-time professionals, and applicable across multiple settings including archives and museums, from this book readers will 

• learn why cultural humility offers an ideal approach for navigating the spontaneous interpersonal interactions in libraries, whether between patrons and staff or amongst staff members themselves;
• understand how it intersects with cultural competence models and critical race theory;
• see the ways in which cultural humility’s awareness of and commitment to challenging inequitable structures of power can act as a powerful catalyst for community engagement;
• come to recognize how a culturally humble approach supports DEI work by acknowledging the need for mindfulness in day-to-day interactions;
• reflect upon cultural humility’s limitations and the criticisms that some have leveled against it; and
• take away concrete tools for undertaking and continuing such work with patience and hope.

Just because a set of responsibilities isn’t formally called management doesn’t mean that it isn’t management. And this vital text speaks to a reality that all current professionals already know: that is, everyone studying to enter the profession needs an introduction to the topic of management. Because no matter what one’s role in an academic or public library context, it will involve decision-making, planning, and organization skills. Newly revised and updated, this book pulls together management best practices from library management experts teaching in LIS programs across the U.S. and Canada. Among the many topics discussed are

• classic and contemporary theories of management, and how they apply to the library;
• human resource planning;
• marketing and public relations;
• negotiations, mediation, and financial management of the library;
• facilities management;
• information technology management and future trends;
• change management, organizational culture; and
• ethics and confidentiality.