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Defusing the Angry Patron
A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians
Rhea Joyce Rubin
American Library Association, 2010

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Financing Low Income Communities
Julia Sass Rubin
Russell Sage Foundation, 2007
Access to capital and financial services is crucial for healthy communities.  However, many impoverished individuals and neighborhoods are routinely ignored by mainstream financial institutions.  This neglect led to the creation of community development financial institutions (CDFIs), which provide low-income communities with financial services and act as a conduit to conventional financial organizations and capital markets. Edited by Julia Sass Rubin, Financing Low-Income Communities brings together leading experts in the field to assess what we know about the challenges of bringing financial services and capital to poor communities, map out future lines of research, and propose policy reforms to make these efforts more effective. The contributors to Financing Low-Income Communities distill research on key topics related to community development finance. Daniel Schneider and Peter Tufano examine the obstacles that make saving and asset accumulation difficult for low-income households—such as the fact that tens of millions of low-income and minority adults don't have a bank account—and consider solutions, like making it easier for low-wage workers to enroll in 401(K) plans. Jeanne Hogarth, Jane Kolodinksy, and Marianne Hilgert review evidence showing that community-based financial education programs can be effective in changing families' saving and budgeting patterns.  Lisa Servon proposes strategies for addressing the challenges facing the microenterprise field in the United States.  Julia Sass Rubin discusses ways community loan and venture capital funds have adapted in response to the decreased availability of funding, and considers potential sources of new capital, such as state governments and public pension funds.  Marva Williams explores the evolution and recent performance of community development banks and credit unions.  Kathleen Engel and Patricia McCoy document the proliferation of predatory lenders, who market loans at onerous interest rates to financially vulnerable families and the devastating effects of such lending on communities—from increased crime to falling home values and lower tax revenues. Rachel Bratt reviews the policies and programs used to make rental and owned housing financially accessible.  Rob Hollister proposes a framework for evaluating the contributions of community development financial institutions. Despite the many accomplishments of CDFIs over the last four decades, changing political and economic conditions make it imperative that they adapt in order to survive.  Financing Low-Income Communities charts out new directions for public and private organizations which aim to end the financial exclusion of marginalized neighborhoods.
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High Tech, High Touch
Library Customer Service through Technology
Lynn Hawkins
American Library Association, 2003

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The Librarian's Nitty-Gritty Guide to Content Marketing
Laura Solomon
American Library Association, 2016

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New Routes to Library Success
100+ Ideas from Outside the Stacks
Elisabeth Doucett
American Library Association, 2015

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The Quality Library
A Guide to Self-Improvement, Better Efficiency, and Happier Customers
Sara Laughlin
American Library Association, 2008

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Responding to Rapid Change in Libraries
A User Experience Approach
Lauren Stara and Callan Bignoli
American Library Association, 2020

In the face of rapid change and an ever-widening constellation of challenges, it’s crucial for library leaders to pull back to the question of “why?” Plotting a sustainable way forward depends upon recommitting ourselves to our underlying values, such as customer service and community-building, while fostering the improvements that change makes possible. With passion, patience, and fortitude, libraries can stride confidently into the future. In this book, noted speakers and consultants Bignoli and Stara speak directly to library directors, managers, administrators, and technology staff, offering concrete guidance on setting or resetting strategic priorities. Taking an interconnected and specific approach to planning for and strengthening the library environment as a whole, their book

  • discusses why libraries should embrace change as a fundamental part of library life; 
  • explores how to harness rapid change to provide more responsive, user-centered library service;
  • addresses the ways in which libraries straddle the physical and the digital, in areas such as service provision and collections, illuminating how they overlap and can be improved using similar philosophies;
  • presents both a comprehensive overview of library technologies as well as related team and change management advice, all grounded in user experience principles;
  • shows how the concepts of sustainability and flexibility apply to physical space planning and design, from furniture selection and arrangement to infrastructure; and
  • provides sound guidance on project management, problem solving, preparing for future challenges, personal reflection and self-care, and other leadership topics.
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Telecommunications Quality of Service Management
From legacy to emerging services
Antony Oodan
The Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2003
In today's increasingly competitive communications environment, Quality of Service (QoS) is of paramount importance in the battle to win market share. However, the enhanced expectations of customers and the introduction of many new services and technologies makes comprehending and meeting customer requirements a real challenge. Building on the issues covered in Quality of Service in Telecommunications (1997), this book examines the technical, service and human issues that need to be addressed in order to provide a level of QoS that will meet those requirements. One key objective is to increase the reader's understanding of the importance of QoS and to show how the concepts presented can be applied to the reader's own circumstances. The book provides a comprehensive overview of definitions and standards, frameworks and models, network performance, internet, mobile and satellite services, the impact on customers, external drivers, economics, fraud and security and future trends. The authors, established experts in their fields, have wide-ranging experience in both UK and US telecommunications companies, reflecting the global nature of this industry and the universal concept of QoS.
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