Libraries are public places—open to anyone and everyone. This book contains invaluable, practical tips for library staff who sometimes must deal with difficult or even dangerous individuals and situations. Every library experiences difficult patrons. Thorough preparation is the best defense: it's always much better to be proactive than reactive. The authors of Crash Course in Dealing with Difficult Library Customers realized that these kinds of situations are more universal than unique, despite the great variations in library environments and customer bases, and pooled their more than 100 years of experience to offer practical advice that will help library staff prepare for the many kinds of "worst case scenarios"—before they arise. The book identifies the basic types of problem-causing individuals, thoroughly overviews effective strategies for offsetting their actions, and explains how to successfully manage the stressful, emotionally charged situations that can arise. Drawing on their extensive real-world experience, the authors provide instructions for "last resort" options when dealing with illegal activities, acknowledge the rights of employees in difficult situations, and present strategies that will minimize staff members' stress levels when dealing with patrons. While this book will be extremely valuable to public library staff, it addresses common situations that can happen in public service at any type of library. Administrators who need to develop policies to protect their staff and their users will also find this unique work essential reading.

Weeding is a perennial challenge for librarians. This book will help you rise to the task by offering you basic instructions, including information on new formats and digital collections. Weeding is often difficult—who can easily decide to discard books and other materials that someone may someday want to borrow? But weeding is essential to keeping your collection healthy and relevant. Perfect for all types of libraries and for both paraprofessionals and librarians unfamiliar with modern weeding methods, this practical guide offers clear guidance that can help you cope with the sometimes-paralytic fear and distaste that can accompany a must-do task. Each of the book's chapters treats a specific concern—for example, weeding electronic collections. Practical matters related to collection maintenance through material and online resource weeding are addressed, as are policy and procedure documentation and communication planning and best practices. You'll read about weeding ethics, using vendor-provided weeding tools, and floating collections. The book also shares advice on training volunteers as weeding assistants and on communicating with library stakeholders about collection maintenance. By showing you how to make weeding a normal part of your library's routine, this book will help you provide your community with a healthier, better circulating, and more valuable collection.

Concise, informative, and well-indexed, this book helps readers get the "big picture" as well as the considerable number of details involved in managing the finances for a library. For all libraries, money is critical to decision-making about technology, staffing, and collections. As a result, informed budgeting is critically important for any library to succeed. This book explains library finance in a practical, engaging way, using examples of real situations in different types of libraries to teach key points. Written by authors with years of experience in budgeting and financial planning within a variety of library settings and in teaching library management or fundraising at the university level, Crash Course in Library Budgeting and Finance makes it painless to learn how to properly manage money in any library environment. The book addresses the entire process of financial planning, from a general, conceptual overview of library budgeting to the details of generating and spending income, and describes best practices for implementing financial controls. Subjects covered include building construction and capital projects, fund raising, capital campaigns, moving to fee-based services, extending and developing earned income, financial best practices, and assessment and evaluation. The authors also make recommendations regarding when and how to share relevant financial information throughout the organization and with constituents throughout the book.

Explains effective marketing strategies and identifies the tools needed to boost the visibility and increase the use of your library in the community. Marketing a library's programs or services takes more than sending out a flyer or posting an announcement on the website. Effective marketing is important for every library, as it can lead to a significant increase in library use—which is a major factor in budget justification. Crash Course in Marketing for Libraries: Second Edition will help you develop a strategic direction for your organization and identify methods for employing your best marketing and public relations strategies. Each chapter of this second edition has been updated and expanded, comprehensively addressing the planning, implementation, and evaluation stages of the marketing and public relations process in libraries. The rise of social media as a powerful marketing tool is discussed in particular detail. The authors cover topics such as planning, promoting through the use of the existing media or advertising, and assessing the project. The book's appendixes provide examples of marketing plans and projects as well as other helpful marketing resources.

A fresh, detailed, and thoughtful examination of reference services in the context of evolving community information needs and habits, a changing technological landscape, and new search strategies. Professional practices in the field of library reference services have changed dramatically in the past decade in response to shrinking print reference collections and evolving technology, search strategies, and user needs and interests. This new guide explains all the basics of reference services, covering resource types and awareness of their appropriate uses, collection development and maintenance techniques that support reference service work, the latest online searching techniques, and best practices for service interactions through various platforms, including email, chat, text, phone, and face to face. Additionally, it addresses reference service ethics; communication and conducting reference interviews; important policies related to reference service development, provision, and maintenance; alternative reference service delivery points now in use; and professional service provider networking. Both experienced reference librarians and those new to reference service will benefit from in-depth coverage of recent changes in online reference resources and print-based resources, guidelines for authoritative evaluation of web-based resources, explanations of online catalog searching skills, and tips for reference web page construction. The book also contains an expanded section on making digitized collections accessible and relevant; information on the growing need of members of the general population for help with various federal government access programs ranging from Veterans Affairs and Social Security to health care access, income tax regulation fulfillment, and immigrant documentation; and explanations of copyright in the digital sphere of resource use and transfer.

This indispensable resource provides tools for collection management in public libraries, featuring essential strategies for inventory assessment, market analysis, budgeting, marketing, and customer service. This book is a must-have for those just entering the field or professionals in need of a refresher in effective library operations. This professional volume covers all aspects of collection development and management in the public library, from gathering statistics to design a collection that meets community needs, to selecting materials, managing vendor relations, understanding the publishing industry, and handling complaints. Author Wayne Disher provides public librarians—especially those without the benefit of academic training—access to the tools to make them successful, and their collections beneficial to the public they serve. The second edition features two new chapters on digital curation and cooperative collection development. Additional updates include helpful information on infographics, more budgeting formulas, and a section on core collections, as well as content covering eBooks, electronic storage, and digital rights management. Chapters discuss subjects such as marketing the collection to patrons, book repair, and handling censorship issues when collections are challenged.

Useful for newcomers to the children's library staff as well as longtime children's librarians, the second edition of this popular handbook provides easy-to-follow instructions to make innovations in children's library materials work for you. Addressing everything from the basics of reference to the complex and highly specialized duties of program development, this handbook is perfect for both librarians and support staff who are assigned to the children's department of a library. This second addition of Crash Course in Children's Services covers many of the new issues facing children's library staff, including eBooks, using apps in programming, other online reading options, book trailers, nonfiction and the Common Core curriculum. It also describes expanded programming options such as makerspaces, gaming, dog reading programs, and play at storytime. Ideal for new children's librarians as well as experienced library staff who have not worked with children recently and long-time children's librarians looking to add new skills to their tool kits, the book familiarizes readers with all the new developments of the past few years, from online reading options to the wealth of new programming aimed at youth. You'll learn about subjects such as pop-up and passive programming, offering online homework help, and outreach and services to special needs children, and then quickly implement new practices into use at your library.