Susan Orlean’s bestseller and New York Times Notable Book is “a sheer delight…as rich in insight and as varied as the treasures contained on the shelves in any local library” (USA TODAY)—a dazzling love letter to a beloved institution and an investigation into one of its greatest mysteries. “Everybody who loves books should check out The Library Book” (The Washington Post). On the morning of April 28, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. The fire was disastrous: it reached two thousand degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who? Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning New Yorker reporter and New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a “delightful…reflection on the past, present, and future of libraries in America” (New York magazine) that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before. In the “exquisitely written, consistently entertaining” (The New York Times) The Library Book, Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries; brings each department of the library to vivid life; studies arson and attempts to burn a copy of a book herself; and reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago. “A book lover’s dream…an ambitiously researched, elegantly written book that serves as a portal into a place of history, drama, culture, and stories” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis), Susan Orlean’s thrilling journey through the stacks reveals how these beloved institutions provide much more than just books—and why they remain an essential part of the heart, mind, and soul of our country.

Written in a warm and personal style, Working in the Virtual Stacks presents an exciting future for librarians, already upon us today!

This book explains how librarians can capitalize on the growing interest and need of patrons for help with technology by expanding their library's tech services to build community engagement and support. Keeping up with technology is more critical and difficult than ever. This challenge exists not only for library staff but for their patrons as well. Today's librarians are often barraged with increasingly complex questions from their patrons about technology—from loading eBooks onto their readers to helping resurrect dead laptops. Why not capitalize on this opportunity and transform your library into a first-stop, go-to resource for your community's tech needs? Raising the Tech Bar at Your Library: Improving Services to Meet User Needs demonstrates a variety of ways to expand library services to better serve your community, including how to establish tech bars and tech centers, provide tech training and one-on-one tech help, host drop-in demos, and create a coding "dojo." The book covers after-school programs, makerspaces, and embedded librarianship as well. The authors draw on their personal experience to offer a practical blueprint for launching your tech initiative, starting with the preliminary steps of evaluating community needs and getting administrative and public buy-in to obtaining funding, training non-tech staff, setting up and launching your program, and evaluating the services you've established. The book ends with a look to the future that supplies provocative and exciting ideas of how libraries with innovative, tech-focused leadership can push the edge even further. This book serves a wide audience—all public librarians as well as library administrators, those who work in IT departments as well as adult or youth services, and reference librarians who are interested in expanding into this important and exciting area.

This work covers a variety of library topics that are truly relevant to the day-to-day job, such as management, administration, and marketing.

This professional primer provides the blueprint to help you create a school library program, covering all aspects of library management such as budgeting, eBook use, purchasing, and teacher collaboration. Advice and strategies from experts in the field will help you master collection development, library administration, recruitment, and staffing. This handbook is the perfect introduction to school library management for both novice and seasoned professionals. The authors—both experienced school librarians—provide basic guidelines for overseeing an effective library program, practical examples that can be used to implement quality lessons, comprehensive coverage of key topics including daily tasks and human resource management, and ideas for the future of school library management. The provided strategies make setting up and running a program easy for professionals at any level. The second edition includes updated information on the latest trends, terminology, and technologies current in the field. The book is organized into three sections: focusing on daily operations; your role as a teacher collaborator and visionary; and methods for managing a collection. Included resource lists, sidebars, charts, and pictures offer tips and ideas for successfully implementing your plans.

This unique book covers the who, what, when, where, why, and, most important, the HOW of creating a career center or jobseeker program in a public library. Blueprint for a Job Center at Your Library provides a practical, down-to-earth guide for library staff who wish to better meet one of their patrons' most pressing needs. The book covers everything from program planning for classes, workshops, and special events to career advising, resources and facilities, recruiting personnel, funding, outreach and promotion, and program evaluation. The authors share a plethora of tips and tricks that can be customized to enable even small public libraries to offer job-search help. Real-life examples and case studies from across the United States show the blueprint in action. Even those who already have a job center in their library will learn about forming resourceful partnerships, gain new ideas for funding sources, and discover innovative services they can provide easily and affordably.