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The article discusses the impact that self-serve and automation library services have on U.S. library patrons, librarians and other library staff. Topics, including the security of self-serve libraries, stakeholder engagement, cost effectiveness, the relationship between library administrators and staff and library users' attitudes toward automation in libraries, are discussed.

An interview with Caroline Coward, library group supervisor at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, M. Ryan Hess, library services manager at Palo Alto City Library in California, Darra L. Hofman, blockchain researcher, Bohyun Kim, associate professor at University of Rhode Island Libraries, and Annie Norman, state librarian in the Delaware Division of Libraries, is presented. They discuss the possible uses of blockchain in libraries, the need to educate both library employees and users, and what services will not fit into the blockchain model.

The article discusses trends in library security concerns and solutions as libraries flourish with new programs, facilities, and patrons. Topics include patrons' use of tobacco vape pipes to smoke legal marijuana in libraries, panhandlers dressed in religious clothing inside and outside of libraries, and ransomware attacks on servers, payroll systems, or network computers of libraries.

The article discusses services for library patrons with disabilities. Emphasis is given to topics such as disability awareness training for librarians and library staff, soliciting feedback from people with disabilities on service expectations, and timing of training, process reviews, and professional development.

The article reports on readers' advisory services which suggest books based on tattoos of library users. it mentions several libraries who have started such programs, the use of the tattoos and the stories behind them to suggest books, and the libraries' plans to continue their programs.

The article reports on steps to prevent sexual harassment of librarians by patrons. It mentions the number of librarians who have been harassed, the need to have support from administration, and a list of suggestions to use when inappropriate behavior by patrons occurs. INSET: What to Say When Things Get Inappropriate.

The article discusses the use of repair events hosted by libraries to reduce waste and acquire new library patrons from the community. Topics include the ability of repair clinics to teach patrons to repair broken items and inspire them to learn more about products they consume and how they work, the use of Repair Cafes and Fixit Clinics to connect libraries with their surrounding communities, and the use of the repair events to build sustainable societies.

The article discusses the author's views about how American libraries can lead the effort to combat fake news as of 2017, and it mentions media literacy in the U.S., as well as the ways that librarians can assist library patrons in accessing accurate information. According to a 2016 research report, a majority of adults in the U.S. receive their news in real time from online social media websites and services. Journalists in America are also assessed.

The article discusses designing physical spaces for youth services in libraries and other public places. The importance of having specific spaces within library settings for children and teenagers is examined and the effect of architecture and design on learning is explored. Connections between architectural design and a library's service philosophy, staff involvement, and the focus of library services are discussed. Benefits of user input are also examined.

This article features a partnership between librarians at Pennsylvania State University and Sony Electronics to offer electronic books to library users. Sony donated 100 PRS-505 E-Book Readers to the university's libraries. A team has been formed by the libraries to manage the project and to oversee collection development. Test scenarios have also been conducted for the execution of the project.

The article discusses a new state statute that went into effect in Vermont on July 1, 2008, declaring patron registration and transaction records confidential in all types of libraries. The law prohibits sharing those records except with written permission of the library patron and in response to an authorized judicial order or warrant. It also allows any library to release information to custodial parents and guardians of patrons under age 16.

The article focuses on the significance of libraries to library users. Early positive memories, and occasional negative experiences, shape people's lifelong relationship with libraries and library staff. People find that libraries provide a continuum for lifelong use that is unique in our society. And although public, school, academic, and special libraries operate independently, they have created an interdependent and interconnected network of resources and staff that influence people in countless ways throughout their lifetimes.

A calendar of events for library employees and users in the U.S. for March to July 2007 is presented. The National Library Workers Day is scheduled on April 17. The Music Library Association/Society for American Music Joint Conference will be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "The American Twenties" exhibition of the University of Texas at Austin is on display until July 29.

The article offers news briefs concerning the American Libraries Association (ALA). The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded ALA a grant to support the organization's efforts to ensure free public access to the Internet in all of U.S. public libraries. A fundraising campaign for the 2007 ALA PPO Cultural Communities Fund is underway.

The article offers news briefs related to American libraries as of March 2006. Flooding at Yale University's Sterling Memorial Library in New Haven, Connecticut, damaged some 3,000 books and a valuable collection of Cambodian newspapers that document the nation's genocide during the 1970s. Ongoing patron-behavior woes during after-school hours have prompted officials of the Wickliffe Public Library in Ohio to ban visits between 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. from youngsters under 14 unless accompanied by an adult or enrolled in a library program.

What do you do when your library wants to expand its space for young learners but doesn’t have the money for a new building? You think small. Meridian (Idaho) Library District created the Tiny Library from a converted shipping container—and, with help from its partners, has seen indelible benefits in the community. The library is now developing a toolkit so that others can replicate its success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the provision of equal service access for library users in the U.S. Factors to consider in achieving equitable service delivery from libraries to public users; Concerns that emerge when outreach is segregated from regular library service; Services developed by the American Library Association for different and special populations. INSET: Celebrate Equitv with Carlo Hayden.

Discusses the privacy rights of youth library patrons. Importance of being able to seek information without being monitored; Interviews with school library media specialists and youth services librarians about what privacy issues affect young patrons; Privacy issues related to the circulation records of students and requests for assistance to find information on sensitive issues; Protection of computer and Internet records and of personal passwords; Parents who believe they have a right to know about the reading habits of children. INSET: PRIVACY ACTIVISM, NEWS, AND SOFTWARE TOOLS.

Offers library news for March 2002. Sentencing of a former librarian at the University of Alabama/Tuscaloosa to pay replacement costs for the destruction of books; Literacy program of the Chicago Public Library in Illinois; Complaint of black staffers at the District of Columbia Public Library about the decreased prominence of Black History Month; Charges against an 84-year-old man for stealing materials from libraries in California; Delinquent patrons at North Babylon Public Library in New York taken to court.

Describes the American Library Association (ALA)'s Midwinter Meeting, held in Washington D.C. in January 2001. Public awareness campaign which was unveiled by the ALA; Vote of the ALA to initiate litigation which challenges legislation mandating Internet filtering for libraries and schools, such as the Children's Internet Protection Act; Conference highlights and attendance; ALA sponsors and celebrity advocates.

Offers a discussion on the issue of electronic books, or e-books. Arguments about their importance in libraries; Debate over the usefulness of the e-book format to library patrons; Questions about the affordability of e-book readers; Debate over the longevity of the technology, and the effect on librarians.

Discusses the author's survey of adults for Clarion University (CU) that questioned the impact of the public library on their daily lives. Findings of the public library use study, including the value that library users placed on a single visit; Difficulty in comparing findings with other studies; CU statistical data.

Presents the American Library Association's division of the Reference and User Services Association. Focus of the membership unit; Publications and committees; Representatives; Sections.

Presents developments in library media services in the U.S. 'Media Port,' a videotape program that provides library patrons with local information; 'Listing of Archival Supplies and Services,' a brochure developed through the Historical Awareness and Assistance Project for Metropolitan Milwaukee; Launch of multimedia campaign to combat illiteracy in Alabama; Guidelines to help school librarians evaluate library media services.

Presents key findings of a survey of library user/non-user lifestyles in the United States. Activities, interests and opinions of male and female users and non-users; Negative correlates of library users and non-users.

Reports on the impact that AIDS has had on the library profession. Attitudes within the profession toward AIDS, HIV-positive people, and ARC (AIDS Related Complex) disease; Losses within the library profession due to AIDS; View that there is inadequate information for library users and staff; Obstacles to overcoming AIDS in the workplace; Comments from library employees on AIDS. INSETS: A personal note;Resolution on Freedom from AIDS Screening for Library Employees.

Presents the digests of several articles, research and statistics as of June 1987 that are of interest to librarians in the United States. Claim that the 'reference interview' between librarian and patron is partially a myth; Percentage of library patrons who read the entire nonfiction book they have borrowed; Use of database searching services in schools across the United States. INSETS: New librarians critical of their training;Libraries rally to aid refugees.

Criticizes user fees in publicly supported libraries. Tendency of such fees to create economic and psychological barriers for users; Examination of policy issues related to their primary mission; Consideration of effective alternatives to fees; Development of a full-cost recovery program for fee-based services.

The article discusses the relationship between data collection and patron privacy in U.S. libraries. Topics include the role of privacy in learning analytics projects, methods of deidentification to be used in data collection, and the need for responsible data management. Data collection by the Seattle Public Library (SPL) in Seattle, Washington is addressed.

In this article the author, who wrote the book "Main Street Public Library: Community Places and Reading Spaces in the Rural Heartland, 1876-1956," discusses the role of libraries in the lives of library users and patrons. He presents information on a study he executed for the book, in which he studied public libraries the Midwest U.S., addressing topics such as the use of libraries as community centers, the role of reading in communities, and the function of communicative institutions.

The article presents several ways libraries can adapt to change and stay relevant to users in the years following the global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. The author addresses what he calls "library fitness" in light of the 150th anniversary of the book "The Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin, which presents the theory of the survival of the fittest. The twelve steps to library fitness include emphasizing local communities, engaging library users, and finding and solving problems. Other topics include ideas discussed in the books "Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits," by Leslie Crutchfield and "How the Mighty Fall," by Jim Collins.

The article focuses on a study on the growth of computer and Internet services in public libraries in the U.S. and how such services are financed. It notes that 90% of libraries provide formal training or information technology assistance to effectively utilize computers and online resources. According to the study, Internet services available in public libraries have increased. Also mentioned is an increase in the number of libraries which report that offering services for job seekers is important to the role of the public library.

The article focuses on library tagging, which is facing obstacles with patron success. One of the greatest innovations changing the library discovery experience is the addition of user participation in findability through the use of user-contributed keywords or tags associated with particular materials. Participation patterns have emerged as the first libraries to go live with integrated community tagging for Encore implementations.

The article discusses the decision of some library boards to curtail or eliminate Spanish-language acquisitions. Equating the acquisition of Spanish-language fiction with catering to illegal aliens is an idea that originates from the broader immigration issue in the U.S. The author advocates open information accessibility for the millions of Latino citizens who work, pay taxes, and are library users entitled to the same rights as any other U.S. citizen. INSET: READ MORE.

The article talks about the worth of libraries. Every library employee should know three crucial things about the library's host system: its missions, its structure and its history. It states that policies establishing unfiltered access to Internet resources for children brought into question the common notion of public libraries being good for children. While all library users should receive the same open, friendly, excellent service, some need to be kept fully satisfied all the time.

The article suggests some rules for planning the design of libraries and library additions. At the very beginning of the building project, it is important for participants to make a pact that there must be agreement in advance on the way group decisions will be made. Administrators and oversight groups have a responsibility to critique and approve their subordinates' work. Planners should have a good idea what the library staff and users will be doing most of the time.

The author discusses the use of participatory design methods by designers to include stakeholders' feedback when planning the architectural and interior design of libraries. Topics include discussions between designers and stakeholders in order to determine how people use libraries versus relying on generalizations and assumptions, participatory design's valuing of experiential knowledge and professional expertise equally, and the use of participatory design to empower patrons and address inequity.

The article discusses developing inclusive spaces in the design of U.S. virtual and physical libraries, including so as to address inequality. The impact that inclusive spaces in libraries have on library patrons is discussed.

Features stories regarded as the real measures of the success of librarians. Role of the Vancouver Public Library in fulfilling the dying request of a patron's friend; Efforts of a librarian to help Patricia Cook receive her first reading achievement certificate; Importance for librarians to draw the connections between the statistics they report and the lives of their community members. INSETS: Geting the Word Out;The Power of a Few Visits.

Looks at the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) for libraries and librarians in the country. Effect of the CIPA decision on free speech of adult library users; Limitations of filtering software to block access to protected speech; Impact on intellectual freedom.

Focuses on the response of librarians and libraries to the U.S. Supreme Court decision which upheld the constitutionality of the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Issue regarding the provision of CIPA for libraries to purchase blocking software to protect young library users; Action taken by the Federal Communications Commission in response to the ruling; Impact on the finances of libraries.

Many library patrons who are seeking 'free money' have not been told the lowdown on grants for individuals. They were given misleading ideas that masquerade as facts. In reality, financial help (not necessarily a grant) is available for many people in the areas of housing, business, health, utilities, and a host of other things. If they understand the grant money tree and how it grows, it is possible to find real help. There are billions of dollars of private and public grant money, but they do not go into a pipeline from the federal government or a private foundation directly to consumers. Very few of the programs created with this federal money are outright grants that do not have to be paid back. A look through the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (also online at www.cfda.gov), published by the General Services Administration's Office of Government-wide Policy, is instructive. Most are loans, loan guarantees, counseling, and inspection and certification services. Most true grants to businesses involve disaster relief, crop subsidies, and the development of cutting-edge technology toward market readiness. Neither federal government agencies nor foundations create pots of money that people can access by virtue of age, disability, gender, or being in business. Libraries will probably always have some free-money books on the shelves because of demand, but libraries can also provide an alternative--genuinely helpful financial information. State health department Web sites offer tips on what's available through state government; a complete list of state links is available at www.astho.org. At each state's site, librarians can explore such programs as health testing, support for AIDS victims, and casework and treatment for children who are ill with specific conditions.

Ponders whether librarians actually use libraries in their personal lives. Book borrowing habits of librarians; Survey of library patronage habits of library staff members at the University of Minnesota Libraries; Call for librarians to patronize libraries; Implications and understanding of library services resulting from library usage; Librarian opinions on why they do not read library books; Suggested reasons for library workers to buy their own books.

Focuses on the digital divide and the U.S. Department of Commerce report, 'A Nation Online.' Controversy over the report's announcement that the gap is closing because more than half of all Americans are using computers and the Internet; Role of the library in helping communities with the challenges of new information technologies; Discussion of data and flaws in the report, including the measurement of Internet access.

Focuses on the Virtual Village Communication Center of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in Charlotte, North Carolina. Description of the renovated technical-services space, which has workstations using high-speed T1 Internet connections and general office-productivity software; Background on the computer lab and how it was designed to give the entire community access to computer technology, information, instruction, and services; Author's views on usage of the computer stations and assistive technologies for the disabled.

Comments on the art of answering questions as a librarian. How the author often finds herself doing so-called on-the-fly reference; Her experience working at information desks; How people expect librarians to have all the answers; Differences between answering questions at libraries and at events; Challenges faced by librarians whose patrons had new information needs in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. INSET: ON-THE-FLY TOOLKIT.

Presents an interview with librarians John Callahan and Sam Morrison on issues facing libraries in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Thoughts on the library's obligation to protect the First Amendment and the privacy of library patrons; Role of librarians when intellectual freedom and privacy issues come up against national security and public safety; Views on the removal of certain public documents and reports by federal agencies.

Discusses steps for librarians to use in teaching library users how to search the Web. Drawbacks of a descriptive approach; Advantages of the query-based approach to teaching, which addresses specific queries; Ten tips for shaping a query-based approach; Search tools and their URLs.

Focuses on the national library in Cuba, called the Biblioteca Nacional Jose Marti. Lack of resources available to libraries there; Role of the Internet; Funding by the Ministry of Culture; National reading program; Independent Libraries of Cuba Project, which offers unbiased information to readers and a possible reason to defect for its librarians. INSET: THE INDEPENDENT LIBRARIES CONTROVERSY.

Discusses myths and misconceptions about the mission of libraries. Role of library spaces to individuals and community; Topic of intergenerational programs and literacy; Need for libraries to publicize services and reach out to groups that do not use public libraries.