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Theft is a serious problem in our neighborhood libraries if the results of the survey described in this article are any indication. The Sacramento Public Library had purchased 455 copies of 26 Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) titles. Only 71 were found to be available. Ten of the others had been lost and paid for but the remaining 374 copies had been billed but not paid. This represents a loss of $8,900. Books by the author Zane were also examined. The losses amounted to $6,700. The effects of these losses are discussed. Recommendations for handling high-risk titles and improving the overdue process are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recession in the American economy touches all of us. Budget cuts, layoffs, and reduced service hours may be among the most obvious signs in our neighborhood libraries. Beneath the surface, however, one finds resilience in the face of adversity. At the Information Desk in the Colonial Heights, Elk Grove, and Rancho Cordova branch libraries of the Sacramento Public Library one encounters people who are full of life and vitality as they struggle to find work, fix what is broken, and complete difficult assignments, whether at work, home, or school. Some of their stories are recounted in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our neighborhoods are full of life. This life flows into and through our libraries. The cares, worries, joys, and pleasures of everyday living accompany these visits. Members of these communities may walk in, be pushed in, and sometimes perhaps, skate in. Those of us who work in their libraries are the beneficiaries. The stories of some of these neighbors as they use the Colonial Heights, Elk Grove, and Fair Oaks branches of the Sacramento Public Library are conveyed in this anecdotal-based article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Those using Sacramento's Colonial Heights Branch Library for the first time encounter a range of issues to which they must adjust. Some of these issues are behavioral and normally relate to the age of the individual. Others are at the skill level. This article describes some of these adjustments based on the age of the first-timer from pre-toddler to computer-averse senior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patron use of the Internet may appear to overwhelm the public library's traditional role. This is often the case at the Colonial Heights Branch of the Sacramento Public Library. Fortunately the services which are required to support Internet use complement those required to assist patrons with the print and media collections. This essay recounts the important, primarily personal ways in which a branch library in a low socio-economic neighborhood reinforces its traditional informational and instructional role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on library user services for newly arrived Chinese students at the University of California, Davis, California. There are two groups of newly arrived Chinese students at this university. The first group includes first generation Chinese immigrants who came to the U.S. in their teen years. Some of them attended a few years of high school in the U.S. and graduated; some of them just arrived from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, or the Southeast Asia region having graduated from high school in their countries of origin. Then, they came to study undergraduate programs at this campus. The second group is made up of newly arrived Chinese graduate students who completed their undergraduate degrees in their home countries, in the fall quarter of 2004. Newly arrived Chinese students are unique. They know English and Chinese and they also read and write Chinese very well. Therefore, they use the library's Chinese materials as well as English collection. However, the author learned that newly arrived Chinese students face common difficulties in using library resources in the U.S.

Reports are from a program planned by the Southern California Technical Processes Group (SCTPG) on "Managing the Electronic Monster; The Impact on the Library User" and a program at the University at Buffalo (UB) on the crisis in the scholarly communication system, "Publishing the Future: Scholarly Communication in an Information Age." The Southern California Technical Processes Group (SCTPG) chose "Managing the Electronic Monster; The Impact on the Library User" as an interesting title for the program reported on by Manuel Urrizola. Equating electronic resources with a monster certainly resonates with this column editor, who used the metaphor of battling the Hydra in a presentation at a past Florida Library Association conference. An impressive list of local California speakers addressed such issues as the single versus separate record approach, aggregator-neutral records, acquisitions and licensing of electronic resources, and public service concerns. Former Serials Review editor Cindy Hepfer played a key role in planning the content for the University at Buffalo (UB) program on scholarly communication entitled "Publishing the Future." The purpose of the program was to raise awareness in the UB community, especially among faculty, administrators, and students, to the growing crisis in scholarly communication and to look at some future developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information about the closure of a public library. Often, when a business closes, it is because business has fallen off and customers no longer want or need what is being sold. When it is a public library that is the subject of a closure, again it is usually because demographics have changed in an urban context, and merely a branch needs to close, or be relocated, or consolidated with another location. Rarely do one find a case where a library is closed solely as a result of a shortage of revenue, but that is exactly what happened recently in Salinas, California. Apparently, facing a 9 million dollars budget shortfall, the library failed to obtain the votes needed to institute. As a result, 33 librarians will be laid off, and three libraries closed indefinitely. The community didn't want the library to close as many users being from lower income families rely heavily on library services. Even the American Library Association adopted a resolution opposing the closure of the libraries.