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Library directors are part of the infrastructure of information management, but how well do they manage their institutional knowledge for succession planning? Our study looked at strategies to ease managerial transitions between libraries, focusing on knowledge management, communities of practice, and mentorship. Our survey found that succession planning was dictated by local practice and size of library. The results of this paper inform knowledge of succession planning and reveal existing gaps between informal transfer of knowledge and structured knowledge management (KM), as well as librarians' resourcefulness. Library directors use KM strategies, mentoring, and involvement with communities of practice to foster innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To assess the relevance of the Public Library System in the political agenda, programs presented by the Political Parties competing in Regional and Local elections in the Spanish Region of Castilla-La Mancha were analyzed and the proposals about these library institutions were identified. All Regional programs were collected and also an ample sample from the Municipalities for the 2007 and 2015 elections, trying to find the differences influenced by the impact of the financial crisis and recession on the public-library policies. The conclusion arrived at was that, although the Public Libraries may be reasonably present in the studied programs, there is a low awareness by the Political Parties of the main problems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We hear often of the success of managers and administrators. We can find lists of titles on how to succeed as a manager and be the best we can be. We rarely read of failure or coping with failure from the people who have failed and survived with their jobs, or not survived as so often is the case. Somewhere in between always succeeding and sometimes failing is job fatigue. What to do with ourselves and how to recover our confidence and energy when we are completely drained is a personal decision and one with many choices. The author chose learning to ride and own horses and in this column she explains how learning to “mean it” with horses allowed her to redefine success and remain an enthusiastic library administrator. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Column Editor's Note It is a privilege to be asked to edit and write a column addressing issues of concern to the general public and the public library community. I will attempt to bring issues forward from the point of view of public libraries, large and small, wealthy and struggling, used and neglected, and those facing the future, as well as those struggling to preserve practices that deserve respect, if not preservation. Although the Journal of Library Administration has peer-reviewed articles, this “In the Public Interest” column is intended to represent all of the perspectives of the public concerning public libraries, and those of persons who are delivering service to the public through public libraries. This column will appear on a rotation, in several issues each year. Submissions are not peer-reviewed, but are reviewed and selected by the column editor. Public library administrators, managers, anyone on the staff of a public library, and those serving in elected and appointed positions in local governments are invited to contribute to the column by contacting Josie Parker at josie@aadl.org email address. Manuscript guidelines and submission timelines will be sent with further instruction for authors. In 2012 the Ann Arbor District Library proposed a bond millage to fund the building of a new main library. The millage failed, and this failure led to a major restructuring of the library's communications practices. This article discusses the immediate reaction of the local library profession to the bond question and afterward. The column attempts to draw a parallel between the global questioning of the relevance of the public library as an institution in the “age of Amazon” and the profession's general reaction to the internet in the early 1990's. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author discusses his experience working for a library that the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services and the periodical "Library Journal" ranked as a five star library in the Index of Public Library Service. Topics include data collection in libraries about patron habits and satisfaction, the issues that libraries face when offering services to patrons, and the issue of library budgeting.

The article presents an entry in the journal's regular column focusing on public librarianship. This entry addresses the basic question of what constituencies use public libraries and why they are important to serve. Topics addressed include trends in providing non-traditional public services through public library facilities, the views of researcher David Thacher on the existence and maintenance of libraries as public spaces, and managing the realities of misbehavior in such spaces.

The article presents personal narratives in which library leaders from the Johnson County Public Library in Overland Park, Kansas and the Novi Public Library in Novi, Michigan discuss how they work with the community and local governments to achieve success.