Lessons from the Public Library

20Jun11

I often think about my special library experience, which has parallels to school libraries. Recently I discussed the pros and cons of satellite libraries, as I was thinking of rural school libraries without full time staff.

Elizabeth Nelson wrote “Learning from Public and School Librarians” in Information Outlook Vol. 15 No. 3 April/May 2011 issue (membership required). Nelson advocates aligning with supporters like a “friends of the library” group, which traditionally raised money and organized events. Also as library resources become more self-service in nature, librarians find themselves involved in teaching information literacy. Special librarians may also find themselves posting videos, narrating PowerPoint or other tutorials to answer common questions, or reach remote or asynchronous users.

I encourage you to review the full article and tackle a task with a fresh perspective.

– Brenda Wong

More to Read

Prove Yourself: What Public and Academic Librarians Can Learn from Special Librarians
by Steve Casburn

Collecting Experiences for Your Future Career by Elizabeth Nelson

One Response to “Lessons from the Public Library”

Feed for this Entry

1 Karen on June 22, 2011 9:09 am said:

Most of our clients think of the public library model when they think of a library. I’m looking forward to reviewing those articles. Thank for pointing them out!