Our New Public, A Changing Clientele

Bewildering Issues or New Challenges for Managing Libraries?

James Kennedy author Gerard B McCabe author Lisa Vardaman author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Published:30th Nov '07

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Our New Public, A Changing Clientele cover

An exploration of themes of change and issues common among all types of libraries when dealing with the new generation of users called the Millennials .

Each offers practical experience and advice which, regardless of type of library, is adaptable to all.

For managers and would-be managers of libraries everywhere, and anyone who provides service to a younger demographic.

Just beginning to enter the workplace, Millennials have never known a world that wasn't connected by email, instant messages, text messages, and the Internet. For libraries, the challenge is clear: how do we serve older and more established clientele, yet sustain progress? How do we welcome this new generation into our professional midst?

These 18 chapters explore the pervasiveness of change: in personnel selection and training; budget planning; marketing and promotion; fund raising; health issues for staff and clientele; retirement and recruitment; staying current; inter-library and inter-agency cooperation; joint-use facilities; furnishing and refurnishing; evaluating and selecting new format materials and technologies; and lifelong learning. Each offers practical experience and advice which, regardless of type of library, is adaptable to all.

For managers and would-be managers of libraries everywhere, and anyone who provides service to a younger demographic.

"A host of experts on Gen Y -- a.k.a. millennials, echo boomers, the Net generation -- those young people who are, as one contributor describes them, 'technology-obsessed, social and connected, traditional, achievement-oriented, and attention-challeneged.' Apart from the sheer size of Gen Y, they will all be voting adults in a few years, making it even more important for us to reinvent ourselves in their image." - American Libraries
"[T]he authors do a good job of presenting commentary and examples of working in today's continually evolving libraries. . . The bibliographies that follow each article are full of sources to guide the reader who would like to pursue in more detail specific topics discussed by the authors. The discussion points out that, although one size does not fit all, improving facilities and services for a target group of users can improve services for all." - Reference & User Services Quarterly
"Several chapters in this new title discuss the milennials--children of the baby boomers--and digital natives and how they have already had an impact on library service. . . . Each chapter offers practical advice based on experiences, and each includes a list of references. Library managers and those aspiring to be managers will find help in providing services for a younger demographic." - Booklist
"While the majority of the 18 chapters in this book are geared toward academic libraries, several chapters do focus on public libraries and their patrons. Some ideas suggested for academic libraries may also be suitable for the public sector, too. The book features a preface, forward, introduction, table of contents, index, and information on the editors and contributors. Each of the eighteen articles has a concluding paragraph (a nice feature for readers who want to skim the information) and bibliography." - Colorado Association of Libraries
". . . this work is valuable and informative. It may prove an essential manual to those confronting the novelty of Generation Y on their own doorstep." - The Australian Library Journal
"This innovative and provocative book contains 18 chapters that examine the Millennial generation – the children of the Baby Boomers, who have grown up with all the recent advances in technology, such as iPods, laptop computers, Blue Tooth, mobile phones, Tivo, etc. . . . For information providers seeking to understand and deal with members of the Millennial generation, this is a thoughtful and provocative collection that warrants reading as a stimulant to new ways of perceiving this important group." - Collection Building

ISBN: 9781591584070

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

324 pages