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During the COVID-19 pandemic, public librarians were asked, and in some cases ordered, to support public health in unprecedented ways. This chapter explores how we got to this situation and how public libraries and library workers can proactively plan for better dynamics in our relationships with entities outside of the library. Based on two studies – (1) a survey of 895 library workers about their work experiences during the pandemic and (2) an interview-based study with 129 library workers and community partners on their experiences collaborating during the pandemic – this chapter focuses on the threats and opportunities associated with public libraries’ operations during periods of crisis and, in particular, one facet of success: The critical importance of library workers and library leaders being seen as active community partners, rather than as passive sites or hosts. The chapter concludes by discussing the work needed to position libraries and library workers as active, critical community partners, and supported as such at all levels – locally, nationally, and internationally.

This chapter presents the final results of a three-phase research project conducted between January and November 2022, consisting of a survey, interviews, and an environmental scan. During Phase 1, a survey was distributed to library managers and directors representing a variety of socioeconomic settings across the United States. It focused on population density and the urban/rural divide. Results from that survey revealed public librarians’ concerns about their local government’s response, patrons’ refusal to receive accurate information, and the propagation of misinformation on social media. Phase 2 involved interviewing 29 library managers and directors, focusing on their pandemic response stories. The interviews found that library leaders were frustrated by uncertainty, a lack of authoritative, trusted local information to guide their decision-making, which they could provide to the public, and the politicization of data and information. Phase 3 consisted of an environmental scan of 13 communities, from small towns to urban hubs, examining how external community factors influenced libraries’ community engagement and staff support. Across each phase of the study, the authors found examples of libraries and management committed to their communities despite uncertainties and political differences.

This descriptive case study offers an overview of the Free Library of Philadelphia’s (Pennsylvania, USA) response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its challenges. The study details how staff at the Free Library pivoted to create and deliver virtual programs during the pandemic. The timing of that pivot invoked successes and challenges to determine how the Free Library could remain flexible and relevant post-pandemic. The chapter briefly examines how library administrators attempted to address the needs of their racially diverse staff in an equitable and inclusive way in light of increased racial tensions that arose in Philadelphia during the pandemic. The chapter also notes a few of the Free Library’s best efforts to equip front-line librarians to be aspirational, creative, and, at times, grassroots in how they served the public during and beyond the pandemic. Finally, this descriptive case study will share some of the Free Library’s lessons learned and best practices developed during the pandemic.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the current climate in each library sector and to determine how ready libraries and librarians might be for technological change. In particular, the author sought to determine what barriers or challenges might exist and where there are strengths.

Current and former library workers were surveyed via social media and by using an interview process. All were questioned about their opinions on the current situation in libraries and both the institutional and personal readiness for technological change that will result from the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Librarians and technicians from all library sectors responded. The author also included her perspectives on the issues raised.

The findings were that although there is a certain level of cross-over in the specific challenges each library sector faces, there are unique and consequential issues found in each of school, public, special and academic and research libraries. Although the problems encountered by library workers and the libraries they work for may confound their ability to lead change, the profession has a history of flexibility and resilience in the face of technological change. Readers are advised to be aware of both the difficult realities they are facing and seek ways to move forward.

This column is unique in that it provides insights from library workers who led and nurtured libraries through the digital revolution of the 1970s through to the early 2000s. These individuals are able to explain how libraries have changed over decades and to identify the new stresses and challenges their sector faces. Despite what may seem to be a possibly dim outlook for the future, their oral history of successful change in libraries brings light and hope for future positive outcomes in the face of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The library is one of the critical foundations of informing and educating the public, and it should fulfil its function in the community, which is disseminating knowledge effectively. The library must have a dynamic space and an appropriate atmosphere to do this. Also, librarians should assist clients outside of stressful work environments. This study aimed to examine the association between organizational climate and job burnout in the hospital and college libraries of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.

This study is a cross-sectional survey. The population includes all librarians working in the college and hospital libraries of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. Two questionnaires, including organizational climate “ClimateQUAL” and job burnout “Maslach and Jackson”, were applied to collect data. It was hypothesized that there is a correlation between the organizational climate and the burnout of librarians.

The findings revealed that the organizational climate and job burnout are not in a favourable situation, with average scores of 4.70 and 2.50, respectively. Furthermore, there is a significant statistical relationship between organizational climate and job burnout (p-value<0.001).

Knowledge of the significant relationship between the organizational climate and job burnout in medical libraries may encourage policymakers to make more efforts to provide their staff with a better climate and less burnout. Regarding that it is crucial to enhance the existing condition in medical libraries, the findings of the present study suggest that policymakers should be conscious of improving the current condition, which could lead to promoting patrons’ satisfaction and productivity in the mentioned libraries.

In response to instrumental cultural policy agendas in the United Kingdom, the paper explores the practice of collaborative cultural work in the criminal justice system through the lens of professional ethics in prison libraries. It seeks to balance narratives on the value of arts and culture in cross-government policy agendas with a nuanced consideration of the realities of such work in non-conventional organisational settings.

“Instrumental Values: Professional ethics in collaborative cultural work” was a two-year empirical study (2017–2019), including ethnographic fieldwork in three case study sites representing prison library services in England. Following a “communities of practice” conceptual framework, research methods included participant observation of day-to-day cultural work and specific events; successive research interviews with library and prison service staff and volunteers; and interviews with key collaborating organisations from extended professional networks.

Data from three prison library case studies show consistent ethical implications relating to the extent of collaborative complexity in the field and its impact on participants’ emotional resilience; navigation of the prison regime by cultural workers; consequences for emotional labour and care in the field; and the re-negotiation of ethical boundaries and practices.

The research makes an original contribution to debates on the instrumental value of arts and culture via its intimate focus on prison libraries as microcosms of situated, truly integrated cultural work, both from a physical, organisational perspective and in their representation of a cross-policy function for arts and culture.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate/review the skills required for library and information science (LIS) professionals in the 21st century and to propose an alternative approach as the suggested key skills.

Twenty-two LIS professionals from Pakistan were interviewed, and 10 LIS professionals were from abroad, including two from the USA; six respondents were from Saudi Arabia; one from Canada; and one from Malaysia. In-depth interviews with faculty members were conducted to ascertain their perceptions of the knowledge and skills necessary to be competent in delivering quality education to the future information breed.

The findings emphasise the importance of a variety of competencies for librarians and information educators, including subject knowledge and skills; information technology knowledge and skills; instructional skills; research skills; and managerial, leadership and social skills. Additionally, it was noted that LIS professionals require a diverse set of skills that should be fostered by educators and employers. By promoting these in the broader community, the author can encourage the next generation of LIS professionals to consider LIS as a viable career option.

The findings presented in this paper provide a unique window into the country’s workforce needs. Though the study was conducted from a Pakistani perspective, the findings may have implications for other countries with comparable circumstances, including social impact. It also provides a new analysis of the selected generic and LIS skills that can be communicated in an innovative manner to prospective LIS employees, employers and educators.

Public and tribal libraries play an expansive role as community connectors, serving as a visible manifestation and key operator of support systems built through partnership. Pandemic circumstances increased library intentional practice and innovative engagement through partnerships, making the amorphous “community” feel more real, creating access to new resources through diverse social networks while improving overall resiliency and responsiveness in a time of great need. This chapter presents outcomes from interviews with public and tribal librarians in New Mexico, a primarily rural majority-minority state in the United States. We ask, “In what ways have pandemic experiences changed our approaches to meeting information and mutualism needs in our community?” The answer is provided from a systems-based social well-being perspective, in which success is measured by the positive impact on community members’ unique capacity to live a secure and enriched life within the context of a global pandemic. Librarians shared ways in which changes in staffing and operations affected the efforts of marginalized library workers to add their voices to build new professional understandings and the potential for justice-driven approaches to resilience from a community systems-based perspective. While diverse in their responses, the common thread running throughout the narratives of the New Mexican librarians featured in this study is the role of libraries in maintaining, repairing, and enhancing the social fabric of the communities they serve.

The purpose of this paper is to determine how we ought to distinguish between reference and readers' advisory (RA) service, given the latter’s turn toward a whole collection approach. In other words, the paper answers this question: If both reference and RA librarians aim to meet patrons’ information needs and may theoretically do so using the same materials, then how are we to differentiate the two services conceptually?

In this conceptual paper, we posit that we can distinguish between RA and reference using Louise Rosenblatt’s theory of the aesthetic transaction. With this theory in hand, we can redefine the service distinction in terms of the stance – aesthetic or efferent – that the patron expects to take toward the material they seek.

On our account, the reader’s desired stance becomes a kind of hermeneutical lens through which a library worker may productively evaluate plausible pathways and materials. An aesthetic lens is characteristic of RA; it makes features of potential aesthetic transactions between a particular reader and a particular text (or genre or author’s oeuvre) salient.

The proposed account constitutes a novel application of Rosenblattian response theory, one that grounds and refines the going view that RA’s proper focus is on supporting a particular sort of experience rather than providing particular sorts of texts. This theoretical emendation also better aligns the service distinction with contemporary conceptualizations of RA as a “whole collection” service. Important practical and philosophical implications follow from the new account.