RCLS Professional Collection: Outreach

Whether patrons need resources to start their own business, search for a new job, or locate demographic statistics to help them market their existing product, this resource will help you answer questions and meet their needs, with * Innovative programming ideas * Easy-to-translate suggestions for day-to-day operations * Suggestions for helping clients become business literate on the web, on paper, and out in the world of work

This valuable resource gathers the principles and best practices of leadership, and points the way towards creating a service culture that makes every staff member a library leader.

Introduction -- Describing the library and community -- Outreach needs and assets assessment -- Outreach plan -- Appendix 1. Sources of community and library data -- Appendix 2. Examples of community outreach plans.

Providing equity of access is the business of every department in the library. Growing from the leadership initiative of 2003-4 ALA President Carla Hayden, this multifaceted guide answers both why and how. Following successful models from around the country, any library can take steps to improve access to information for all, encompassed within the library's service delivery system. Quality service appears in a wide variety of programs. Learn from the specifics: Serve immigrants and refugees inspired by the InfoBUS example; Connect prison inmates to library services; Build community around local information and referrals; Bridge the digital divide; Incorporate multilingual materials; Hire and train with an eye to outreach; Pair up advocacy and outreach to leverage results; Gain authoritative, detailed, and practical guidance for policies, practices, and model programs that integrate outreach services into the daily