Book Reviews

This edited volume provides concise, real-world examples of censorship challenges librarians have encountered in a variety of settings, and the methods they employed to face these challenges.

Cybrarian Extraordinaire is an account of author Felicia A. Smith’s experiments in and experiences with creating methods to educate students about library services. Smith uses many tactics, and gives a fresh perspective on teaching information literacy to undergraduates as well as creating a literacy program for juvenile inmates. She describes using Second Life, an interactive virtual world, in library instruction to engage students and have them learn in an interactive format.

From S. R. Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science to the ALA Code of Ethics, access is embedded as a foundational principle in our understanding of what it means to be a librarian. Access is the basis of the profession, and it is also the basis of Stephen Krashen’s book Free Voluntary Reading. Krashen emphasizes that young people need access to a large amount of reading materials to foster language and literacy development.

This small volume contains forty eight tips that touch on many of the issues facing managers today.  Sectioned into five parts -- The Manager’s Role; Running a Library; Information Technology; Staff and Public Relations -- the book offers a variety of helpful advice for academic, K-12, and public libraries.

Technology and Literacy: 21st Century Library Programming for Children & Teens is a vague title, which may lead the reader might to expect an overview of various types of technology-based programs for youth.  However, the book focuses specifically on one type of library programming in particular, Scratch, which is a software suite for creating rich, interactive multimedia projects.

If, like me, you find the typical library management text a little on the dry side, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with “Leading from the Middle,” and Other Contrarian Essays on Library Leadership by John Lubans Jr.

While many health care consumers elect to turn to the Internet for health and medical information, the ALA provides a reliable, comprehensive alternative. The ALA Guide to Medical & Health Sciences Reference, published in 2011, is a valuable reference tool for consumers, health professionals, and researchers.  Daunting, at 742 pages, the resource presents thirteen sections covering various health topics including traditional medicine, nursing, dentistry, nutrition, and health care.

I’m filing this book under the “things I didn’t learn in library school” category.  Because negotiating skills weren’t offered in our curriculum, most of us have failed to realize that negotiating is a big part of our everyday lives. We negotiate with ourselves, our family, and our co-workers.

Fiscal challenges continue for all libraries across the United States. Administrators, managers, and library staff can use this updated volume to identify potential grant funding from private and corporate foundations that have recently supported libraries and library services. Veteran editor Ann Kepler provides a detailed descriptive profile of philanthropic programs across the county, arranging them alphabetically by foundation name, corporation, or family of private charitable organizations. Library associations are listed alphabetically by state.
 

Once children learn to read, do they still need libraries? Today, more than ever, the world of libraries is changing rapidly, and the impact on children’s services cannot be denied. From Boardbook to Facebook, which has a great title, researches and discusses the needs of our youngest patrons, those who are often without a voice, confirming that these services are crucial, both to the patrons and to libraries themselves.