Satisfying the Needs of the Community's Library Users

Harlan, Harold O.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/1452 Copy

Description

Title

Satisfying the Needs of the Community's Library Users

Author(s)

Harlan, Harold O.

Issue Date

1957

Keyword(s)

Reference services (Libraries)

Abstract

When you, and those associated with you in planning your library's program of service, have defined your objectives and identified the public you seek to serve, it is necessary to consider means of satisfying the needs of the people you serve. It is the function of this paper to explore some possible approaches to the problem of satisfying these needs. .. approaches, many of which will be developed in greater detail in later papers at this conference. Our objective here will be to consider briefly the importance of a librarian's knowledge of the economic, civic, and social patterns which make up the fabric of community life, then the selection of materials which will give the library the informational resources to meet the particular needs of the community. In this development of the library's collection, the role of intelligent, interested citizens can be an important one. Our staff resources must next engage our attention, as we consider the qualifications of the reference librarian and the planning of staff time which will best utilize the special skills of professionally-trained personnel. Since none of our libraries can encompass all of the recorded information which our users may need, we must give continuing consideration to the means of interlibrary organization that will achieve prompt transmission of information between libraries. Finally, we must see that the public is made fully aware of the resources and services that the library offers.

Publisher

Graduate School of Library Science. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Series/Report Name or Number

Allerton Park Institute (4th : 1957)

ISSN

0536-4604

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1452

Copyright and License Information

Copyright owned by Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois 1957.

Owning Collections