Streamlined Library Programming: How to Improve Services and Cut Costs - Softcover

Porter-Reynolds, Daisy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1610694082 ISBN 13: 9781610694087

Publisher: Libraries Unlimited, 2014

Synopsis

Is it possible to both cut costs and improve public library programming for all ages? Yes, it is; this book demonstrates how.

In their roles as community centers, public libraries offer many innovative and appealing programs; but under current budget cuts, library resources are stretched thin. With slashed budgets and limited staff hours, what can libraries do to best serve their publics?

This how-to guide provides strategies for streamlining library programming in public libraries while simultaneously maintaining―or even improving―quality delivery. The wide variety of principles and techniques described can be applied on a selective basis to libraries of all sizes.

Based upon the author's own extensive experience as well as that of colleagues in other library systems, this book provides readers with a practical, step-by-step approach to maximizing resources and minimizing costs of programming without sacrificing quality, as well as insider tips and examples from the field that will help them to avoid known pitfalls.

About this title

About the Author

Daisy Porter-Reynolds is deputy director at Arlington Heights Memorial Library in Illinois, where she oversees library public services.

Reviews

This volume provides a thorough step-by-step plan for moving to a centralized, or "streamlined," style of programming. The author offers plenty of clear examples of timelines, program menus, and service evaluations that can be adapted by libraries looking to make this institutional shift, although her methods and explanations do seem best suited to larger, multi-branch systems. The discussion of program formats will be useful to libraries wondering what centralized programs look like, with examples and descriptions including storytimes in a box; live and virtual programs; and programs utilizing library partners, volunteers, and paid performers. The most successful chapter, on change management, has wider applicability beyond the topic of this book. Porter-Reynolds gives a thorough introduction to the concept of centralized programming, making this a solid resource for libraries considering time-saving programming methods.—Amy Koester, St. Charles City-County Library District, Wentzville, MO

Edition details

• Publisher: Libraries Unlimited
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1610694082
• ISBN 13: 9781610694087
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 146