Public Library Services for the Poor: Doing All We Can

Among public institutions, the library has great potential for helping the poor and disenfranchised. For many, the library is their only source for information, entertainment, language skills, employment help, free computer use, and even safety and shelter. Experts Leslie and Glen Holt, with decades of service to inner-city communities between them, challenge librarians to do more for poor people. While recognizing the financial crunch libraries are under, the authors offer concrete advice about programs and support for this group, showing you how to *Train staff to meet the unique needs of the poor, including youth *Cooperate with other agencies in order to form partnerships and collaborations that enrich library services to the poor and homeless *Find help, financial and other, for your library This groundbreaking work demonstrates how five Key Action Areas adopted by the ALA Council (Diversity, Equity of Access, Education and Continuous Learning, Intellectual Freedom, and 2lst-Century Literacy) apply especially to this disadvantaged population, and motivates librarians to use creative solutions to meet their needs.

Dr. Leslie Edmonds Holt is president and CEO of Holt Consulting and associate editor of Public Library Quarterly. She received her BA from Cornell College, her MLS from the University of Chicago, and her PhD in Education (Reading) from Loyola University. She has twenty-five years of experience working in public libraries, including a decade-long term as director of Youth Services and Community Relations at the St. Louis Public Library. She has taught at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Glen Holt is the editor of Public Library Quarterly. He wrote quarterly columns on library economics in The Bottom Line: Managing Library Finance for eleven years and columns in Library Leadership Network Commons for five. In addition, he is coauthor of three LIS books and author of more than a hundred articles on library topics. In 2003 he received PLA s Charlie Robinson Award for innovation and risk taking in the profession, and he is one of only two dozen library professionals who helped articulate library best practices as a member of Germany s Bertelsmann Foundation s International Network of Public Librarians.<