“This September 3, 2019 press release is republished courtesy of John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, Rutgers University.
Local public libraries serve an important role in the national workforce development system. This role has increased since the Great Recession and became formalized through changes in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014. Public libraries offer a range of career services, including résumé and cover letter support, job application assistance, interview preparation, training, and referrals to American Job Centers/other support services. A recent study from the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development chronicles the extent to which public libraries across the United States are providing these career services.
Researchers used three strategies to address the research questions for this study: a literature review and data collection from library websites, a national survey of state library staff that included open-ended responses, and structured telephone interviews with local library staff. The research team used descriptive statistics and rigorous qualitative coding methods to analyze the data. While data are not nationally representative, researchers collected data from 42 states.
Findings from the study report (pdf), written by Stephanie Holcomb, Amy Dunford, and Fopefoluwa Idowu, include:
Seventy-five percent (75%) of survey respondents reported that libraries in their state provide career services. Most library staff respondents describe a strong demand for career services; for some, demand has slowed with the improving economy, but for a few, the demand has increased.
Respondents reported that public libraries are regarded as accessible alternatives to traditional workforce service providers due to their flexibility, accessibility, and openness to all patrons. However, library staff reported that not all community members and potential partners are aware that libraries play a role in the workforce system.
Survey respondents noted that their public libraries have partnerships with nonprofit organizations (79%), One-Stop Career Centers/American Job Centers (69%), and community colleges or universities (69%).
Respondents noted that the lack of funding affects programming. Among other challenges, this leads to variation in what libraries can offer, with some providing formal workforce development programming and others offering informal job search support.
Given the local focus of individual public libraries, future research should include staff from all local libraries to better assess the variation of demand and services provided at the local level. Future research should also include patrons and community partners to provide insight from multiple stakeholder perspectives on how libraries may be better able to meet the needs of patrons and the national workforce system.”
Posted on: December 9, 2019, 12:16 pmCategory: Uncategorized
“Acknowledging these consequences, the American Library Association passed a resolution in January in which it recognizes fines as “a form of social inequity” and calls on libraries nationwide to find a way to eliminate their fines.
“Library users with limited income tend to stay away from libraries because they may be afraid of incurring debt,” said Ramiro Salazar, president of the association’s public library division. “It stands to reason these same users will also stay away if they have already incurred a fine simply because they don’t have the money to pay the fine.”
Lifting fines has had a surprising dual effect: More patrons are returning to the library, with their late materials in hand. Chicago saw a 240% increase in return of materials within three weeks of implementing its fine-free policy last month. The library system also had 400 more card renewals compared with that time last year.”
Posted on: December 4, 2019, 6:28 amCategory: Uncategorized
“Every commercially published book in the world is given a unique International Standard Book Number, or ISBN. On its inception in 1967, that number was 10 digits long, though it was updated to 13 digits in 2007. Now, starting in early 2020, the 10-digit ISBN is getting replaced entirely by the 13-digit version for the first time in the US market.
The news comes from the Book Industry Study Group’s Metadata Committee, which met earlier this month to discuss the changes.
Up until now, any 10-digit ISBN could be updated to a 13-digit version by slapping a “978” onto the front — pick up any commercially published book, and you’ll see the ISBN and barcode somewhere on the cover.
Next year, Bowker, which manages US ISBN assignments, plans to add a new “979” prefix in addition to the 978 one. With two prefixes floating around, any systems that still just convert 13-digit ISBNs to 10-digit identifiers will have no way to tell a 978-prefixed ISBN from its 979-prefixed counterpart. And those systems still exist. Some might even opt for a 10-digit number automatically.”
Stephen
Posted on: December 3, 2019, 6:55 amCategory: Uncategorized
“The hierarchy of disagreement is a concept proposed by Paul Graham in his 2008 essay How to Disagree. His hierarchy has seven levels, from “Name-calling” to “Refuting the central point”.
Name-calling This is the lowest form of disagreement, and probably also the most common.
Ad Hominem An ad hominem attack is not quite as weak as mere name-calling.
Responding to Tone The next level up we start to see responses to the writing, rather than the writer.
Contradiction In this stage, we finally get responses to what was said, rather than how or by whom.
Counterargument At this level, we reach the first form of convincing disagreement: counterargument.
Refutation The most convincing form of disagreement is refutation.
Refuting the Central Point The force of a refutation depends on what you refute. The most powerful form of disagreement is to refute someone’s central point.
Paul Graham’s Disagreement Hierarchy
How to disagree productively and find common ground | Julia Dhar”
Stephen
Posted on: December 2, 2019, 6:57 amCategory: Uncategorized
Stephen Abram is a librarian and principal with Lighthouse Consulting Inc., and executive director of the Federation of Ontario Public Libraries. He blogs on library strategies for direction, marketing, technology and user alignment.
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