Introduction to Public Librarianship

by Kathleen de la Peña McCook

Practitioners and students will find much of value in this essential source for learning about the successful management and functioning of public libraries today.

Genres: Nonfiction, Library Science, Textbooks, School, Professional Development, Librarianship, Adult

404 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2004

Reviews

[Jane Ellen]

Had to read for class- it’s not particularly engaging, and I don’t really want to work in public libraries soooooooooo

[Aaron]

I have been reading this preparing for the class I am teaching this coming semester. I have been a big fan of the book since it's first edition. I am still disappointed in the very low level of discourse relating to marketing for public libraries and almost no coverage of social media, but she has done a great job of adding more information about how technology is being further embedded in modern public libraries. Overall, she is continuing to improve the title with each new edition.

[Joe Caputo]

It is a textbook through and through, but considering it is the most up-to-date edition, I do wish it was a bit more current in its sources.

[Joseph]

Not a terribly engaging read, by any measure. It touches on some important topics for prospective librarians, but it's so exceedingly dry and disjointed that the multi-page tables come as something of a relief. Poor manufacturing quality does not help.

[AltLovesBooks]

Actually not terrible like textbooks tend to be. I pulled a lot of interesting facts and figures out of the chapters, which was a pleasant surprise. The book also had lengthy discussions about supporting readings, which I made extensive notes about for later, and helpful links and things for websites in each chapter.

All that said, it's still a textbook at its core. The chapters read dry for the most part, and are extremely lengthy in some cases. The information is relevant to today's library world (I read the 3rd edition, published 2018), but there's a lot of "but we'll see where this trend/thing/technology/legislation goes in the future" hand waving.

[Bernadette]

This book is for those who are interested in working in a public library setting. In this book, you'll learn about all aspects of public libraries for example: how the start of public libraries began, organization, administration, staffing, planning, evaluation, adult, youth, and children services, advocacy, outreach and more.

[Martin Maenza]

I read this as part of one of my courses. We mostly used the readings to spur weekly discussions on the class message board. Those usually were grounded in experiential evidence from our jobs working in libraries.

[Molly]

I read this for my "The Public Library" course in library school. I remember it being a pretty good introduction to the theory and philosophy behind public library services but not so much the reality.

[Amy Gideon]

Might be more useful if you haven't worked in a public library before.

[Jess]

Very informative. Verrrrry dry.

[Michele Peoples]

Well-written, informational, and thorough!

[Alaina]

I read this book for one of my Library Science courses. It found it to be incredibly readable compared to my other textbooks, but also very repetitious. There were several quotes that were used more than once throughout the book and they were always presented as though it was the first time we'd seen them. I found myself repeatedly asking, "Didn't I already read this?" Overall, this was a decent book, but it was annoying that the same information was just reused repeatedly.

[Taylor]

I felt that this textbook went into too much detail at times--is it important that I know that so-and-so used charts in their presentations in 1976? No. And the author was biased at times too.

[Amy Bailey]

Some good information here. A good resource for public librarianship.

[Tayler K.M.]

LIS 645

Assigned: 742 pages
Ch 1-7, (8 or) 9, 10-12: 269 pages
Articles: 473 pages

Read: 720 pages
Ch 1-7, 9, 10, 12: 247 pages
Articles: 473 pages