BikeSmart bikes at Stark County District Library in Canton, Ohio.

The Freewheelin’ Library

September 8, 2016

With help from kids in the community, SCDL started its BikeSmart program in June 2015. BikeSmart allows patrons to use their library cards to rent bicycles at one of six bike lending stations in Canton and Massillon. The program has returned for its second season, which will run until about November 15. The program is … Continue reading The Freewheelin’ Library


Weeding Made Easy

Weeding without Worry

May 2, 2016

In 2013, Highland Park (Mich.) High School was accused of throwing out a large collection of history materials, including some rare items, which had been cultivated over a 50-year period. That same year, the Urbana (Ill.) Free Library discarded nearly 10,000 items, apparently just based on age, rather than condition or use. The discarding was … Continue reading Weeding without Worry


Karen Muller

Understanding Acquisitions

March 1, 2016

The textbook treatment, The Complete Guide to Acquisitions Management, 2nd edition, by Frances C. Wilkinson, Linda K. Lewis, and Rebecca L. Lubas, covers the essentials of the purchasing process for monographs, serials, and digital items as well as out-of-print and antiquarian materials. Several chapters focus on industry partners in the acquisitions process: the publishers and … Continue reading Understanding Acquisitions



CollectionsCollisions.jpg

Collections Are for Collisions

October 13, 2014

The title of that tale was The Travels and Adventures of Three Princes of Serendip. The story inspired Walpole to coin the term serendipity. Who among us has never known, how­ever trivial, a serendipitous discovery? More essentially, nearly every librarian has heard at some point in his or her career someone’s story about a serendipitous … Continue reading Collections Are for Collisions