What makes us librarians? What is it we do that is indispensable? John Budd joins an august group of library-science luminaries, such as Pierce Butler, Jesse Shera, and Michael Gorman, whose works and example invite professional and critical self-examination. Here, Budd challenges us to confront the uneasy truth of whether libraries still represent people's will and intellect, or the cabalistic enclaves of an old guard? Through intellectually rich and engaging entrees into ethics, democracy, social responsibility, governance, and globalization, he makes the case that librarians who fail to...

Can professional librarianship exist, let alone thrive, in the 21st century? Does accreditation protect the profession, or reduce it to a minor component of information science? The prognosis is not good, claims cultural pragmatist Bill Crowley, with worse to follow unless library studies and information studies are viewed as separate cognate areas. While an information-centric definition may be appropriate for corporate information specialists, he notes that academic, public, and school librarians are already suffering the effects of devaluation. The remedy is to embrace a concept called...

This is a selection of papers from a 1987 conference of the same title. While the emphasis is on academic libraries, we are reminded of the crucial role of public and private libraries. Included are a survey of past research and stimulating ideas for future work, by Phyllis Dain; Wayne Wiegand's look at the role an ideology of reading played in the slow entry of academic libraries into scholarly communication in the 19th century; and a case study by Mary Niles Maack on the impact on African studies of collection inadequacies in U.S. and African libraries. Insightful reading for librarians...

In ""Leading from the Middle," and Other Contrarian Essays on Library Leadership," John Lubans, Jr., argues for democratic library organizations with shared leadership and decision making by leaders and followers. His book distills 15 years worth of leadership essays to advance a theory of a collaborative and empowering leadership, touching on such subjects as teamwork, empowerment, "followership," challenges, values, coaching, self-management, collaboration, communication, and techniques and tools.

Lubans's 36 essays draw new and insightful perspectives on leadership from disparate...