Advances in Librarianship, Vol. 34

*Librarianship in Times of Crisis*

The impact of the global economic crisis is having a severe and probably lasting impact on libraries and related fields. Libraries not only are reducing book and periodical buying, but also are asking publishers to hold prices at prior year levels. Colleges and universities with the LIS program are seeking new income streams. In the USA, state libraries such as that of New Jersey, fight to survive funding cuts as high as 74 percent. Public libraries are closing branches and cutting
service hours. Academic libraries are pooling their purchases and technical services to streamline operations. Library associations, such as the Canadian Library Association, are seeking structural changes to sustain themselves.

The 2011 volume will focus on the impact of plummeting support, as well as creative solutions for surviving this tsunami. Papers are sought from all sectors of the field: education; publishing; and all types of libraries and information services, associations and related industries.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
. Mergers and consolidations amongst consortia and regional cooperatives
. Downsizing library hours and eliminating public library branch services
. Large, medium and small academic libraries’ solutions to cost cutting
. Staff reorganizations, layoffs, salary and benefit cuts
. Merging technical and non-public service operations across two or more academic libraries
. Refining and narrowing core/principal missions
. Digital solutions to offset funding losses
. Advocacy efforts by the public to resist loss of library funding
. Marketing the value of the library to users
. Opening new markets for library and information science schools
. Effect on the publishing industry
. Impact on museums, archives and special collections
. Extent of union leadership in downsizing efforts
. How libraries in all sectors are preserving quality of services to their clients
. Impact and solutions for national, state and other government operations and services.

Please submit chapter proposals by 1 October 2010 to: awoodsworth@emeraldinsight.com
Author guidelines and further information on the Advances in Librarianship series can be found on the website.

Questions or comments should be addressed to the Editor and submitted via e-mail to: awoodsworth@emeraldinsight.com

Schedule of due dates:
Proposal outlines: 1 October 2010
First drafts: 1 February 2011
Revised drafts: 1 May 2011