LIBR 576: Public libraries -- COURSE SYLLABUS

Course Goal: In accordance with the UBC Mission Statement, the overall goal of this course is to enable students to contribute to the economic, social, and cultural progress of the community by preparing them for positions of responsibility in public libraries. More specifically, students will be able to describe general missions and values of public libraries, the environmental changes affecting those missions, and how those changes affect the current and future management of public libraries. This course will build on, and complement knowledge obtained in LIBR 560 and LIBR 570.

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course students will be able to:

• Describe some of the key elements that make public libraries different from other libraries
• Describe key technology issues facing public libraries and relate them to funding, staffing, public access, and other key issues
• Explain the composition and governance responsibilities of both municipal and regional library boards, and understand their workings
• Read and understand library legislation, union contracts, and other legal documents related to the management of public libraries
• Describe the various roles assumed by Friends of the Library
• List and interpret the various types of in-house statistics and other assessment tools that can be used for management purposes
• Assess collection policies in the light of demographic, observational and anecdotal information about users
• Solicit and assess input from the public, deal with problems and create partnerships with external groups or individuals
• Understand collaboration, co-operation and consortia between public libraries
• Develop media strategies and other communication techniques for reaching constituents
• Identify the key economic, labour union, and supervisory elements regarding use of volunteers
• Describe the leadership qualities possessed by effective public library managers

Course Topics:

* Governance and public accountability
* Management, including managing in the unionized environment
* Resource-sharing between libraries
* Technology, collection development issues, and assessment tools specific to the public library

Prerequisites and/or Course Restrictions: LIBR 500, 501, 502, 503 [recommended co-requisite: 504]

Format of the course: Lectures, discussions, in-class assignments, exercises and group work

Required and Recommended Reading:

• Finn, Robin. “A Cheerleader for Brooklyn ’s Treasury of Books.” New York Times May 11, 2007 . [Available via Factiva database]
• British Columbia Library Act http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/stat/L/96264_01.htm
• Collective agreement between the Vancouver Public Library and CUPE 391 http://www.cupe391.ca/documents/collective_agreement.shtml
• “Libraries Without Walls.” www.bced.gov.bc.ca/pls/library_strategic_plan.pdf
• Class blog: http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/overdue/

Course Schedule:

Attendance: The calendar states: “Regular attendance is expected of students in all their classes (including lectures, laboratories, tutorials, seminars, etc.). Students who neglect their academic work and assignments may be excluded from the final examinations. Students who are unavoidably absent because of illness or disability should report to their instructors on return to classes.”

Academic Dishonesty : Please review the UBC Calendar "Academic regulations" for the University policy on cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty: http://www.students.ubc.ca/calendar/index.cfm?tree=3,54,111,959.

Also visit and review the contents of these two resources: Plagiarism Resource Centre: For Students [ http://www.library.ubc.ca/home/plagiarism/welcome.html ] and Plagiarism Avoided: Taking Responsibility For Your Work: [http://www.arts.ubc.ca/Plagiarism_Avoided.373.0.html] for useful information on avoiding plagiarism and on correct documentation. Students are held responsible for knowing and following all University regulations regarding academic dishonesty. If a student does not know how to properly cite a source or what constitutes proper use of a source it is the student's personal responsibility to obtain the needed information and to apply it within University guidelines and policies.

Evaluation: All assignments will be awarded letter grades using the evaluative criteria given on the SLAIS web site.

Written & Spoken English Requirement: Written and spoken work may receive a lower mark if it is, in the opinion of the instructor, deficient in English.

Other Course Policies as Relevant: Students are expected to read class blog frequently for updates and assignment details, in addition to participating in the discussion forum it provides. This will be used instead of a class listserv or group emails from the instructor.