Cutting edge book helps libraries review, revise, and develop proactive policies for smooth operations and avoidance of legal pitfalls

New York, NY (June 16, 2008) – Library policy experts Jeanette Larson and Herman Totten return with a new and updated guide that addresses all of today’s hot-button issues related to operations and policies.

The Public Library Policy Writer: A Guidebook with Model Policies on CD-ROM tackles potentially volatile or problematic topics including the PATRIOT Act, fair labor standards, disaster planning, CIPA, virtual reference services, and wireless networks. Plus it covers all of the other important and timeless operational subjects that might require an informed and conscientious official response.

Library directors and managers need a streamlined, ongoing system and process for reviewing and updating policies – and for keeping the library’s governing authorities continuously and completely informed. Otherwise libraries run the risk of inviting disastrous legal, political and public relations fallout. Unfortunately, legislation often lags behind technology, creating an even greater urgency for localized library policy review. Access to private electronic records, wiretapping, and remote surveillance, for example, are typically available long before laws are passed to govern their use.

This single invaluable resource empowers readers to create library policies quickly and easily–with strong ethical foundations and effective, proactive guidance. In addition to explaining the importance of policies and the fundamentals of their creation, Larson and Totten also carefully analyze them and off er model policies as templates for over 65 crucial areas, including:

• Personnel and employment practices
• Collection development
• Staff and patron conduct
• Reference and information services
• Access to library materials, services, and facilities

A convenient and comprehensive companion CD-ROM reproduces all of the policies, for easy replication or adaptation to any library. The book and CD can be used to create the foundation for your library’s own policies, customize them to fit your local needs, and prioritize them while making them easier to review and revise.

The Public Library Policy Writer: A Guidebook with Model Policies on CD-ROM ISBN 978-1-55570-603-6.
2008. 8.5 x 11. 250 pp. $75.00.

About the Author
Jeanette Larson is a freelance trainer and consultant with more than 30 years experience working with public libraries, serves as an adjunct professor with Texas Woman’s University, and is a presenter for the Texas State Library’s Small Library Management Training program. She is a certified trainer for the Public Library Association, the immediate past-chair of the Public Library Division of the Texas Library Association, and has served on numerous committees for the American Library Association and the Texas Library Association.

Herman L. Totten, PhD, is Dean of the University of North Texas School of Library and Information Sciences. He has received numerous awards including the Association for Library and Information Science Education Award for Professional Contribution to Library and Information Science Education and the Texas Library Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He serves on the United States National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, a federal agency that advises the President and Congress on information and learning needs of the American people.

About Neal-Schuman Publishers
Founded in 1976, Neal-Schuman Publishers is based in New York City with offices in London, UK. Neal-Schuman is a leading publisher of textbooks in all areas of library and information studies, from library science to archival and records management, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

For More Information
Contact Yelena Perlin
(yelena@neal-schuman.com)