Reading groups have grown rapidly in popularity and continue to be a significant cultural phenomenon. Reading groups in public libraries, linked to the learning and social inclusion agenda, have expanded to include a wide range of groups within society, including people with visual impairments (VIPs). This under-researched area is the focus of this book. Library-based VIP reading groups are interesting on many levels. Given that these groups predominantly use audio versions of the text (rather than print), this links to debates about the changing nature of reading in a multi-modal age. This book discusses whether contemporary society still defines reading as a visual activity or whether technological developments have led to a broadening of the definition of reading. The author goes on to discuss how policy is translated into practice within the library context and whether the wide range of reading groups linked to libraries suggests that libraries understand and are taking the social inclusion agenda seriously. She also explores how effectively libraries are using reading groups as a tool for delivering on the agenda for learning and how this sits within wider priorities for post-compulsory education and lifelong learning. Finally the book suggests ideas for future development for these groups, outlining ways in which their potential could be maximised for the benefit of both the library and the reading group members. The book will be of great interest to professional librarians as well as students and scholars of librarianship. It will also be of interest to those working on the emerging field of reading groups in literary studies. Those interested in the role of reading in education, as well as disability scholars, will also find the book useful.

Reading groups have grown rapidly in popularity and continue to be a significant cultural phenomenon. Reading groups in public libraries, linked to the learning and social inclusion agenda, have expanded to include a wide range of groups within society, including people with visual impairments (VIPs). This under-researched area is the focus of this book. Library-based VIP reading groups are interesting on many levels. Given that these groups predominantly use audio versions of the text (rather than print), this links to debates about the changing nature of reading in a multi-modal age. This book discusses whether contemporary society still defines reading as a visual activity or whether technological developments have led to a broadening of the definition of reading. The author goes on to discuss how policy is translated into practice within the library context and whether the wide range of reading groups linked to libraries suggests that libraries understand and are taking the social inclusion agenda seriously. She also explores how effectively libraries are using reading groups as a tool for delivering on the agenda for learning and how this sits within wider priorities for post-compulsory education and lifelong learning. Finally the book suggests ideas for future development for these groups, outlining ways in which their potential could be maximised for the benefit of both the library and the reading group members. The book will be of great interest to professional librarians as well as students and scholars of librarianship. It will also be of interest to those working on the emerging field of reading groups in literary studies. Those interested in the role of reading in education, as well as disability scholars, will also find the book useful.

This edited collection explores critical literacy theory and provides practical guidance to how it can be taught and applied in libraries. Critical literacy asks fundamental questions about our understanding of knowledge. Unlike more conventional approaches to literacy and resource evaluation, with critical literacy there is no single ‘correct’ way to read and respond to a text or resource. A commitment to equity and social justice sets critical literacy apart from many other types of literacy and links it to wider societal debates, such as internationalization, community cohesion and responses to disability. The book provides a foundation of critical literacy theory, as applied to libraries; combines theory and practice to explore critical literacy in relation to different user groups, and offers practical ways to introduce critical literacy approaches in libraries. Contributed to by international experts from across library sectors, the book covers topics including: radical information literacy as an approach to critical literacy education critical literacy and mature students physical and digital disability access in libraries teaching critical literacy skills in a multicultural, multilingual school community teaching media literacy developing critical literacy skills in an online environment new media and critical literacy. Critical Literacy for Information Professionals also contains a series of practically-focussed case studies that describe tools or approaches that librarians have used to engage users in critical literacy. Drawing on examples from across library sectors including schools, public libraries, universities, workplaces and healthcare, these illustrate how critical literacy can be applied across a variety of library settings, including online and new media environments. Accessible to those with little knowledge of critical literacy, while also introducing debates and ideas to those with more experience of the field, this book will be essential reading for librarians, information professionals and managers in all sectors, students of library and information science, school and higher education teachers and researchers.

Literacy and Reading Programmes for Children and Young People: Case Studies from Around the Globe presents interviews with over 40 librarians from around the world who tell of their library programs. The volumes are arranged geographically with Volume 1 offering interviews from library professionals from the USA and Europe, and with Volume 2 sharing programs from Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East. The volumes highlight the diversity of the types of programs catering to the varying needs of children and young adults throughout the world. Case studies featured in this book outline the details of programs, events, and activities provided by over 40 organizations in the context of social capital and social inclusion. Each interview chapter discusses the contributions made to literacy development and community building of children and teens. With the many variations and examples of best practice, librarians and educators can glean new ideas for their own programs. The interviews reveal the challenges and issues faced and the work being achieved in vastly different environments, in many geographic areas, and in diverse economic, social, and cultural contexts. The programs include those of national and state libraries, public libraries, and mobile libraries carried out by public libraries, NGOs, and commercial organizations in both developed and developing countries. They also feature programs of multicultural libraries, libraries for indigenous people, and libraries for refugees. This publication complements the range of initiatives and activities carried out by IFLA’s Libraries for Children and Young Adults Section that supports library services and reading promotion initiatives catering to children and young adults around the world. These volumes are rich in variety and will provide much food for thought for creating unique and successful library programs.

Public Libraries in the 21st Century presents a comprehensive analysis of the impact of recent policy initiatives directly targeted at public libraries along with broader developments in the public sector environment within which they operate. Key features include: ¢ An exploration of the context within which public libraries are operating and analysis of their role in local and national life; ¢ Examples of best practice in service delivery; ¢ Evaluation of the challenges and opportunities confronting public library managers; ¢ Wide ranging coverage, including information from published and unpublished sources, supplemented by interviews with key stakeholders in the public library sector. The book provides a unique and thorough guide to the contemporary discourses surrounding issues of identity, social purpose, value and strategy facing the public library service.

This book reviews both the historical and future roles that public, private, academic and special libraries have in supporting and shaping society at local, regional, national and international levels. Globalisation, economic turmoil, political and ethnic tensions, rapid technology development, global warming and other key environmental factors are all combining in myriad and complex ways to affect everyone, both individually and collectively. Fundamental questions are being asked about the future of society and the bedrock organisations that underpin it. Libraries and Society considers the key aspects of library provision and the major challenges that libraries – however defined, managed, developed and provided – now face, and will continue to face in the future. It also focuses on the emerging chapter in cultural, economic and social history and the library’s role in serving diverse communities within this new era. Looks at all types of library in a period of major and discontinuous change, tackling the fundamental questions of the future of libraries in the context of major societal, political and environmental issues Poses important questions for the profession and policy development Fills a major gap in literature (recent discourse and debate on the future of democracy, for example, the library is rarely included)