Information and Adult Services
In some communities, the library is used by a sizable number of adults; in other communities, the public library is overlooked as a resource for education, information, and recreation. The public library can be an important source for lifelong learning, a major concern in today's changing society.
Historically, one of the primary reasons many adults came to the public library was to use our reference services. The Internet and search engines such as Google, however, have become the place most adults look to for information, severely curtailing the necessity of most libraries' full-blown reference services.
Libraries today need to look beyond reference as our primary service (and in many cases, our only one) to adults. We must be able to view the adults in our communities as individuals, with personal talents, needs, and constraints. It is critical that we know as much about them as we can so services and programs can then be designed to meet their educational, instructional and recreational needs.
Learning Objectives:
- To understand the components of the reference and readers' advisory interview
- To explore adult programming ideas
- To understand the importance of copyright
- To understand the applicable standards, as listed in In Service To Iowa
- Standards 37-39 (p. 16)
- Standard 48 (p. 18)
- Standards 52-53 (p. 19)
- Standards 55-56 (p. 19-20)
