Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics

Library Journal Review

This entertaining book by the creators of the "Pop Goes the Library" blog is a breath of fresh air for those progressive librarians wanting to secure their library's future by making patron interests the focus of library services. Popular culture, assert the authors, is about library customers, not librarians. This shift in focus may seem obvious or trivial but in fact points up the great failing in many library promotional efforts-we approach library service from our own world view and not that of the people we serve. After offering multiple perspectives on the definition of "popular culture," Brookover (an LJ 2006 Mover & Shaker) and Burns discuss ways to uncover the interests of library users, including surveys, focus groups, and other creative methods. Then chapters cover collection development, marketing and outreach, "trend spotting," and the essential role of information technology in a library's overall program of service. The final chapters offer terrific programming suggestions, including a month-by-month calendar of ideas. Throughout the book, "Voices from the Field" sections present different attitudes and strategies offered by real-world librarians on the topics under discussion. Appendixes offer sample survey questions, recommended web sites, and other resources. In all, this is an exciting and essential book for those librarians ready to take up the challenge of keeping their libraries relevant to the communities they serve.-Rachel Q. Davis, Thomas Memorial Lib., Cape Elizabeth, ME (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Written by the contributors to the blog PopGoestheLibrary, this work defines how popular culture can contribute to any library. Expanding from brief blog posts to a book, the authors explore what popular culture is and, more importantly, what it is not. Also examined are what it means to create a popular-culture collection and how to use popular culture to generate staff and public support. Real librarians and staff are represented in a Voices from the Field section in each chapter. The volume ends with four appendixes chock-full of resources and ideas for implementing the ideas presented. A comprehensive index makes this a valuable reference, while the writing style encourages reading cover to cover. Popular culture can be a powerful tool for helping libraries connect with their users, and this book is required reading. It will be updated at www.popgoesthelibrary.com/popbook.--Marcus, Sara Copyright 2009 Booklist