PLA Publications

In today’s competitive environment, every decision and every dollar counts! To ensure the best use of your library’s resources, you need the best information available. That's where PLA Publications can help. As a member, you receive the greatest savings on PLA publications, which cover a wide range of public library concerns and issues. Scroll through the following for a list of PLA titles, or click here for a PDF document with information about PLA's Publications.

To order publications:

Phone: 1-866-Shop ALA (1-866-746-7252)
Phone (for international callers): 312-944-6780
Fax: 770/442-9742
Mail orders: ALA P.O. Box 932501, Atlanta, GA 31193-2501
Online: www.alastore.ala.org

Take Advantage of the PLA Publications Standing Order Plan

Get the publications you need, discounts you want, and the service you deserve with the PLA Publications Category on the ALA Approval Plan. With the all-PLA category (UP) you'll receive important PLA publications as soon as they are available. PLA releases four to six titles per year. Some are written specifically for us; others are prepared by libraries across the country for their use and distributed by PLA.  In either case the books are chosen by public librarians for public librarians and public library employees. The category for receiving all PLA books is UP; the category for receiving only the annual PLDS statistical report is U.  For more information and to get an application form, click on this link and then click on "approval plan information."  Sign up today!

 Advocacy

 Libraries Prosper with Passion, Purpose and Persuasion: A PLA Toolkit for Success
As competition for dollars continues to intensify, library staff and trustees must learn to connect the library directly to what the community values most. Through an effective, sustained advocacy effort, libraries can be positioned -- and remain -- top-of-mind for the public and funders. Creating an advocacy plan for your library is the first step.

Libraries Prosper with Passion, Purpose and Persuasion: A PLA Toolkit for Success
ISBN: 978-0-8389-8430-7
Price: $100.00
Order this publication via the ALA Online Store

Field Guide to Emergency Response: A Vital Tool for Cultural Institutions
Heritage Preservation

Every year across the country, hundreds of museums, libraries, archives and historic sites experience emergencies large and small. The Field Guide to Emergency Response can help anyone respond with the best professional step-by-step advice on what to do immediately after a disaster. This handbook explains initial steps to take, essential response to functions, and conditions you are likely to encounter. The instructional DVD illustrates typical problems after a disaster and demonstrates basic salvage techniques.

ISBN-13: 978-0-8389-8426-0
ISBN-10: 0-8389-8426-6
Price: $35.00
Order this publication via the ALA Online Store

Collection Management

1999. 123 p.
ISBN: 0-8389-8050-3
ISBN-13: 978-0-8389-8050-7
Price: $24
Order this publication via the ALA Online Store

Friends Groups and Foundations

Forming and Funding Public Library Foundations, 2nd Edition
Revised and updated by Benjamin Goldberg

Covers the basics of forming a library foundation. Includes private vs. public foundations, choosing a board, articles of incorporation, bylaws and more.

2004. 27 p.
Price: $28
ISBN-10: 0-8389-8269-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-8389-8269-3
Order this publication via the ALA Online Store

Library Administration and Management

   The PLA Reader for Public Library Directors and Managers
Specifically designed to accommodate the frantic pace of the busy public library professional, this essential new title provides clear, practical, and accessible guidance for tackling prevalent topics and challenges in the library world today.  Information-packed chapters cover important topics including:

• Advocacy basics
• Tips for retaining and motivating high-performing employees
• Improving directorship
• Library communication
• Intellectual freedom matters
• Technological applications and more.

Price $65
ISBN: 978-1-55570-684-5
Order via Neal-Schuman Publishers at 866-NS-Books or at www.neal-schuman.com/plar.

Public Library Data Service Statistical Report 2009
This annual publication provides invaluable quantitative information on technology, salaries, output measures, and related topics.  The 2009 edition features the results of a special survey on public library facilities.

Price $120
ISBN 13: 978-0-8389-8508-3
Order this publication via the ALA Online Store

Public Library Service Responses, 2007
These 18 service responses are an update of the original 13 service responses that were published in the 1997 publication, "Planning for Results: A Public Library Transformation Process." Each service response contains eight sections: the title, the description, suggested target audiences, typical services and program in libraries that select this as a priority, potential partners, policy implications, critical resources and possible measures.

Price: $25.00
Available for dowload in PDF format
Order this publication via the ALA Online Store

Defending Access with Confidence: A Practical Workshop on Intellectual Freedom
Catherine Lord

This interactive, ready-to-use Intellectual Freedom training program for public library employees is based on American Library Association guidelines relating to intellectual freedom.  Defending Access with Confidence provides libraries with step-by-step directions for planning and rolling out a comprehensive training program on access issues, and on how to resolve challenges to access.  As a result of this training, library employees will gain an understanding of the history and philosophy of intellectual freedom in American libraries, and will be better able to identify and interpret library policies, and to recognize and respond effectively to challenges to access.

2005. 151 p.
Price: $60
ISBN: 0-8389-8331-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-8389-8331-7
Order this publication via the ALA Online Store

Weeding Manual
Compiled by the Gwinnett County (Georgia) Public Library Staff, Weeding Manual clarifies deselection procedures and offers applicable policies for nonfiction, fiction, foreign language, periodicals, video, and music collections.

2002. 80p.
ISBN: 0-8389-8188-X
Price: $30
Order this publication via the ALA Online Store 

Reference Services

A Guide to Research @ Your Library
John Donlan

This brief guide will help your patrons more effectively complete research at your library.  Written by a professional librarian and research trainer with twenty-five years’ experience, this easy-to-understand how-to book is ideal for everyone who wants to learn more about a subject, or just find their way around the often confusing “giant brain” that is the library.  In clear, concise language it shows you how to make the most effective use of your library and the Internet’s powerful research tools.

2002. 57 p.
Price: $24
ISBN-10: 0-8389-8276-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-8389-8317-1
Order this publication via the ALA Online Store

The Public Librarian's Guide to Providing Consumer Health Information
Andrea Kenyon and Barbara Palmer Casini

Authored by Andrea Kenyon, director of the Katherine A. Shaw Division of Public Services at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and Barbara Palmer Casini, director of the Memorial Library of Radnor Township in Wayne, Pensylvania, this comprehensive guide contains helpful information for librarians seeking to provide the best consumer health information for their patrons. Includes chapters on:

• Performing a Community Needs Assessment
• The Health Information Consumer
• Health Reference Services
• Ethical Responsibilities and Legal Implications of Providing Health Information
• Building a Consumer Health Collection
• The Internet
• Partnerships to Provide Consumer Health Information
• Planning and Funding Consumer Health Information Services
• Promotion and Programming for Consumer Health Information Services

2002. 157 p.
ISBN 0-8389-8200-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-8389-8200-6
Price: $32
Order this publication via the ALA Online Store

"Results" Series

Managing Facilities for Results: Optimizing Space for Services
Cheryl Bryan

Carving out new service areas within existing space, forgoing massive additions or expensive new buildings, offers a cost-effective solution for budget-conscious libraries. Building from the proven Results Series  model, this volume dovetails with the basics outlined in The New Planning for Results: A Streamlined Approach.

2007. 221 p.
Price: $55
ISBN-10: 0-8389-0934-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-8389-0934-8
Order this publication via the ALA Online Store

Creating Policies for Results From Chaos to Clarity
Sandra Nelson, June Garcia

A new offering in the bestselling "Results" series from PLA (that includes The New Planning for Results, Staffing for Results and Managing for Results), Creating Policies for Results is the must-have resource for creating and updating policies. No public library can afford to be without it.

What does a librarian do if an unattended child remains at closing time? Can nonresidents get a library card? What is the library's position on Internet filters? These are but a few of the kinds of issues that require clear, up-to-date library policies.

If your staff makes decisions on the fly, if policies are nonexistent, outdated, and no one knows what they are, your library may be experiencing policy chaos. The answer is to create current, customized policies geared to your library. Now it's easier than ever using this one-stop, step-by-step guide that dovetails with PLA's The New Planning for Results.

Covering governance and organizational structure, management policies, and services relating to customers, circulation, information, and groups, this comprehensive how-to addresses each major library area. Follow these guidelines to assess existing policies, develop new ones, and communicate all changes to improve consistency.

• Create sound and legally defensible policies
• Customize policies appropriate to your library's specific mission, customers and size using proven work forms
• Serve customers more effectively by updating, clarifying, and communicating new and revised policies
• Address needs of a changing customer base
• Create guidance and contingency plans for emergencies
• Add details and enforcement procedures for as many situations as possible

A new offering in the bestselling " . . . for Results" series from PLA (that includes The New Planning for Results, Staffing for Results and Managing for Results), Creating Policies for Results is the must-have resource for creating and updating policies. No public library can afford to be without it.

2003. 288 p.
Price: $50.00
ALA Member Price: $45.00
 ISBN: 0-8389-3535-4
Order this publication via the ALA Online Store

Staffing For Results: A Guide to Working Smarter
Diane Mayo and Jeanne Goodrich.

How long does it take to...catalog a book? This latest entry in the PLA Results series will help you to answer that question and others you have related to the output and performance of your staff. By analyzing, in a systematic way, how long work activities take and then assigning steps to each unit of work, you will have a quantifiable measure of the output of your staff. The only book of its kind, Staffing for Results equips you to not only gauge performance and output but also build on what you learn to maximize and even increase productivity.

Using common public library tasks as the context, Staffing for Results walks you through the process of measuring work, identifying best practices, assigning costs to each activity, analyzing resource allocation, and communicating results. With more than 20 figures and workforms that you can customize for your setting, six easy-to-follow chapters provide step-by-step guidance on how to ensure that your library is optimizing its resources. By the end of the process, you'll be able to answer questions such as:

• Who is doing the work?
• How long does it take?
• What steps are required?
• Can the work process be streamlined?
• Is this the best use of people available?
• Do we need more staff?
• Can support staff handle a job done by a library professional?
• How can the data be communicated to support needed changes?

Giving you tools from the experts of PLA to get the job done, this indispensable guide will help you to show and prove results!

2002. 192 pages
ISBN: 0-8389-0826-8 - ALA Order #: 0826-8-2233
ISBN-13: 978-0-8389-0826-6
Price: $42.00
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The New Planning for Results: A Streamlined Approach
Sandra Nelson

A classic resource, Planning for Results has long served to help public librarians envision, evaluate, and respond to community needs with distinctive programs and services. The New Planning for Results continues with an all-in-one guide that outlines a tested, results-driven planning process, revamped and streamlined to enable librarians to respond quickly to rapidly changing environments.

2001. 316 p.
ISBN 0-8389-3504-4
Price: $55
Order this publication via the ALA Online Store

Managing for Results: Effective Resource Allocation for Public Libraries
Sandra Nelson, Ellen Altman & Diane Mayo

Managing f   or Results requires librarians to take a proactive approach to marshaling and managing all of the library’s resources effectively. Using this planning guide, librarians will be able to identify their key resources, make choices among different priorities, and assign resources to achieve results.

The key to successfully allocating resources is first knowing what you want to accomplish. Most of a library’s resources are already allocated to some objective or another. However, Managing for Results forces you to evaluate whether resources are being used to achieve the real objectives of the library in the community. This may mean reallocating resources, or evaluating library goals to be sure that the library’s resources are used to ensure that the library achieves its mission, serves the community, and gives patrons what they need and want.

The numerous workforms are designed to enable librarians to identify, collect, and analyze the information needed to correctly allocate resources. They focus on the factors needed to allocate resources, such as the number of professional staff needed, how to budget for library materials, the amount of space needed for programs, and the type and amount of software and hardware needed for the community served.

Using the workforms and the guidelines, librarians can focus on their specific library’s needs and objectives. The process outlined in Managing for Results can be used regardless of the planning process used, the size of the facility, and the library’s mission.

1999. 362 p.
ISBN 0-8389-3498-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-8389-3498-2
Price: $45
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Nursery Rhymes, Songs and Fingerplays 
Young children who hear rhymes develop phonological awareness, the ability to hear the different sounds in words, an important pre-reading skill. Encourage parents to read nursery rhymes to their preschool children by giving them a copy of Nursery Rhymes, Songs & Fingerplays, a delightful collection of more than 80 of the best rhyming verses for children. This colorful, 20-page booklet makes it easy to share rhymes, songs and fingerplays with children!  Available from the Public Library Association, in partnership with the West Bloomfield Township (MI) Public Library.

Item #: 73-701
Price: $64.00/packet of 50
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Train the Trainer

Offered as digital downloads, Train the Trainer kits include: Introductions (pdf file), Trainer's Guidelines: Techniques, Acticities, and Audiences (pdf file), Master Training Program (Trainer's Agenda, PowerPoint, Script, and Participant Handouts).

Customer Service: Balancing Rights and Responsibilities (Electronic Publication)
This digital kit (available via www.alastore.ala.org) helps trainers teach library staff how to create effective customer service policies and norms in their library by defining the rights and responsibilities of both customers and staff members. By using this kit, trainers will be able to:

• Describe the difference between security issues and public service issues
• Explain the rights and responsibilities of staff and customers in a customer service interaction
• Define and illustrate assertive communications techniques
• Provide examples of effective and ineffective customer service interactions
• Facilitate general discussions and manage group interactions

Author: Sandra Nelson
ISBN: 978-0-8389-9713-4
Price: $45.00
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Libraries Prosper: A Guide to Using the PLA Advocacy Toolkit (part of the new PLA Train the Trainer Series) (Electronic Publication)
The first in PLA’s new Train the Trainer series, this electronic publication (available via www.alastore.ala.org) supports the PLA publication Libraries Prosper with Passion, Purpose, and Persuasion: A PLA Toolkit for Success.  This guide, which is designed for a one day (9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.) training program, will enable library trainers to:

• Create a sample advocacy plan for a library
• Adapt the general training agenda and materials for specific audiences
• Answer questions relating to the materials from training participants
• Provide concrete local examples of how each of the resources in the Toolkit might be used
• Lead general discussions and manage group interaction
• Organize and manage small-group discussion and reporting processes.

Kit also includes a modified training program designed for presenting to trustees and library supporters.

Price $45
Author: Sandra Nelson
ISBN 13: 978-0-8389-9713-0
Order this publication via the ALA Online Store