Clearinghouse of Professional Information

Public Services Resources

This section includes links to sites that deal with “how to” deliver services to the public. There are other more specific pages relating to certain aspects of public services such as our Children's Services Resources, Readers' Advisory Services, Ready Reference Sources and Youth Literature Resources pages. 

Topics include

General Resources |  Audio Book Services | Customer Service | Older Adults Services | Online magazines |  Programming | Public Internet Access  |  Reference Services  | Storytime Resources   

	indicates an item written by SOLS staff		indicates an item written by OLS-North staff
Clicking on certain topics will open a new window, if the link is to a topic included in an other Clearinghouse page

General Resources 

• The Power Card Challenge: a plan developed to put a library card in the hands of every school age child (Houston Public Library)

• CLA and CAPL Endorse the UNESCO Public Library Manifesto
• Ontario Public Library Service Awards (Ontario Ministry of Culture)

• UNESCO Public Library Manifesto  

Audio Book Services

Digital Audiobook Players. NLS Factsheet (National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Library of Congress) Ddigital talking books (DTBs) and digital talking-book machines that will gradually replace the analog audiocassette books and audiocassette machines used today

Customer Service

•  Customer Service at the Cobourg Public Library (.pdf) - The Cobourg Library has developed a document that provides a guideline for staff to follow in all of their library work with the public.  Starting on page 4 of this document you will find a section entitled "Patron Care Standards".
• Customer Service 123 (Houston Area Library System) On-line course
• Guide to the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service, Ontario Regulation 429/07  (AccessON) This guide explains the formal meaning of the regulation and provides some examples to help describe the interpretation. As some requirements relate to each other, you should read the entire document to obtain the full meaning.
• Persons with Disabilities Online offers you a single-window access to federal, provincial and territorial government programs and related services for persons with disabilities. Provides information on a variety of topics, i.e., accessibility, education, employment, financial supports, health, housing and residential supports, personal supports, rights, tax programs and transportation.

Older Adults Services

• A Portrait of Seniors   (Statistics Canada) Released in Feb. 2007. The report suggests that over the coming years, what it means to be a "senior" could undergo an important re-assessment, especially as the baby boom generation turns 65. The report also includes a chapter on Aboriginal seniors and a chapter on immigrant seniors.
• Aging and Seniors. Highlights  Health  Canada. Includes statistical snapshots of Canada's seniors.
• Canadian Guidelines on Library and Information Services for Older Adults Canadian Library Association
• Library Services to Older Adults Guidelines American Library Association
• Library Services to Seniors. Best Practices Saskatchewan Libraries 
• Lifelong Access Libraries Inititatives
• Serving Seniors: Report from a Survey of Public Libraries in Ontario. SOLS,  July 2004

Programming    Français à venir

This subsection of Public Services Resources page provides links to programming resources. For evaluation and research on the effects of programming see Reports of Interests. For links on book-based programming see the Programming Resources page.

• Performers Recommended by Libraries.    List compiled by SOLS from submissions by libraries. These suggestions are for performers accessible to Ontario public libraries.

Reference Services

• Community Assessment: an essential part of the reference librarian's toolkit. IFLA paper by Steve Hillier, Jane Schillie and Jim Self. Paper to be presented at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Buenos Aires in August 2004. This paper describes the reasons for doing community assessment, the various methods and techniques librarians can employ to assess and analyze their communities, and the importance of incorporating community assessment data into the development, evaluation, and marketing of library and reference services
• Reference.123 (Houston Area Library System) On-line course
• Roving Reference: A New Approach to User Services (IFLA)
• Roving Reference: A New Model for Information Services. Markham PL's experience. OLA Superconference 2007 presentation