Canadian Library Association Feliciter April '13 Issue - Beyond Books

The April 2013 issue of Feliciter, the monthly journal of the Canadian Library Association, is available on line. The issue's major theme is Beyond Books.

From the guest editorial:

"The theme for this issue of Feliciter is 'Beyond Books,' and it’s dedicated to exploring the very meaning of that concept, alongside examples of libraries as institutions, and the library community as whole, engaging in programs, events, services, advocacy, and activism that go beyond, but are by no means removed from, the central mission of providing access to books."

"The six theme articles included in this issue examine many different ways in which libraries, library workers, library associations, and the library community as a whole are embracing these changing information needs and demands of our public. They range from the street-level information services offered to engaged activists via Radical Reference, to the innovative use of social media for providing up-to-date services at the Canadian Grain Commission Library; from the extensive community networks reached through Winnipeg Public Library’s outreach services, to the Manitoba Library Association’s Prison Library Committee’s work on establishing traditional, and essential, library services in truly underserved communities; and from the notion that we must leave the physical space of our libraries and truly engage with and understand our user communities in order to properly and effectively provide them with the services they desire, to the conceptualization of our libraries as not just a space designed for the consumption of information, but as spaces that actively promote creativity, production, and synthesis."

"Initiatives such as these are by no means new, as libraries have been offering services beyond providing access to books for many years. Nonetheless, libraries in all sectors are dealing with the rapidly evolving means by which people access, use, and create information. The notion that libraries need to continue to explore, adopt, and develop services that go outside of the typical does not in my mind imply that they will in any way abandon their role in providing access to books or to information, regardless of medium or format. Rather, these libraries recognize that their value and importance to the community is so much larger."