Taking Charge of Your Work

Aimed at metropolitan libraries, this five-course series opens with an excellent reminder that libraries are evolving institutions in Metropolitan Libraries: Continuing Significance, Constant Change. In this handsomely produced 23-min. program, viewers are asked to recall that libraries used to be places where books were kept under lock and key and children were not allowed inside. Times have changed: today, libraries offer a variety of formats and strive to serve a wide spectrum of needs coming from a diverse patron base. Intercutting scenes from old library training tapes with shots of today's metropolitan library in full swing (literally in the case of the Saxophone Choir at the Oakland Public Library), one is reminded that libraries, as well as Virginia Slims, have come a long way baby. Taking a decidedly (and deservedly, I think) upbeat note, the program points out that not all services have survived (reader's advisory--at least as a formal offering--has languished as a wealth of reference sources now serve that function), but the library has always managed to redefine itself in order to adapt to a changing environment. "We connect people with information," says one interviewee, "that mission remains the same." The other four courses (Public Services, Technical Services, Facilities Support Services, and Systemwide Services) offer dramatic re-enactments of typical problems encountered in modern metropolitan libraries. Each of the courses includes an extensive manual with materials for conducting an in-depth staff training workshop. AV librarians will particularly enjoy the Technical Services video, which emphasizes the fact that it is a major part of the AV librarian's job to make a TS staff member's life utter hell. Highly recommended for larger public libraries. (R. Pitman)