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What is information literacy? Learn the answer to that and more on I Love Libraries' Ask the Librarian page.

Ask the Librarian

Do you have a question you want to ask a real, live librarian? Many of your questions may have already been answered. Visit Frequently Asked Questions to find out. If not, submit your question here. The staff at the in-house library of the American Library Association is ready to help.

Although the primary mission of the ALA Library is to assist the staff of the American Library Association with research and information to support the programs of the American Library Association and serve ALA members, the Library's staff will respond to reference and information requests in accordance with its mission and collection scope. Read More...

Q. What is information literacy?

A. Information literacy is vital in today's society. The 1989 Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report noted "To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information. Producing such a citizenry will require that schools and colleges appreciate and integrate the concept of information literacy into their learning programs..."

The process begins in elementary school and continues through college ... and beyond.

The Nine Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning (PDF file), are designed to help students become skillful producers and consumers of information. They are excerpted from Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning (Chicago: American Library Association, 1998). They have been joined by Standards for the 21st-Century Learner, released in October 2007 at the AASL National Conference in Reno, Nevada.

Q. Does ALA have any reading lists or suggested books for adults?

A. ALA produces several reading lists for adults—and is closely affiliated with several awards for adult literature. ALA's Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) first compiled its annual Notable Books list in 1944. The RUSA Notable Books Council recently released its 2008 list of outstanding books for the general reader, dubbed "The List for America's Readers," which includes Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry titles. RUSA's Collection Development and Evaluation Section just last year established the Reading List Council, which seeks to highlight outstanding genre fiction that merits special attention by general adult readers. ALA's Booklist magazine compiles Editors' Choice lists every year, including one for books for adults. And other organizations within ALA publish more specialized lists and present awards for adult books; learn more about those here.

Q. How can I evaluate the value of my old books?

A. This is a very frequently asked question. The Association of College and Research Libraries offers a brochure titled "Your Old Books" as a PDF (1.61 MB) download. For detailed information on specific books, you should seek external sources for appraisals, though there are online sales records that would be a start.

If you wish to donate the books to a library or Friends group, remember that the donor is responsible for determining the value of the gift.

Q. What is Banned Books Week? When is it?

A. Banned Books Week--http://www.ala.org/bbooks--celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. Read more....

Q. My community group needs a regular place to meet.  Do libraries allow outside groups to meet in them?

A. The nation's roughly 9,000 public libraries are separately administered, with no central mechanism for knowing which libraries have community rooms or other meeting space for use by the public, the size of those community rooms, or the regulations for using those rooms. 

The American Library Association (ALA) has prepared guidelines for use of library meeting space, and a number of libraries have developed their own policies, sometimes in conjunction with the larger municipality. Read more....

Q. I have been writing my entire life, and I have just finished a book. Now I am looking for a publishing company that is interested in publishing my book or helping me out in anyway possible.

A. Check your local public library--or bookstore, if you'd prefer to purchase--for the following publications, resources which would be able to give you reliable advice on how to get your book published and to which publishers to direct it. Read more...

Q. Our town is having “heritage days” with a parade scheduled. We’d like to include a bookcart drill team. How can we find one?

A. Typically (or rather I should say, in my local 4th of July Parade), the book cart drill team comes from the local public library. I doubt that a drill team--even one of the "champions" would undertake a significant trip to be in a parade. When the Bookcart Drill Team competition happens at the Annual Conference of the American Library Association, one of our vendors supplies a set of a dozen or so book trucks and all the teams use the same set--decked out differently, of course. For images of the drill team performances at recent Annual Conferences, see http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=3D22BCD718780C1C. Read more...

Q. A group of parents at my son's elementary school want to revitalize the school library and hire a certified librarian. How important is this?

A. In a word: very. Study after study has shown that school libraries play an important role in making a full range of print and electronic resources available to students and in teaching students how to find and use those resources for both learning and leisure. Moreover, schools with libraries (also called library media centers) staffed with qualified professionals exhibit measurable differences in student achievement. Read more...

Q. We'd like to start a mother-daughter book club in our college town. Can you help us identify books? Do you have any tips for running a successful club?

A. Book clubs have waxed and waned in popularity throughout our history. Some of the 19th century book clubs, such as the fictitious one in "...And Ladies of the Club," by Helen Hooven Santmyer, evolved into the local public library. And it is your local public library that can help you in your efforts to start a book club today. Read more...

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