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The purpose of this paper is to discuss a review of the literature on the value of public libraries and propose a preliminary value framework for the public library based on the results. The review was conducted and the framework was developed as part of a larger ongoing project exploring the value of California’s public libraries.

This paper is a literature review of approximately 130 international, national and local resources from 1998 to 2018. Findings were developed through an analysis and synthesis of the works as they relate to public libraries.

The themes that emerged from the exploration of studies fell into three intersecting categories: support for personal advancement; support for vulnerable populations; and support for community development. A wide variety of quantitative and qualitative methods have been employed in this area of research. Among the many ways to discuss value, the most appropriate for the user will always depend on the context for which the concept of value is being defined.

Practitioners may find the various definitions of value useful when sharing information about public libraries with decision makers and other stakeholder audiences and when designing service models and outcomes.

The authors believe this paper is the first to identify the emergence of a value framework for the public library based on a literature review exploring both the social and financial value of public libraries.

The purpose of this article is to discuss whether interpersonal influence impacts the success of information technology support jointly managed by public libraries and their corresponding city departments. By exploring various management models of the information technology departments serving Canada's urban public libraries, the role of interpersonal influence in these partnerships is described.

A two-part survey was administered to all Canadian urban libraries to explore which management models exist and to determine current issues. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with exemplary sites. The survey data were used to rank dependence levels of public libraries on their corresponding cities. Using Cialdini's framework of influence, a thematic analysis was conducted on the interview data to note the presence or absence of each principle.

Most Canadian urban public libraries rely on their corresponding cities for a small number of IT-related services; 25 percent have somewhat or highly integrated departmental partnerships. Interpersonal influence, particularly the principles of “authority” and “liking” are important factors in these partnerships.

This study is limited to Canadian urban public libraries and explores a single service. It builds on previous studies exploring the role of influence and public libraries, and indicates the utility of further research of city and public library partnerships.

The findings may help inform the development of Library Service Level Agreements and other shared policy documents.

This is the first study to explore shared management models and the role of influence at the municipal level in Canadian public libraries.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and describe the decision-making practices of public library managers in the context of interpersonal influence and evidence-based information sources, and to investigate the relationship between models of evidence-based practice and interpersonal influence in the decision-making process of public library managers.

Data were collected through short audio blog posts participants made about their everyday decisions and coded considering the facets of three existing evidence-based library and information practice (EBLIP) models as well as the facets of interpersonal influence.

The findings show that public library CEOs decision-making behaviours reflect the use of a variety of practices from analytical to intuitive as is expected of managers in any sector; however, a stronger reliance on gathering objective information may be present than in other sectors. Seeking multiple sources of information and a tendency towards rationalism may indicate a more sophisticated approach to decision making, but be less indicative of the practices employed more broadly. A possible outcome of these tendencies may result in discordance with external partners and collaborators.

The findings from this study may inform the work of associations, library and information science (LIS) educators, and library managers in developing strategic directions and instructional strategies within their organisations. It is also the first study to jointly examine models of interpersonal influence and evidence-based decision-making practices in any field.

While the study of the decision-making practices of various groups is growing, little previous research has been conducted with public library managers, and none has been undertaken in Canada.

This paper seeks to describe the Canadian Library Association's 2007 pre‐conference, Collections 2007: Reinvigorating Collection Development and Management.

This paper summarizes the various papers, describing actual collections practices in a variety of library and information center settings that made up the CLA Collections pre‐conference.

The paper finds that collections development activities in academic, public and special libraries are characterized by a diversity of approaches and methods.

This paper provides a brief summary of some of the practical approaches to collections building in a variety of library and information center settings.

This paper summarizes a time-diary study of a Canadian public library that estimated the hours spent by patrons using library facilities and circulated collections during a month. The purpose of this paper is to convert conventional library statistics into a metric more understandable to external stakeholder groups: time.

Paper-based time-diaries collected data on the patron use of circulated library materials throughout the loans cycle and exit surveys measured the duration of branch visits. This data along with gate and circulation statistics were used to estimate hours of patron residency in library branches and the time spent consuming borrowed materials.

Patrons used the services, facilities and collections of Prince George Public Library’s Bob Harkins branch for an estimated 182,000 hours during August 2013. Over 90 per cent of use occurred offsite through the consumption of circulated materials by diarists and secondary use of borrowed items by their families and friends.

Conventional statistics understate the utilization of public library resources as most of their use occurs outside the library branches, a different usage pattern than for other municipal services. This study suggests that all library use is potentially measurable using a single metric, hours of patron use. The value of a time metric, once methodologically sound, is its usefulness as a measure of library performance and its convertibility in dollars of direct value using contingent valuation methodology.

Time-diary methodology collected patron time-use data on public library circulated materials. The paper demonstrates the potential of patron time-use as a metric of library performance. Hours of patron use appear convertible into dollars of benefit using contingent valuation research.