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Few issues in recent times have so provoked debate and dissention within the library field as has the concept of fees for user services. The issue has aroused the passions of our profession precisely because its roots and implications extend far beyond the confines of just one service discipline. Its reflection is mirrored in national debates about the proper spheres of the public and private sectors—in matters of information generation and distribution, certainly, but in a host of other social ramifications as well, amounting virtually to a debate about the most basic values which we have long assumed to constitute the very framework of our democratic and humanistic society.

Discusses the importance of the alternative press and what libraries can do to ensure a healthy alternative press. Argues that libraries must counter the illusion that the current media offers more choice. They need to: prioritize the acquisition and cataloguing of alternative press publications; encourage professional associations to promote the alternative press more actively; and “adopt” alternative publishers. Concludes that libraries can offer sanctuaries for alternative voices and should ensure that they have diverse collections that truly represent the full spectrum of published opinion.

In recent years there has been growing discussion in the library community regarding the civic role of the public library. The discussion is rooted in a deep-seated professional commitment to the value of the public library as an institution of democratic society. As a recent president of the American Library Association, Nancy Kranich, wrote in 2001, “Libraries serve the most fundamental ideals of our society as uniquely democratic institutions. As far back as the nineteenth century, libraries were hailed as institutions that schooled citizens in the conduct of democratic life.” (p. vi).

This chapter discusses the unique role that public libraries can play to (re)build our Republic by centering the lived experiences and voices of marginalized communities. As robust sites for out-of-school time learning and community-based information spaces, public libraries have long played a key role in promoting the health and well-being of our nation’s democracy. Public libraries’ inclusivity efforts, though, have not always been evenly balanced, and these efforts have often been underdeveloped, poorly articulated, and undervalued by other key civic actors. Bringing together a Learning Sciences scholar of youth development and civic engagement, Library and Information Sciences scholar on free speech, and an Assistant Director of a public library in the Southeast, this chapter will offer interdisciplinary research-practice insights into both the challenges and opportunities that exist for public libraries as they grapple with the serious question of how to serve the public in the complex reality that is this third decade of the twenty-first century. In particular, this chapter explores questions like: how can public libraries balance the constraints of the status quo to hear, share, and amplify the voices of marginalized communities? And in what ways can library staff encourage opportunities that bridge librarians’ expertise and libraries’ resources with the lived realities and needs of marginalized communities? In this chapter, the authors expand upon these questions and collectively dream about the ways in which public libraries might be reimagined to more authentically and equitably serve the many faces of the contemporary American public.

The purpose of the paper is to present the latest scholarly trends in the field of social capital in libraries, to review research concepts published by LIS professionals and to suggest further research possibilities in this area.

This paper presents a review and critical analysis of literature associated with research on social capital in libraries to highlight its importance for the development of LIS and its impact on the functioning of environments linked with various types of libraries. The goal of literature analysis was to determine the current condition of research on social capital in libraries. The main trends were identified and the need for further qualitative analyses, which are missing at the moment, was confirmed.

It was determined that, so far, LIS professionals have focussed mainly on the role of municipal libraries in developing social capital, the problem of building trust, especially in immigrant circles and the impact of libraries on promoting a civil society. Academic libraries, rural libraries, organisational capital in libraries and individual social capital of librarians were a much less frequent subject of research. The role of libraries in developing social capital in educational (primary and secondary education) and professional (non-university professionals) circles is practically non-existent in research, and it will require in-depth studies and analyses in the coming years.

This paper constitutes a synthetic review of the latest research concepts concerning social capital in libraries. It identifies the most important research trends and areas that so far have not been explored and suggests research methods to help LIS professionals design future research in this area more effectively.

While LIS scholarship emphasizes the need to be multi-literate by equipping people with critical information literacy, digital literacy, and media literacy skills to combat the phenomenon of fake news in the contemporary information society, the concept of political information literacy is still in its infancy. This chapter addresses this gap by developing an understanding of political information literacy and challenges the premise that information professionals and information organizations should remain neutral in the face of phenomena like censorship through noise and disinformation. In this endeavor, it reviews contemporary information environments vis-à-vis the growth of fake news and misinformation, and current information literacy approaches utilized by information organizations. Thereafter, it explores several cognitive barriers, such as the role of confirmation bias, information avoidance, information groupishness, and information overload, which affects people’s ability to process information. Finally, it encourages information professionals to hold regular information sessions on politically charged topics, tackle the cognitive factors increasing misinformation, and cultivate multidisciplinary approaches to confront fake news.

The purpose of this study is to describe practical, generalizable competencies for reference librarians to promote civic engagement and social justice while assisting with politicized queries.

Working through an example of tension between land development and protection of an indigenous sacred place illustrates reference strategies that model an ideally inclusive community dialogue.

To promote civic engagement, librarians have a role to teach basic civics and to help identify opportunities for public comments and other “leverage points” in a system. An information trail for civic engagement is generated though an interaction between government planning, industry lobbying and citizen activism; it is supported by online and gray literature sources that typically fall outside of typical library collections and databases. A way to grapple with contentious and distorting political claims is to model ideal stakeholder inclusivity, a strategy that also helps to bring marginalized voices into the civic dialogue. Sources from the humanities express cultural and spiritual considerations that are absent from typical political discourse.

Strategies are based on experience as a staff writer for a community magazine.

Specific strategies and competencies promote civic engagement during the time period allowed by a typical extended reference dialogue.

An overly sunny view of community problem-solving glosses over some messy realities. To promote civic engagement, librarians must develop competencies to help citizens grapple with marginalization and distorting claims.

Calls to promote civic engagement and social justice in libraries require librarians to develop new competencies. Working through a case study illustrates specific knowledge and reference practices that support strong democracy.

To serve their clients in a time of post-truth discourse and fake news, librarians need to understand the post-truth phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to examine it, what is being done in response to it, and specifically what libraries can do.

Recent literature on the post-truth phenomenon was examined. Traditional assumptions about the role of libraries in promoting democracy were questioned and an alternative view was put forward. Libraries’ responses to the post-truth phenomenon were examined and critically discussed.

Traditional assumptions about the role of libraries and information and democracy are outdated. The susceptibility of people to false beliefs and the persistence of these beliefs in spite of corrective information, is the product of many factors, including the evolving media ecosystem and psychosocial processes which are the subject of ongoing empirical research. It not primarily an information or knowledge deficit, hence there are no simple antidotes to fake news. Libraries need to rethink their responses.

The paper deals with very recent developments and relies heavily on informal online resources.

Relevant library activities are examined and suggestions are made for developing appropriate library responses.

At the time of writing this was the first attempt in the library management literature to engage in a systematic and thoughtful manner with the literature on the post-truth phenomenon.

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the concepts of lifelong learning, information literacy, and global citizenship, making explicit connections among them via theories of social capital. It then presents a model of librarian‐faculty collaboration that relies upon information literacy as a framework for fostering lifelong learning and global citizenship.

The paper begins with a theoretical analysis of lifelong learning, information literacy, global citizenship, and social capital in order to provide a conceptual framework for the case study that follows. The case study describes the librarian‐faculty collaboration, which included the development of course goals, the syllabus, learning outcomes and objectives, assignments, course‐integrated library instruction sessions, and assessment tools.

Social capital is a useful theoretical tool for conceptualizing pedagogical strategies for promoting information literacy and global citizenship. Pre‐ and post‐tests, questionnaires, assignments, and student reflections indicate that the three primary goals of the collaboration were met. By the end of the course, students' IL competencies improved, students had developed a better understanding of their roles as global citizens, and students were more aware of the connections among global citizenship, lifelong learning, and information literacy.

The paper provides practical ideas for librarian‐faculty collaboration and for integrating information literacy competencies into assignment sequences.

The paper uses social capital theory to make connections among lifelong learning, information literacy, and global citizenship as well as to argue for the value and import of librarian‐faculty collaborations. It also describes a successful librarian‐faculty collaboration in the context of a Global Studies course.