New Title from Hein: Beyond the Books: People, Politics, and Librarianship

Beyond the Books: People, Politics, and Librarianship
By Leslie A. Lee & Michelle M. Wu

ISBN: 0-8377-3413-4 | 401 pp. | $65.00
William S. Hein & Co., Inc., 2007

Book Description: To accomplish the goals set out within these pages Lee and Wu gathered an all-star team of approximately two dozen librarians from across the nation to share their collective wisdom and provide meaningful guidance and insight into the art and science of librarianship. The end result is a "must-have" resource that belongs within short reach of librarians everywhere.

While library courses may provide students with the basic "nuts and bolts" of librarianship, experience alone is the only effective manner by which many of the more challenging aspects of the profession can be learned. This important contribution by Lee and Wu charts a course to aid librarians in their efforts to shorten the length of time between class work and real-life events by bringing the experiences of seasoned librarians that have walked the path into the pages of this work.  With this work in-hand you will no longer feel alone in your career!

Those fresh out of school will find value in the chapter "Interviewing 101:  Tips and Strategies for Successful Interviewing", while others will appreciate the chapter, "Managing Office Politics".   Seasoned librarians feeling somewhat "stuck" will benefit from "Jump-Starting Your Career:  Change Is Good", or perhaps "So You Think You Want to Be an Academic Library Supervisor?".  Those in a new supervisory role can lean on this resource for answers to matters such as, "Advice to the New Middle Manager", "Supervision 101", and "Customer Service: A Step-by-Step Guide to Assisting Your Patrons".  Finally, for librarians considering the ultimate leap to becoming a Director, this work is well-stocked with advice on leadership, management, budgeting, construction, disaster planning, public relations/marketing, and more!