Governing, December 2006

There are at least two articles in the December 2006 issue of Governing magazine that every public library director should read.

The first is the cover story, "Blackout," talks about the impact on the social weave of a city when its newspaper reduces local coverage. What can a library do to fill this gap in providing space for discussion and community building? How do you get the word out about what libraries are doing in an environment where most of the local media are owned and programmed somewhere else, like national radio or newspaper chains?

The second is the Tech Talk column by Ellen Perlman, in which she discusses the unheralded role of the public library as a first responder when a locality is faced with a disaster. Ms. Perlman refers to the recent report by John Carlo Bertot, Paul T. Jaeger, Lesley A. Langa, and Chuck McClure, that was cited in Library Journal in August.

Governing is an indispensable source for information on local government, and a limited number of subscriptions is available free for elected and career government officials. Information here.