Developing public libraries

Even the smallest public library can participate in a myriad of formal and informal networks that allow it to borrow materials from other libraries, access material by computer, and otherwise supplement local collections. By serving as a gateway to information that it does not have in its own holdings, the public library is invaluable as a stepping stone to the complex web of government, university and non-governmental organizations from which most non-commercial information flows.

1. I know of no safe depository of the ultimate power of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion." (Thomas Jefferson)

1. Undertaking local infrastructure development projects
2. Supplying public information
3. Holding information within a culture
4. Developing libraries

1. Fighting public misinformation
2. Extending external library resources

1. Providing public information and education on reproduction and health
2. Accessing library materials

1. Underparticipation
2. Participation
3. Nonparticipatory
4. Community
5. Anticommunity