The thirty-second title in Rowman & Littlefield’s Practical Guides for Librarians series is a thoughtful review of reference services. Its seven chapters sketch the history of reference services, assess today’s reference collections, outline the basics of reference practice, address reference staff management and administration, examine marketing and collaboration efforts, and consider the future of reference services. Each chapter includes a summary of key points and a list of references. Newly minted reference librarians, seasoned practitioners, and reference supervisors and administrators working in public, academic, school, or special libraries, along with LIS students, will find much to ponder in these pages. The authors are both librarians and professors at Western Kentucky University.

Booklist

This is a practical, easy-to-understand guide developed by two veteran librarians at Western Kentucky University. It discusses how traditional reference service has changed due to the presence of so many electronic resources and demands for an increased variety of services. The chapters are concise and the text is well divided, ending with a summary of key points and a reference list…. This well-structured and informative book is recommended for library science students and collections.

Reference Reviews

Aimed at librarians new to reference services, Providing Reference Services: A Practical Guide for Librarians offers not only a substantial guide to effectively performing reference work, but also persuasive reasons for doing so. The authors see reference services as the business of problem-solving for library users and draw upon social science and professional literature to support their recommendations for practice. The book covers a lot of ground in seven focused chapters. Each chapter ends with a recap of key points and a list of references. The content is applicable for public, academic, and special libraries. This book is likely to be relevant and useful to practitioners for many years to come.

Public Services Quarterly

This guide provides significant food for thought and covers some of the basic concerns libraries should address when developing their reference services.

Reference and User Services Quarterly

John Gottfried and Katherine Pennavaria provide a needed examination of reference service at a time when many have pronounced it a dying art. The authors show how reference service thrives by adapting to changing needs and lifestyles. In order for reference service to be a viable service in the future, librarians will need to understand and adopt strategies to deal with competitive forces. Gottfried and Pennavaria show that the conversation about reference is still worth having

Chris LeBeau, Assistant Teaching Professor/Librarian IV University of Missouri and the University of Missouri-Kansas City