The Active Librarian (TAL) is accepting proposals and manuscripts for publication. Peer-reviewed, open-access, and practical, we publish the programs, initiatives, and services of public librarians, aiming to house the best practices from which librarians can draw inspiration.
TAL is a practical rather than theoretical journal. Submissions report on an initiative, program, or service at your library. We adhere to important practices of publishing original work vetted by peer review. However, we forgo overly-rigid academic norms in order to emphasize application. Would other libraries benefit from the work you have done? What are the features of your work and steps it takes to implement it? These are general questions that can guide TAL articles.
Acceptable topics include any library-related idea that can be generalized to and applied by other librarians--i.a. fostering an educational partnership, developing a community "makerspace," writing a troubleshooting guide for Envisionware's Time Management service, hosting an open mic experience night (as will be featured in our upcoming issue). Put simply, if you do something well, we want to hear about it.
Please note that academic librarians are encouraged to submit if their work can apply to public librarianship, or if they are working in partnership with public libraries. International (non-American) submissions are also welcome.
We invite you to submit to TAL if you believe your project is best publicized widely and freely, and understood as practical application rather than theory-building or historicizing. Feel free to contact us if you are unsure whether your project “fits.”
You can access our journal contents on, and submit manuscripts to, http://www.activelibrarians.
Thank you for reading, and for those who came to ALA I can confirm that the Boston-area is once again cold and hope you are in warmer climes,
Michael J. Carlozzi
Librarian for Information and Technology Services
Canton Public Library
786 Washington St.
Canton, MA 02021
781-821-5027
http://www.activelibrarians.
