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This study assessed factors related to literacy and literate behavior, rating the most and least literate U.S. cities. Data came from the U.S. Census Bureau, Audit Bureau of Circulations, American Booksellers Association, Yellow Pages, American Library Directory, and National Directory of Magazines. Thirteen measures were combined to form five indicators of literacy: booksellers; library support, holdings, and utilization; educational level; periodicals published; and newspaper circulation. Results found no strong regional influence. The top 10 included four western cities (Seattle, Denver, San Francisco, and Portland); two eastern (Washington and Pittsburgh); one southern (Atlanta); and two midwestern (Cincinnati and Minneapolis). The bottom 10 had a distinct "sun-belt" appearance (three in Texas, four in California, and one each in Florida and Tennessee). None of the eight cities with populations over 1,000,000 were in the top 50 percent. This population disadvantage diminished for cities under 1,000,000. Boston and New York, often considered more stereotypically literate, ranked 13th and 48th, respectively. They were very strong on a few factors causing them to be viewed as centers of culture and literacy but had large numbers of people apparently not buying newspapers and books, checking out library books, or graduating from high school. Other cities not stereotypically considered bastions of literacy did very well on at least a few factors. (SM)

This report details the results of the 2001 Yearly Evaluation of Services by Students Survey (YESS) from Howard Community College (HCC) (Maryland). The survey is given to randomly chosen class sections each spring. The number of students chosen to participate in the 2001 survey was 1,994, and the response rate was 38% (766 students). Ratings on the survey are given on a five-point scale, with 5 being "very satisfied" and 1 being "very dissatisfied." The survey gathered student characteristics according to the following categories: (1) female (55%); (2) 19 and younger (33%); (3) 20-25 years old (39%); (4) White (64%); (5) African American/Black (14%); (6) full-time student (49%); (7) income under $30,000 (24%); (8) income over $100,000 (24%); (9) employed full time (40%); and (10) employed part time (39%). Other findings included: (1) three services--cafeteria, financial aid (amount of aid), and parking--rated below 3.5; (2) the highest-rated services were admissions (4.1), telephone registration (4.0), and publications (4.0); (3) of the 52 items on the survey, part-time students rated 37 higher than full-timers; (4) students rated excellence in education and campus safety as the most important aspects of a college, with more than 70% reporting satisfaction on these items; and (5) 80% of students were satisfied with the quality of instruction at HCC. The article includes 19 tables, graphs, and charts. (NB)

This paper describes the present shelf arrangement of instructional materials in the Curriculum Materials Center (CMC) located in Swirbul Library on the Garden City, Long Island campus of Adelphi University. The CMC is a special library resource supporting the curriculum of the School of Education at Adelphi, and graduate and undergraduate students preparing for careers as teachers are its most frequent users. It is an area that houses items quite different from the usual library collection, and the display and organization of these items offer special challenges to a librarian. Some of these challenges are related to the tension between the purposes of curriculum centers and the organizational schemes of libraries, of which they are a part. Background information is provided about curriculum centers and library organization to allow for better understanding of the reasons for changing the shelving of the nonprint materials in the CMC from the traditional library arrangement to a bookstore type of display. (Author/AEF)

This audit report discusses the operation of the Enterprise Fund by Cerritos Community College District in California. In addition, the Cerritos College Foundation's conflict of interest policies, its relationship with the district, and its award of contracts for services was reviewed. It was found that the district needed improvement in its operation of the enterprise, which consists of a bookstore, cafeteria, convenience store, grill, cosmetology services, and vending operations. Much of the focus of the examination of the Fund was on the management of the bookstore. The bookstore's assets represented 92% of the enterprise's total assets as of December 31, 1996. The cafeteria and convenience store in particular generally had negative balances large enough to create a negative balance for the whole enterprise. The district plans to resolve the bookstore's operating problems by privatizing it. However, without the revenues generated by the bookstore, the remaining elements of the enterprise would have even more significant cash flow problems. The cafeteria has had negative cash balances ranging from $63,161 to $113,733, while the convenience store has had negative cash balances ranging from $68,316 to $118,356. In the past, those negative balances have been subsidized by the bookstore. The report recommends that the district take steps to improve its accounting for and control over bookstore operations. (NB)

Since their founding, public libraries have debated their role in providing access to popular culture. This paper describes the historical development of public libraries as popular materials centers, and traces the development of library standards, particularly the seminal publication, "Planning and Role Setting for Public Libraries: A Manual of Options and Procedures." The founding and evolution of the Boston Public Library (Massachusetts) is discussed. While a new category of library service dissenters calls for a return to traditional, scholarly book-oriented programs in libraries, book stores have emerged as competitors in popular book-centered programming. (Contains 27 references.) (SWC)

In spring 1997, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges mailed a survey on textbook costs and pricing to local academic senate presidents, associated student body presidents, and bookstore managers at every community college in California. Results indicated that there was a lack of faculty and student involvement in bookstore policies, no attempts made to track the effect of textbook prices on student success, and ambiguous use of bookstore profits. Factors determined to affect the price of textbooks include publisher production costs and profit margins, faculty textbook adoption practices, bookstore management, and input from local academic senate and student government. In an attempt to lower textbook prices, the senate recommended that local academic senates review and include bookstore policies in governance agreements, create a shared governance bookstore committee that includes students and faculty, and investigate the effect of book prices on student success. Recommendations to faculty include careful decision making in selecting texts, and applying textbook adoption practices in order to diminish costs. Appendix includes results of senate survey. (YKH)

This manual was developed as one outcome of a 2-year experimental project conducted in 53 school districts in Indiana (1990-92). The manual was designed to be a resource to schools interested in operating a successful "Students' Own Bookshop" program to encourage development of literacy and leadership among the students of their school. The overview section of the manual presents background information and rationales for the program. Designed for Bookshop students and advisors, the management section provides a quick resource to tested ideas for conducting specific elements of the program, such as budget and finance, inventory, personnel and facilities, marketing, and publicity. The appendix section includes a short article on computers and a sample initial inventory. The Network News section includes a brief guideline for reports to the "Network News" newsletter, which shares new ideas, questions, and resources that extend information started in the manual. (RS)

Interviews owners and managers of children's bookstores around the country. Presents their ideas about how to promote literacy learning among children, including programs for child advocacy, parent education, teacher education, and community outreach. Offers insights about a variety of influences on reading development. Suggests some ways that teachers and children's bookstore personnel can work together. (SR)

Describes the use of geographic information systems (GIS) to define, map, and measure the information infrastructure of South Carolina, and proposes a procedure for identifying the quality of information infrastructures. Highlights include socioeconomic factors, the library infrastructure, bookstores and mass media, and examples of maps. (Author/LRW)

Presents information on government publications for school library media specialists, notes problems, and identifies selection aids. Topics include: the "Monthly Catalog" on CD-ROM, the Superintendent of Documents Classification System, GPO bookstores and depository libraries, how to purchase and promote the use of government publications, and a list of current documents useful to teachers and students. (AEF)

College bookstore managers are transforming the traditional bookstore into a new college center where students and faculty can relax and enjoy the campus community. Features include cafes, reading areas, attractive facilities, mail-order services, long hours, a wide range of books and magazines, and good stock of supplies for students' daily needs. (MSE)

Having an eighth grade class at Holy Angels Elementary School (Dayton, Ohio) open a school bookstore was a project in which concepts learned in various curricular areas were applied to a practical situation. One of the first skills the class learned was how to conduct an effective business meeting. They used their writing skills to write a constitution to govern the operation of their business. In the area of consumer education, the students learned basic principles involved in starting a company. One of the religious concepts taught was that of helping others less fortunate than themselves, as they voted to donate the proceeds of their business to a local soup kitchen. Learnings within the affective domain were also applied as students learned to work with customers and with each other on committees. Leadership was taught when the students elected leaders to supervise their activities. Mathematics skills taught in the classroom were applied when the students operated the bookstore. Concepts learned in art were applied when the students designed posters and fliers for advertising. (JB)