PLA Books and Products

In today’s competitive environment, every decision and every dollar counts! To ensure the best use of your library’s resources, you need the best information available. That's where PLA publications can help. As a member, you receive the greatest savings on PLA publications, which cover a wide range of public library concerns and issues.

Most Recent

A Trauma-Informed Framework for Supporting Patrons: The PLA Workbook of Best Practices

A Trauma-Informed Framework for Supporting Patrons: The PLA Workbook of Best Practices coverBy the PLA Social Worker Task Force

Offering practical guidance and support, this workbook will spark curiosity and reflection on how everyday library interactions intersect with trauma and adversity.

Whether it’s navigating a crisis or witnessing a community member struggling with tough times, coming face to face with trauma and adversity can be uncomfortable. But in striving to learn more about challenging behaviors, and how we can better interact with library patrons and our coworkers, we can come to see that people are complex and not simply “problems.” This workbook from the PLA Social Worker Task Force (SWTF) provides a collection of powerful tools to add to your customer service toolbox. It’s filled with prompts, exercises, and best practices that shed light on how trauma can affect people, helping you build confidence in your ability to support your library’s patrons. You will

  • delve into what trauma is and how it impacts library work;
  • be introduced to a framework for utilizing a trauma-informed lens in your interactions;
  • practice exercises to spur personal reflection on common concerns bound up with library work and the policies relating to these issues; and
  • gain hand-on tools and techniques, including strategies for de-escalation and guidance on the impacts of involving law-enforcement and banning patrons.

You will also explore various scenarios which provide the opportunity to integrate what you’ve learned and practice responding through a trauma-informed lens.

Available in print.

Strategic Planning for Public Libraries

Strategic Planning for Public Libraries cover imageBy Joy L. Fuller

Strategic Planning for Public Libraries, by Joy L. Fuller, is PLA’s newest publication. Available as both a digital version and a print/e-book bundle, Strategic Planning for Public Libraries is a complete planning toolkit. Each purchase comes with a downloadable supplemental folder full of reusable templates, worksheets, as well as real-life examples from other libraries to help guide the reader through the planning process. This book provides a framework that any library, whether it serves urban, suburban, or rural communities, can use as a basis for its strategic planning.

Supported by research conducted across more than 200 public library professionals and in-depth interviews with more than twenty library directors and leaders throughout the country, this book addresses some of the key areas of strategic planning that librarians care about most:

  • Engaging the community
  • Measuring progress against the plan
  • Reaching non-users
  • Creating a living document that can be continually updated
  • How to conduct a community assessment
  • Engaging staff

Available as both a digital version and a print/e-book bundle.

Also in the ALA Store

Quick Reads Digital Downloads (published 2016–2018)

Digital downloads in the PLA Quick Reads series are all about helping you make the best use of your time by covering important topics in public librarianship in a quick, practical, and direct way. The goal is to shed light on an essential topic quickly and because busy public librarians don’t have a ton of time, each of the publications is under 100 pages. They were published between 2016–2018; no further books will be released in the series.

Free to PLA members! Teaching Early Literacy to Teen Parents – To claim your free, PLA member copy, visit the PLA Member Library (login required*)

To order any of the books just complete this order form, fax it to 312-280-5029, and we’ll email you your Quick Reads digital download a.s.a.p.

E-mail khughes@ala.org for more information about PLA Quick Reads.

Quick Reads Digital Downloads

Digital downloads in the PLA Quick Reads series are all about helping you make the best use of your time by covering important topics in public librarianship in a quick, practical, and direct way. The goal is to shed light on an essential topic quickly and because busy public librarians don’t have a ton of time, each of the publications is under 100 pages.

Three titles in this series are now available. Check out The Bed Bug Guide for Public Libraries, Weeding Manual, and the latest—Building and Operating a Digital Media Lab, which is free for PLA personal members through the new PLA Member Library (login required)! We're still working out the kinks in our ecommerce tools, but in the meantime just complete this order form, fax it to 312-280-5029, and we’ll e-mail you your Quick Reads digital download a.s.a.p.!

E-mail khughes@ala.org for more information about PLA Quick Reads.

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How to Order

All PLA titles and products in the ALA Store can be ordered online, by email, by phone, by fax, or by mail.

Online: www.alastore.ala.org
Email: alastore@ala.org
Phone: 1-866-Shop ALA (1-866-746-7252)
Fax: 312-280-5860
Mail orders: American Library Association, P.O. Box 936239, Atlanta, GA 31193-6239

For international orders, see https://www.alastore.ala.org/international-orders for more information.

PLA Publications Standing Order Plan

Get the publications you need, discounts you want, and the service you deserve with the PLA Publications Category on the ALA Approval Plan. With the all-PLA category (UP) you'll receive important PLA publications as soon as they are available. PLA releases four to six titles per year. Some are written specifically for us; others are prepared by libraries across the country for their use and distributed by PLA. In either case the books are chosen by public librarians for public librarians and public library employees. The category for receiving all PLA books is UP; the category for receiving only the annual PLDS statistical report is U. To sign up, follow the instructions on the ALA Approval Plan page in the ALA Store.

*You will be asked to login to confirm your current PLA personal membership. If you’ve forgotten your login information, you'll be able to retrieve your username/password or create a login if you don't have one from the "Login" page.