Public Library Services to Underrepresented Groups: Poor & Unemployed, Emphasizing Danville, Virginia

This study attempts to fill a void in library public services research on initiatives to serve the poor and unemployed in the current climate of budgetary constraints. This study seeks to determine perceptions of librarians and library managers regarding the needs of, and need for services to, poor and unemployed library patrons. Following a review of the literature, the article compares funding for services to the poor and unemployed in Michigan and Virginia. The state of Virginia lags behind other states in offering special programs for the poor and unemployed. This study concludes by describing programs developed by the Danville Public Library in an attempt to offer creative and imaginative services for the poor and the unemployed in the Danville Community.