CLIC! The Community Library Information Center:

Abstract

The late '60s saw public libraries moving toward the establishment of information an a referral service through the creation of neighborhood information centers. The Prince George's County Memorial Library System, in Maryland, was one of those systems, establishing CLIC, the Community Library Information Center, in 1971. CLIC was housed in a neighborhood branch library, located within the Model Cities Area. Funded by the federal Model Cities (MNA) program, the service was designed to serve residents and human service providers in the Model Cities Area. Whcn the CLIC proposal was initially conceived, certain basic questions were generated: 1. Can an Information, Referral and Follow-Up (I. R & F.) service be established in a neighborhood branch library, dealing with a limited(geographically) clientele and a limited range of agency services? 2. Can the techniques of an I.R. & F. begun in a decentralized way (i.e. in a neighborhood branch library) be made applicable to and/or serve as a base for a subsequent centralization and dissemination throughout a large county? This article traces the history and discusses the various functions performed by the CLIC! service over the past IS years in an effort to provide answers to those questions.