Developing Librarian Competencies for the Digital Age. Edited by Jeffrey G. Coghill and Roger G. Russell. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2017. Paper $39 (ISBN 978-1-4422-6444-1).

Today’s librarians appear to be at a crossroads, offering traditional library services (such as reference) alongside digital library services, with some services overlapping the two areas. Change in the library profession occurs at a rapid pace in the twenty-first century, so how do librarians (particularly academic librarians) embrace this change successfully to serve their users effectively? And what technological changes can academic librarians expect in the next few years?

Jeffrey G. Coghill and Roger G. Russell, librarians at East Carolina University, answer these questions in Developing Librarian Competencies for the Digital Age, a useful volume that identifies and provides assessments for librarian competencies in the digital age. Beginning with a short history of the library profession and its response to changing technologies, the editors (and their contributors) address how technologies have changed library skills in areas such as reference, information technology, library marketing, and library management, and they discuss specific skill sets that academic librarians will need to confront technological change in their libraries. One interesting chapter deals with online and distance-education students, addressing how librarians can best assist them and what potential trends and outcomes librarians can expect from this growing education area. Each chapter contains extensive references, and the book includes the contributors’ contact information.

Change is inevitable in any organization, and Developing Librarian Competencies for the Digital Age is a well-organized, content-rich book that gives academic librarians the necessary tools to adapt to technological changes to serve their patrons effectively. Highly recommended.—Larry Cooperman, University of Central Florida Libraries, Orlando, Florida