We've got 10 ICMA-approved gifts for the local government professional in your life, including our top selling publication of the year: Human Resource Management in Local Government.

For Your Staff

The 5 Qualities of Collaborative Leaders (e-document) 
Collaborative leaders consistently demonstrate five qualities: the drive to achieve goals through collaboration; the ability to listen carefully to what is being said (and not said) to understand others' perspectives; the desire to look for win-win solutions; the use of pull techniques, rather than push, to accomplish goals; and the capacity to strategically connect projects to a larger purpose. These techniques can be effective even in hierarchical organizations. 

For the Public Safety Official

Emergency Management: Principles and Practice for Local Government, 2nd Edition (e-document)
Collectively, local governments are the backbone of the national emergency management system. This book is designed to assist current and future emergency managers in fulfilling that crucial function by providing context, sharing experiences, and offering insights.

For the Planner

Local Planning: Contemporary Principles and Practice (print)
Focuses on emerging issues and future challenges, offering useful, current examples of leading planning practices. The organization and content of the book will help planners and nonplanners who manage the work of planners apply well-reasoned strategic thinking to their planning challenges.

For the Budgeter

Budgeting: Excerpt from Management Policies in Local Government Finance Sixth Edition (e-document)
This InFocus report presents the concepts necessary for understanding the role of the budget in local government, the process used for creating budgets, and the ramifications of budgets within the community. And because the CFO is intimately connected with all of it, the report always returns to the responsibilities of the CFO and ways of effectively fulfilling them.

For the Performance Management Professional

Leading Performance Management in Local Government (e-document)
This collection of the most important readings on performance management is packed with strategies and guidance to help you take performance measurement to the next level. Discover how active leadership in performance management brings real results.

For the Economic Developer

Trends in Local Economic Development Policies (PDF)
This article explores what local governments currently identify as their highest-priority economic development goals, what they see as the most significant barriers to economic development, and what they have been doing to overcome those barriers over a period of extreme fiscal constraint. In addition, it examines the extent to which local officials feel that their economic development policies are at least somewhat successful in meeting the goals identified as most important.

For the Personnel Officer

Human Resource Management in Local Government: An Essential Guide, 3rd Edition (e-document)
Both local government managers and human resource professionals will gain insight on how to address long-term workforce needs, how to recruit and maintain a high-performance team, and what it takes to create an environment where excellence thrives.

For the Manager

Managing Local Government Services (e-document)
The sixteen chapters in this publication have been organized to give the reader a broader and deeper perspective on the dynamic world of local government services. It provides a "one-stop" overview of common organization, best practices, and challenging issues regarding management of core local services. 

The Effective Local Government Manager, 3rd Edition (e-document) 
Whether the reader is a graduate student looking forward to the excitement of a local government management career, a relative newcomer to general management who may have risen through the technical ranks and now seeks a broader base of knowledge, or an experienced manager who wants to review concepts and test knowledge and skills against managers of similar backgrounds, this publication should offer something of value.

For Yourself

Public Management Magazine Subscription (print or online)
Public Management (PM) magazine is the official magazine of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), with a track record of more than 90 years as a trusted source of local government management information. PM is dedicated exclusively to the public sector practitioner. Designed for quick and informative reading, articles deal with issues of common concern to local government managers.