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Megan Cottrell writes: “Hennepin County (Minn.) Corrections Librarian Dan Marcou’s program, Read to Me, is one of at least half a dozen around the country that helps incarcerated parents connect with their children at home by making a recording of themselves reading a children’s book. The parents are allowed to send the book and recording to their child, and they can often read the book during an in-person visit as well. Read to Me—which received the Marshall Cavendish Excellence in Library Programming Award in 2004—has been operating since 1998 and is part of a larger relationship between the county’s libraries and correctional facilities that goes back 30 years.”...
American Libraries feature
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Greg Landgraf writes: “The rise of seed exchanges—now numbering more than 300 across the US—has been accompanied by plenty of enthusiasm from librarians and patrons. But Cumberland County (Pa.) Library System’s Simpson Seed Library attracted a whirlwind of controversy and misinformation over the summer after receiving a letter (PDF file) from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, warning that the seed library might not be complying with state law.”....
American Libraries feature
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Sponsored Content
Ray Abruzzi, Senior Director, New Product Strategy, Gale
Electronic access to Gale’s series of primary source archives, Gale Digital Collections, has forever changed scholarship and research. However, many researchers have requested access to the data behind these databases—to break the data from its shackles and analyze it in new ways.
 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning, is now making this possible. Researchers with access to one or more GDC can now request the data behind the digital collections through their library. We hope to drive a new wave of discovery and strengthen the library’s role as the center of scholarship.
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Alan S. Inouye writes: “In the first week of December, a delegation of leaders from ALA met with executives of Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House, and Hachette Book Group to discuss the current state and future of library ebook lending. This delegation was led by ALA President Courtney L. Young and the cochairs of ALA’s Digital Content Working Group, Carolyn Anthony and Erika Linke. Also included in the delegation were President-Elect Sari Feldman, Immediate Past President Barbara Stripling, Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels, and Alan S. Inouye, the director of ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy. Several publishing executives made explicit note of the strong ALA presence, reaffirming ALA’s commitment and priority to library ebook and digital content issues.”....
AL: E-Content, Dec. 9
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Check to be sure that your American Library Association membership is up to date so that you can vote in the March 2015 ALA elections. To be eligible to vote, individuals must be ALA members in good standing as of January 31, 2015. Members will receive notification by email confirming their eligibility to vote. This year, members are asked to vote for the next ALA president-elect and for 33 councilor-at-large candidates....
ALA Membership Development
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As we gear up for the 2015 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Chicago next month, check out this two-minute time-lapse video that documents the work that went into setting up—and breaking down—the 2014 ALA Annual Conference this past summer in Las Vegas....
American Libraries video
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A December 8 report released by ALA explores the growing area of library programming and proposes an ambitious, eight-year research plan to explore how programs reach library users and impact communities. The National Impact of Library Public Programs Assessment presents a research agenda to understand and quantify the characteristics, audiences, outcomes, and impacts of library programming in the United States. Readers are invited to comment on the report’s findings; comments may be shared privately on the website. Join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #libraryimpact....
ALA Public Programs Office, Dec. 8 |
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Illinois Library Association Executive Director Robert P. Doyle offers these suggestions for keeping up on your library advocacy efforts: “1. Challenges to library materials happen everywhere, so stay informed on intellectual freedom issues. 2. Never underestimate the power of one individual to have a positive or negative impact. 3. Have clear, concise materials selection and internet policies and procedures for handling complaints.”...
Illinois Library Association
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Abby Noland writes: “What is the value of a public library in the community? This is a basic question and a good question for anyone to ask. Whenever I hear this question, however, I think of the movie Roxanne with Steve Martin. Remember the scene where Martin’s character is in the bar and a barfly insults his nose? Martin turns to the barfly and tells him he can do better than that. He can give him numerous ways to comment about his nose, such as: ‘Fashionable: You know you could deemphasize your nose if you wore something larger, like Wyoming.’ My mind flashes to something like this when I am asked to explain the value of a public library in our community. Here are some examples.”...
Rutland (Vt.) Herald, Dec. 6 |
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Many of the facts you teach your students will be long forgotten by the time they graduate, but the hope is that the practical lessons—the ones that can benefit them for years to come—are the ones that will stick. Digital citizenship is something that can equip students for a lifetime of safe, responsible internet use. How can you mold your students into stand-up digital citizens? Use these resources to help you plan....
Edudemic, Dec. 4 |
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Kristen Purcell and Lee Rainie write: “A new survey (PDF file) by the Pew Research Center finds that the vast majority of Americans believe their use of the web helps them learn new things, stay better informed on topics that matter to them, and increases their capacity to share ideas and creations with others. These generally positive attitudes are buttressed by the view that people like having so much information at their fingertips, rather than feeling information overload. Moreover, this positive judgment extends to the broader culture. Most believe that average Americans and US students are better informed than in the past.”...
Pew Research Center, Dec. 8 |
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