American Library Association • October 10, 2014
 
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ALA asks ED to include libraries in early learning efforts

The Dayton Metro Library system in Ohio is a partner in the city’s “Passport to Kindergarten”

ALA urged the Department of Education in an October 8 letter (PDF file) to include public libraries as early learning partners in the Proposed Requirements for School Improvement Grants (SIG). The Association specifically asks that the Department of Education include public libraries as eligible entities and allowable partners under the new intervention model that focuses on improving early learning educational outcomes....

District Dispatch, Oct. 9

Supporting intellectual freedom for teens

Teen working in the Asheboro (N.C.) Public Library

Emily Calkins writes: “Intellectual freedom and equal access to information are central to libraries’ mission, but libraries often fail to consider the intellectual freedom needs of teenage patrons, or lump teen patrons in with children in conversations of intellectual freedom. However, adolescence is developmentally distinct from childhood, and the freedom to access information of all kinds is vital for teen patrons.”...

In the Library with the Lead Pipe, Oct. 8


Sponsored Content

Frank Menchaca

Curriculum alignment at Gale

Frank Menchaca, Senior Vice President, Global Project Management, Gale, National Geographic Learning

At Gale these days, our product and go-to-market strategies have all centered on answering a single question: how do we help libraries provide value that they can measure and demonstrate to their stakeholders?

Gale logoOne initiative dedicated to advancing this cause is our new curriculum alignment service. This involves a deep and extensive consultation with a customer to identify: What are their metrics of value; who are the stakeholders that evaluate those metrics, and how does a Gale product demonstrate that value?...


 
Gale
 

The best government websites for 2014

Map showing state, city, and county winners and finalists

The state of Hawaii, the city of Washington, D.C., and Oakland County, Michigan, are home to the best government websites in the nation. These sites topped the 2014 Best of the Web awards, a joint project of Government Technology and e.Republic’s Center for Digital Government, which highlights the public sector’s evolving capabilities on the web. Winners were announced October 7....

Government Technology, Oct. 7

 
Project Muse
 

Correcting misinformation in the Adobe privacy story

Adobe Digital Editions 4

Eric Hellman writes: “We’ve learned quite a lot about Adobe Digital Editions version 4 (ADE4) since Nate Hoffelder broke the story that ‘Adobe is spying on users, collecting data on their ebook libraries.’ Unfortunately, there’s also been some bad information generated along with the furor. It’s clear that our worst fears about ADE4—that it was hunting down all the ebooks on a user’s computer on installation and reporting them to Adobe—are not true.”...

Go to Hellman, Oct. 9; The Digital Reader, Oct. 6

 
ALA Midwinter Meeting
 

School libraries make the difference

School libraries and student success

More than 60 education and library research studies have produced clear evidence that school library programs staffed by qualified school librarians have a positive impact on student academic achievement. Yet many students are returning to school without a resource essential for success: a strong school library program led by a certified school librarian. Certified school librarians make the whole school more effective....

I Love Libraries.org

 
AL Live
 

Carnegie Free Library opens 1901 time capsule

Time capsule contents, Carnegie Free Library

Officials of the Carnegie Free Library in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, opened a time capsule on October 7 that had been sealed in the building’s cornerstone since 1901, two years before the library opened. The cache included newspapers, minutes of the town council, advertising, coins, and military decorations from the Spanish-American War. Although the library had known there was a time capsule, its location was unknown until it was rediscovered in 2013....

Uniontown (Pa.) Herald-Standard, Oct. 8

A tale of two conferences

A Tale of Two Conferences book cover

Amy Koester writes: “I recently returned from the 2014 ALSC Institute in Oakland. It was a great conference, with tons of thoughtful presentations, insightful ideas, and engaging conversations with colleagues. In my experience, a successful conference comes down to my willingness to introduce myself and join a conversation. Everyone starts off as the person who feels like an outsider, but once you've talked to people, you are never that outsider again. You have a network.”...

The Show Me Librarian, Sept. 25, Oct. 8

A Magna Carta MOOC

King John of England signs the Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215

Emm Barnes Johnstone writes: “Royal Holloway, a college of the University of London, sits just two miles from Runnymede. Our college is home to some of the world’s experts on Magna Carta in its 13th-century context and on its reinterpretation and reinvigoration in the 17th century. We wanted to share our expertise by hosting a MOOC to help us connect with people interested in Magna Carta wherever they live. The course will be offered for the first time in January 2015 and is open to everyone free of charge.”...

In Custodia Legis, Oct. 9


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