American Library Association • March 10, 2015
 
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A career of our own

Kristin Antelman, Annette F. Bailey, Anne R. Kenney, Kim Leeder Reed, Mary Mallery, Leslie Morgan

Marta Mestrovic Deyrup writes: “In 2004, College and Research Libraries published my study, ‘Is the Revolution Over: Gender, Economic, and Professional Parity in Academic Library Leadership Positions,’ which found that more than half of the top administrators at Carnegie doctoral/research extensive university libraries were women. American Libraries recently asked me to revisit the topic of gender and academic librarianship for Women’s History Month. I talked to a handful of female academic library administrators at various stages of their careers to ask them about the women’s movement and choices they’ve made.”...

American Libraries feature, Mar./Apr.

Help secure funding for key library programs

Scrabble money

The congressional appropriations process is in full swing and library priority programs face tremendous scrutiny from members of Congress in search of programs to cut or put on the chopping block. This is your time to be heard and let Congress know how important continued funding is for the Library Services Technology Act (LSTA) and Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL). Contact your senators and representative and ask them to add their names to both “Dear Colleague” letters supporting LSTA and IAL that are currently being circulated....

District Dispatch, Mar. 9
 
Academy of American Poets
 

The extraordinary women of ALA’s Washington Office

Eileen Cooke, ALA Washington Office director from 1972 to 1993

Larry Nix writes: “For Women’s History Month I’m writing about a group of women who collectively made an enormous contribution to the improvement of library service in America. These were the women who served as directors of the ALA Washington Office from 1950 through 1999. They were the lobbyists for America’s libraries and they carried out this role exceptionally well. The ALA Washington Office was established in October 1945 and celebrates its 70th anniversary this year.”...

Library History Buff Blog, Mar. 9

Next AL Live: The future of libraries

Jason Griffey

What do you envision for future of libraries? Jason Griffey (right), head of library information technology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, will moderate this week’s episode of American Libraries Live, for a one-hour discussion of the future of the library, at 2 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, March 12. The rest of the panel includes Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, Ben Bizzle, and Andromeda Yelton. This free, streaming videocast can be viewed from your home, library, or on-the-go....

American Libraries, Mar. 9
 
ALA Annual Conference
 

PLA Big Ideas in San Francisco

PLA Big Ideas logo

On June 26, at the ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco, PLA will present PLA Big Ideas @ ALA Annual, an ideal event for public library directors, deputy directors, and managers. An extension of the popular Big Ideas series at the PLA Conference, this engaging day will feature dynamic speakers from outside the library world, including leadership expert Jay Conger and creativity expert Tina Seelig. The event will be hosted in San Francisco Public Library’s Koret Auditorium.....

PLA, Mar. 9

James Patterson pledges $1.25 million to school libraries

James Patterson

Just a few months ago, James Patterson (right) finished giving away $1 million to more than 175 independent bookstores nationwide. Now the bestselling thriller writer is turning to school libraries with a $1.25 million grant program. In partnership with children’s publisher Scholastic, he will make individual donations of $1,000 to $10,000. The money can be used for books, reading programs, technology, or repairs. Scholastic Reading Club has pledged to match each grant with bonus points that can be used for books and classroom materials....

Washington Post, Feb. 27; Dec. 15, 2014

Mother Teresa returns to Trumbull

The controversial painting, Onward We March, features Mother Teresa on the left

The controversial painting that city First Selectman Tim Herbst ordered removed from the Trumbull (Conn.) Library in early March was back on display on March 6. The painting, featuring Mother Teresa standing alongside pro-choice advocates, was returned after its owner agreed not to hold the town responsible if any copyright-infringement lawsuits are filed. But liability and First Amendment issues persist. The ACLU has now weighed in on the issue, noting in a letter to Herbst that its attorneys believe removing the painting is a First Amendment violation, “given the speciousness of any copyright concerns.” And emails are flying back and forth over exactly what the town should be responsible for when it comes to the exhibit....

Bridgeport Connecticut Post, Mar. 6

Library-related sessions at SXSW

Librarians in Austin for SXSW 2014

To raise awareness of the innovation and technology happening in libraries today, and to highlight the ways in which librarians support entrepreneurship, library advocates and industry leaders from across the US will attend the 2015 SXSW Interactive festival in Austin, Texas, March 13–17. Advocating as lib*interactive (formerly sxswLAM), this volunteer-led group of library thought-leaders have attended, presented, and actively recruited their colleagues to participate in SXSW Interactive over the past several years. Here are some of the library-related sessions, including one on entrepreneurial coworking and collaboration that includes panelists from D.C. Public Library, MapStory, and ALA....

lib*interactive at SXSW, Mar. 10; Office for Information Technology Policy, Mar. 10

The basics: Clearing your browser cache

Clearing the Firefox cache

Web browsers store temporary copies of the web pages you visit in what’s referred to as the browser cache. They do this as a way to speed up the web experience. Sometimes an old or incomplete copy of a page gets saved to your cache and it prevents you from doing what you want to do on the web. When you come across a page that doesn’t look right, or you get hung up when trying to execute some web functionality, clearing the browser cache will often straighten things out. Here are instructions on how to clear the cache in the web’s most popular browsers....

Geek Squad

9 books for Women’s History Month

Ms. Marvel Vol 1: No Normal, by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona

Anna Tschetter writes: “In the US, UK, and Australia, the entire month of March is identified as a celebration of women’s history. One of the things libraries and bookstores and readers can do is to read about lives of women and girls. Here are a handful of books I’ve read recently that have a strong, pro-women message. They present women and girls who are strong without being caricatures; emotional without being a harmful stereotype; and most of all, fully realized characters with hopes, dreams, and struggles.”...

YALSA The Hub, Mar. 9

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