Keir Graff and the new Booklist.


American Library Association • July 19, 2016
 
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How Keir Graff brought Booklist into the digital age

Keir Graff

Lori Rader-Day writes: “When Keir Graff arrived in Chicago 20 years ago, he suspected there were literary people all around him that he had no way of meeting. Today he might be one of the best-connected literary figures in the city. Graff is the new executive editor of Booklist publications. Booklist Online is now a robust, much-linked-to site, and Graff’s new role oversees the site he helped build, along with 22 issues of the printed magazine and approximately 60 newsletters and 50 live webinars a year.”...

Chicago Review of Books, July 18

Library of Congress hit by DNS attack

Library of Congress tweet on July 17 about the service outage

The Library of Congress was the target of a denial-of-service attack that has knocked out Congress.gov and the US Copyright Office website, and caused outages at other sites hosted by the library. Library spokesperson Gayle Osterberg said that the DNS attack was launched July 17 and continues to affect library operations, including internal websites and employee email. There was no information on the source of the attack, which comes just a few days after Carla Hayden was confirmed as the next Librarian of Congress, tasked with modernizing the library’s digital projects and computer systems....

Federal Computer Week, July 17; n+1, July 14

Librarian wants to “Make America Read Again”

Jonathan Harris hands out books in Cleveland

Charlie Beckerman writes: “Amid the cacophony of people in Cleveland dissenting against the Republican Party and presumptive nominee Donald Trump, there was one activist who seemed to have a unique goal—as it says on his white baseball cap (modeled after Trump’s own iconic hat), ‘Make America Read Again.’ Branch manager of the Portage County District Library’s Aurora Memorial Library, Jonathan Harris came downtown with a crate on the back of his bike filled with books to hand out.”...

Bustle, July 18; TakePart, Sept. 22, 2015

Civics, the election, and the library: A perfect match

Screenshot from Letters to the Next President 2.0 Overview video

Connie Williams writes: “This July brings us presidential conventions, and what happens there will affect schools into November and beyond. Teaching with and about the election process has always been a no-brainer; we hold debates and mock elections and tease out the issues while looking back in history to see how previous generations held their elections. But this year seems different. A different tone, a different attitude. So, what’s a school librarian to do?”...

Knowledge Quest blog, July 19; YouTube, Feb. 1
 
Steelcase
 

Orlando libraries’ response to the Pulse shooting

Screenshot from OCLS Keep Dancing Orlando video

Sarah Nicolas writes: “Few people outside of our town realize that Orlando is also home to a thriving literary community, one I’m so proud to be a part of every day both as an author and as an event planner for the Orange County Library System (OCLS). I wanted to share the Orlando book and literary community’s response to the shooting at the Pulse nightclub. As early as June 12, our librarians started a Resource Guide that has evolved as events unfolded, and OCLS was one of the first organizations to film its own Keep Dancing Orlando video (4:48).”...

Book Riot, July 18; YouTube, June 24

Kings County Library ensures patron safety

Hanford branch, Kings County (Calif.) Library

Genovie Curdiel says she’s been visiting the Kings County (Calif.) Library’s Hanford branch for eight years with her two young daughters, but has noticed fewer people loitering around the building for the past few years. It’s not a coincidence Cudiel feels safer and more welcome. Under the leadership of Library Director Natalie Rencher, county library facilities have been revamped over the past three years, and staff have received extensive training on how to make the library a more inviting environment....

Hanford (Calif.) Sentinel, July 19
 
Libraries Transform
 

Man stabs four in Japanese public library

Nihonmatsu City Library

Police in Nihonmatsu City, Japan, said they have arrested a 34-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder after he injured four people in a library with a knife on July 18. The suspect, Ryo Hirano, a resident of Fukushima Prefecture and a self-described part-time employee, entered the public library and became enraged after he was told by a library employee that he couldn’t borrow any books because he resided in a different city. He stabbed two staff members and two visitors with a pocket knife....

Japan Times, July 19

Is this the world’s oldest book?

Fragment of Hanna Papyrus 1

Jean-Baptiste Piggin writes: “Over a year ago, we debated on this blog and on Twitter what the oldest bound book in the world was. Some authoritative experts said the crown should go not to the Codex Vaticanus (a parchment bible that is still bound), but to the 102 battered and now separated pages of Hanna Papyrus 1 (P75), a little 3rd-century booklet containing most of the Gospels of Luke and John. On July 18, all the extant pages of this booklet were placed online by the Vatican Library in Rome.”...

Macro-Typography, July 18; Feb. 17, Mar. 10, 2015
 
Latest Library Links
 

Top 12 architecture channels on YouTube

Top 10 architecture channels on YouTube

Marie Chatel writes: “There’s so much to learn about architecture, yet so little time. Smart architects know to refer to a variety of sources for their architectural knowledge, and that’s why we’ve put together a shortlist of our Top 12 Architecture Channels on YouTube, and picked some of their best videos for you to see. Read more to find out the best architecture videos, from sketching and rendering tutorials to architecture documentaries.”...

ArchDaily, July 14

Is the maker movement putting librarians at risk?

Makerspace in Johnson County (Kans.) Public Library, Overland Park

Rick Montgomery writes: “Librarians in the Shawnee Mission (Kans.) School District are making way for the maker movement, and some worry where that story is going. ‘They’re replacing our retiring librarians with these innovation people’ who need only to be certified to teach elementary education, librarian Jan Bombeck said. ‘It’s like they’re avoiding people with library certification.’ District administrators acknowledge that grade schools haven’t much need anymore for the libraries of 20 years ago.”...

Kansas City (Mo.) Star, June 24

Tech for STEAM learning, play, and programming

Snap Circuits at Rocky River (Ohio) Public Library

Nicole Lee Martin writes: “It can be easy to feel overwhelmed with choices when it comes to technology, but part of the fun can be exploring the new gadgets and toys. By speaking with other youth services librarians, keeping in touch via social media, and sharing our work, I’ve discovered that the task of keeping up with the next big thing becomes a little easier. I touched base with two of our tech-savvy children’s librarians, Kristine Lee and Heather Tuck-Macalla, to see what tech they’ve used for successful STEAM programming.”...

ALSC Blog, July 19

How to access your Wi-Fi router settings

Router password recovery

Lance Whitney writes: “Your router stores the settings for your Wi-Fi network. So if you want to change something, you have to log into your router’s software, also known as firmware. From there, you can change the name of your network, the password, the security level, create a guest network, and set up or change a variety of other options. But how do you get into your router to make those changes? First, you log into your router’s firmware through a browser.”...

PC Magazine, July 19

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