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After 12 years, ALA returns to Orlando, Florida, for its 2016 Annual Conference and Exhibition, and one could say the city has changed almost as much as our dynamic profession has since 2004. With more than 5,300 restaurants, 100 parks, 120,000 hotel rooms, and one of the fastest population growth rates in the country, Orlando has expanded since ALA last met here. This preview offers a small sample of what to expect at Annual in Orlando....
American Libraries feature, June |
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In Dewey Decibel podcast Episode Two, we bring you conversations on library security. It’s not an easy topic to talk about, but it is an essential one. We welcome three people from the library world who work to help us understand how to handle safety issues—both large-scale, harrowing encounters and smaller but still disconcerting events—in our buildings and on our campuses: Mary Ann Jacob, Kathleen Moeller-Peiffer, and Steve Albrecht....
AL: The Scoop, May 23 |
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David Piper writes: “Our program ‘Boys Read’—designed in 2013 to get boys ages 8–13 excited about reading aloud from some of their favorite titles—had a small but loyal following. As an adult services librarian at the time, I had some trepidation when asked if I would be interested in taking over this existing children’s program at the New Carrollton branch of the Prince George’s County (Md.) Memorial Library System in 2014, but I decided to give it a try. I discovered I loved it.”...
American Libraries column, May |
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YALSA has announced the three winners of its Teens Succeed with Libraries video contest. The contest called for creative video entries that compellingly demonstrated how teens make use of library services, programs, and staff in order to succeed in school and prepare for college, careers, and life. A playlist of the winning videos, along with all the submissions, can be found on YALSA’s YouTube channel. Each winner will receive $200 worth of books, audiobooks, and graphic novels....
YALSA, May 24 |
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In a year when Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender communities are facing divisive “religious freedom” and “bathroom privacy” legislation, libraries are working against legislating discrimination by fostering acceptance through the power of books. ALA and hundreds of libraries will celebrate June as GLBT Book Month, a nationwide celebration of the authors and books that reflect the GLBT experience....
Public Awareness Office, May 23
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The LaSalle branch of the Niagara Falls (N.Y.) Public Library is proving to be a useful setting for makers of the film Marshall, and for more than just library space. The film portrays a case early in the career of Thurgood Marshall, who would later go on to become the first African-American justice on the US Supreme Court. The branch itself used to be the LaSalle courthouse and jail, and some remaining jail cells were what interested the film’s producers....
WBFO-TV, Buffalo, N.Y., May 23 |
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After the threat of library closures swept across Hartford, Connecticut, on May 20, Mayor Luke Bronin vetoed cuts made by the city council to those facilities and to other initiatives. Bronin rejected $393,000 in cuts made to the Hartford Public Library, which officials said could have resulted in the closure of three branches. Bridget Quinn-Carey, the library’s chief executive officer, said earlier in the day that she hadn’t expected the additional cuts. She had already eliminated 10 jobs—some through layoffs—and said she would have had to shed 10 to 15 more positions....
Hartford (Conn.) Courant, May 20 |
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Cecilia Kang writes: “Eric Hill is trying to participate in Detroit’s recovery, but he is running into hurdles. A lack of internet connectivity is keeping many Detroiters from getting a fighting chance. Hill’s difficulties were apparent recently when he entered a crowded public library to use the computers to look for a new job. With no internet service at home or on his mobile phone, Hill had few options to search work listings or file online job applications after losing his job at a pharmacy five months ago.”...
New York Times, May 22 |
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Anna Maria Gillis writes: “Wayne Wiegand describes library paste as an important part of the social glue that holds communities together. The author of Part of Our Lives: A People’s History of the American Public Library (Oxford University 2015) sees libraries as places where immigrants become Americans, communities debate their values, and local people confront national issues. Wiegand, who received an NEH fellowship of $50,400 to work on the book, joins us for this edition of Impertinent Questions.”...
Humanities 37, no. 2 (Spring)
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Kenneth Sawdon writes: “It is fairly uncommon to hear about a constructed language being taken to court over copyright claims. This is why it was so surprising to hear that the Klingon language was one of the focuses of a case between CBS and Paramount, the owners of the Star Trek properties, and the makers of a fan film. The case is still ongoing over the use of imagery and elements, but the judge has decided not to rule on the copyrightability of the Klingon language itself.”...
Intellectual Freedom Blog, May 23; TechDirt, Mar. 14, May 10
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Bill Gates writes: “If you’re going to get marooned on a desert island, I guess you can’t exactly choose when it happens to you. But if I’m shipwrecked this summer, I hope I’ll have these five terrific books I read recently—which I just shared on my blog—as well as five all-time favorites with me.”...
New York Times: Style Magazine, May 20; Gates Notes, May 17
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Sharon Rawlins writes: “You may be familiar with YA fiction books that deal with mental health issues, but in honor of Mental Health Month, I’m highlighting mostly nonfiction YA resources (with a few new or forthcoming fiction titles). Few nonfiction titles offer real, practical, how-to advice. Most of the helpful resources I have found are online in the form of blogs, articles, brochures, or pamphlets, because that is what’s easiest to keep up-to-date.”...
YALSA The Hub, May 24
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