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ALA–Allied Professional Association President Julie Todaro released a statement on September 12 regarding the lockout of Long Island University faculty in Brooklyn, which includes university librarians: “The ALA-APA is extremely concerned over the unprecedented lockout action taken against the faculty, including librarians, of LIU-Brooklyn by President Kimberly R. Cline and the LIU administration,” said Todaro. “This preemptive action was taken while negotiations were still ongoing and threatens the quality of education provided to LIU-Brooklyn students.”...
ALA Public Awareness Office, Sept. 12; The Atlantic, Sept. 7; New York Daily News, Sept. 7; Twitter #LIUlockout; NYSUT, Sept. 7; News 12 Brooklyn, Sept. 12 |
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LIU Health Sciences Librarian Gloria Willson writes: “On September 1, the Long Island University Brooklyn faculty received an email notification that, because our contract had expired and our negotiating team had yet to accept the new final contract offer, the university administration would execute a lockout of all its 400 faculty members. This included the adjunct and the librarian faculty. Everyone was stunned. We had 48 hours to retrieve any files or personal belongings from our offices.”...
Librarianship.ca, Sept. 13 |
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ALA President Julie Todaro (left) and AASL President Audrey Church write: “We are deeply concerned that the disinvestment in Chicago public school libraries and the elimination of librarians undermines the vision of a ‘city of readers.’ The drastic reduction of school librarian positions in CPS schools makes it impossible for CPS to achieve its mission of preparing all students for ‘success in college, career and community.’ No one wins when a certified school librarian position is cut.”...
Chicago Tribune, Sept. 9; AL: The Scoop, Sept. 8 |
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Jennifer Velásquez writes: “Cultivating a space in the library that teens can activate and own sends teens a strong signal they are valued and welcome. Teens (defined here as those ages 13–18) are usually scrutinized closely because of expectations that they will cause trouble. They are often held to different behavioral expectations than other patrons—a group of toddlers or genealogists will be greeted with smiles and nods, but a group of exuberant teens is likely to get thrown out.”...
American Libraries feature, Sept./Oct. |
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Terra Dankowski writes: “Before Netflix’s streaming video service started pushing ‘heartfelt,’ ‘quirky,’ and ‘cerebral’ selections, Williamsburg (Va.) Regional Library was asking patrons seeking reading recommendations to fill out an extensive online form and identify the tone, style, and mood of their perfect book, with adjectives like ‘disturbing,’ ‘homespun,’ and ‘inspirational.’ The form, designed by Adult Services Librarian Neil Hollands, addresses the appeal factors long endorsed by RA expert and Booklist editor Joyce Saricks.”...
American Libraries Trend, Sept./Oct. |
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Meredith Farkas writes: “My library works with our college’s Disability Services office to test any web-based platform we are considering for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. When I recently advocated for us to subscribe to a new database, I was invited to meet with a visually impaired Disability Services employee to test the platform. I’d been aware of screen readers, which read what is on a computer screen to a visually impaired user, but this was the first time I’d actually seen one in action.”...
American Libraries column, Sept./Oct. |
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John B. Horrigan writes: “A Pew Research Center survey finds that Americans continue to express largely positive views about public libraries. Most Americans view them as important parts of their communities, with a majority reporting that libraries have the resources they need and play at least some role in helping them decide what information they can trust. When asked about the things that libraries could do in the future, many Americans responded in a way that can be boiled down to one phrase: ‘Yes, please.’”...
Pew Research Center, Sept. 9 |
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Rachael Cusick writes: “According to a 2015 report on online education, 28% of higher education students enrolled in at least one distance-education course during the fall 2014 semester. Distance education has the capacity to reach more students across further geographic and socioeconomic lines than most colleges can traditionally do on a campus. But some folks aren’t convinced that these online platforms provide the level of collaboration and human interaction needed for an effective learning environment.”...
Slate, Sept. 12; Online Learning Consortium |
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James M. Lang writes: “Laptops have become so commonplace in class that many faculty members have begun to question whether their omnipresence interferes with student learning. Some have reached a stark solution: Ban laptops from the classroom. Force everyone to take notes on paper. But a good case can be made that students can learn—or, more precisely, can be taught—to take notes effectively on their laptops, iPads, or other such devices. All can agree on one thing: This problem is not going away.”...
Chronicle of Higher Education, Sept. 11 |
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The Maricopa County (Ariz.) Library District won six National Association of Counties achievement awards in 2016 for innovation in county government programs. The MCLD programs, along with 51 other county programs, were honored August 24 during a special recognition ceremony. One of the programs earning honors was “Telescopes at the Library,” a program that involves a partnership between the Fountain Hills branch and the Fountain Hills Astronomy Club....
Fountain Hills (Ariz.) Times, Sept. 12
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A computer-based brain training program developed at Yale University helps improve student performance in reading and math. According to a study of more than 500 2nd graders, math and reading scores increased significantly more in children who used the program Activate during the school year than in control classes. The effect on math achievement scores was greater than one-on-one tutoring, and the effect on reading scores was greater than summer reading programs....
Yale News, Sept. 12; Scientific Reports, Sept. 12
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Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a prototype imaging system that’s able to read pages of a book without opening it. Working closely with researchers from Georgia Tech, Media Lab research scientist Barmak Heshmat and company have demonstrated the ability to identify letters up to nine pages deep. The team says the technique could be used to study ancient books that are so fragile that they can’t be opened without risk of destroying their contents....
TechSpot, Sept. 11; MIT News, Sept. 9
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