For daily ALA and library news, check the American Libraries website or subscribe to our RSS feed.
|
|
|
Frederic Murray writes: “It is shocking. But the facts on the ground show clearly that journalists and the free press in America are under attack by the president of the United States, nonstate actors, and in all likelihood, foreign powers. Way back in January, ALA published a Resolution on Access to Accurate Information. This resolution is horribly prescient of the world we now inhabit. The bullet points could be culled from the year’s headlines, and we’re not even into fall or winter yet.”...
Intellectual Freedom Blog, Aug. 7 |
|
Steven Yates writes: “As our school libraries come back to life for another year of personalized learning for each and every one of our students, I wanted to share five ways that you can transform your professional life this school year. You will see that a few of these have deadlines creeping up soon, but I assure you that there is something for every educator in this list. Don’t forget to follow AASL on social media to stay current with the ways our volunteers and staff are transforming teaching and learning.”...
Knowledge Quest blog, Aug. 8; I Love Libraries |
|
|
Jo Schofield writes: “As children’s librarians, we are pros at introducing shapes to even the youngest of customers in our libraries. How many times have we pointed to a circle in baby time, made triangles with our fingers in toddler time, or sang a shapes song in preschool storytime? Introducing the concept of three-dimensional shapes can be just as easy and is just as important for young learners. I frequently use three-dimensional geometry in early childhood library programs through block play.”...
ALSC Blog, Aug. 7 |
|
Haight Street Rat, created by the street artist Banksy, was unveiled at the downtown Kokomo–Howard County (Ind.) Public Library on August 4. It is thought to be the first library in the world to display an original Banksy, about whom little is known but whose work has earned a reputation around the world. During the unveiling, a line stretched from the artwork to the library’s back door as people waited excitedly to see the piece....
Kokomo (Ind.) Tribune, Aug. 4 |
|
|
Michael Waters writes: “Frank E. Buttolph (right) liked to say that she started collecting restaurant menus on January 1, 1900. At the Columbia Restaurant in New York, she said, she received a menu that was dated to the new century. Struck by the sight, she saved it. But that probably isn’t true, since her vast collection appears to have begun several years earlier. The New York Public Library, which now archives many of Buttolph’s menus, even states that she first contacted them about her collection a year prior, in 1899.”...
Atlas Obscura, Aug. 4; New York Public Library |
|
On September 1, the Digital Public Library of America will launch the Hub Network Membership program to create a closer, more formal collaboration between DPLA and the members of the Hub Network. It is an essential step in providing a structure and framework to give hubs a voice in the direction of DPLA. The network is a nationwide collective working toward the shared goal to bring the riches of our nation’s cultural heritage organizations to a broad, engaged public....
DPLA Blog, Aug. 1 |
|
Streaming just became free, thanks to the public library. Anyone who has a New York Public Library or Brooklyn Public Library card can now watch more than 30,000 feature films, documentaries, foreign-language films, and training videos. On August 4, the two libraries partnered with the streaming service Kanopy to give cardholders access to the company’s collections. This includes the entirety of the Criterion Collection, which features hundreds of classic and contemporary films....
New York Times, Aug. 7; NYPL Blogs, Aug. 4 |
|
|
The German Lost Art Foundation in Magdeburg, Germany, has organized a program called “Initial Check” in order to enable the search for Nazi-looted books in smaller libraries. The program has tasked three researchers to scour libraries in Saxony-Anhalt and look for suspicious items. Their aim is to find out whether such inventory items are in fact looted goods. The foundation publishes descriptions of found books along with photos and stamp marks in its database when it cannot locate the rightful owners or their heirs....
Deutsche Welle, Aug. 6
|
|
Julian Sheather writes: “While volunteering in refugee camps in Greece, Laura Samira Naude and Esther ten Zijthoff realized that the people they met needed more than food and shelter: They wanted to study, work for their future, and find a sense of purpose. Naude and Zijthoff were determined to provide a quiet space amid the upheaval where people could use their time rather than just fill it. The pair decided to launch Education Community Hope and Opportunity (ECHO) and open a library on wheels.”...
The Guardian (UK), Aug. 6 |
|
A misdemeanor court in Alexandria, Egypt, on August 1 sentenced Ismail Serageldin (right), director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina from 2002 to May 2017, to three years and six months in prison for misappropriating some 20 million Egyptian pounds ($1.1 million US) by renting library facilities to outside contractors below market prices. The court also handed the director of the library’s financial department two separate six-month prison sentences for fixing insurance documents for employees and manipulating rental fees....
Al-Ahram (Cairo), Aug. 1; Associated Press, Aug. 1
|
|
Ian Paul writes: “The web browser is by far the most important piece of software on your PC. That’s why it’s important to make sure you always have the best tool for the job, and in 2017 that does not include Internet Explorer. If you still want the built-in option for Windows, that would be Edge; but it’s hard to stick strictly with Edge when you’ve got other choices, including Google’s Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera. Let’s take a look at the four major browsers to see how they stack up.”...
PC World, Aug. 7
|
|
While American coinage favors our national symbol, the bald eagle, other countries have immortalized different animals of cultural significance on their currency. In honor of International Cat Day (often celebrated on August 8), the National Numismatic Collection welcomed the National Museum of American History’s mountmaker and cat aficionado, Laura McClure, into the collection to visit with some favorite feline coins and notes. The following list contains some of the museum’s favorites....
O Say Can You See?, Aug. 7
|
AL Direct is a free electronic newsletter emailed every Tuesday and Friday to personal members of the American Library Association.
|
Send news and feedback: aldirect@ala.org
Direct ad inquiries to: mstack@ala.org
AL Direct FAQ: americanlibrariesmagazine.org/al-direct
All links outside the ALA website
are provided for informational purposes only. Questions about the
content of any external site should be addressed to the administrator of
that site.
AL Direct will not sell your email to outside parties, but your email may be shared with advertisers in this newsletter should you express interest in their products by clicking on their ads or content. If the advertisers choose to communicate with you by email, they are obligated to provide you with an opportunity to opt-out from future emails in compliance with the CAN-SPAM act of 2003. Read the ALA privacy policy.
American Libraries
50 E. Huron St.
Chicago, IL 60611
800-545-2433, ext. 4216
ISSN 1559-369X
|
