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Barbara A. Alvarez writes: “What is an embedded business librarian? An embedded business librarian is a library professional who is rooted in the business community; a librarian who is part of the business community instead of separate from it, who strives to be an equal partner and have an equal voice. Small business owners, professionals, and job seekers see the embedded business librarian as a peer, colleague, and fellow business community member instead of an outsider who solely represents the library.”...
American Libraries feature, Jan./Feb. |
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The ALA Executive Board will be hosting ALA Town Hall: Library Advocacy and Core Values in Uncertain Times for members during the Midwinter Meeting in Atlanta. The event will take place on Sunday, January 22, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. in the GWCC Thomas Murphy Ballroom 3–4, immediately following the Council I meeting. American Libraries will stream it live at facebook.com/amlibraries. The meeting will be facilitated by Cheryl Gorman, senior fellow at the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation....
AL: The Scoop, Jan. 17 |
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Kevin McLeod will be promoting his book at the ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Atlanta. Stop by Booth 1663 and say hello. |
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On January 17, ALA joins the W. K. Kellogg Foundation’s Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation in the observance of the National Day of Racial Healing. The day provides an opportunity for ALA to deepen its commitment to social justice in equity, diversity, and inclusion. The event launches an ALA year-long commitment to influencing a new narrative that celebrates our differences while working to overcome social and racial divisions within library communities across the US....
Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services, Jan. 13 |
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When Browser, the live-in cat of White Settlement (Tex.) Public Library, nearly got furloughed in 2016, public outcry was tremendous. Though everything turned out all right for the lucky kitty, the incident illustrated just how contentious having a cat in a library can be, even when the cat is popular with patrons. Perhaps that’s why the number of library cats in the United States has declined drastically in recent decades. In 1997, there were 201 cats in American libraries; in 2016, there were only 39....
American Libraries Trend, Jan./Feb. |
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Michiko Kakutani writes: “Not since Lincoln has there been a president as fundamentally shaped—in his life, convictions, and outlook on the world—by reading and writing as Barack Obama. During his eight years in the White House—in a noisy era of information overload, extreme partisanship, and knee-jerk reactions—books were a sustaining source of ideas and inspiration, and gave him a renewed appreciation for the complexities and ambiguities of the human condition.”...
New York Times, Jan. 16 |
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Every year, as we approach the ALA Midwinter Meeting and the annual Youth Media Award announcements, libraries and schools around the US offer Mock Election programs. These are a great opportunity for children’s literature aficionados to learn more about some of the great, recently published books for kids. Here you will find some of the results from mock elections around the country. To participate, fill out the mock elections form. Results from last year’s mock elections are also available....
ALSC Blog, Jan. 16 |
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Veronica Arellano Douglas writes: “Our reference desk is in an odd spot. When students enter the library they don’t see an actual person until they are well past the stairs to the second floor. Our library director gathered us together to discuss reference services at our library. It was an informal meeting, but I thought her discussion questions did a great job at getting to the core of why we provide reference services, what reference means to each of us, and how we could potentially be doing it differently.”...
ACRLog, Jan. 16 |
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Stan Adams writes: “The public domain is made up of all knowledge not covered by some form of intellectual property protection, including facts, ideas, most governmental publications, and works for which copyright has expired. Like water, the public domain is a vital and reusable resource. It is a vast sea of material from which anyone is free to draw inspiration, access information, or use in any way imaginable. Also like water, the public domain’s value depends on it being refreshed, replenished, and accessible.”...
Center for Democracy and Technology blog, Jan. 16
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Kate Copp serves as social media manager for the Free Library of Philadelphia, which has 54 branches spread across the city. In an effort to get to know Philadelphia better and showcase what the Free Library has to offer, the South Jersey native decided to make a stop at each and every library location in the city in a single day in October. The experience took her 12 hours and three minutes, from 7:30 a.m. to 7:33 p.m. Watch the video (7:36)....
Philly Voice, Jan. 8; City of Philadelphia, Jan. 4; Free Library of Philadelphia YouTube channel, Dec. 27
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Emily Hisel writes: “Garfield County (Colo.) Libraries have had a text messaging service (SMS) since 2014. We just switched to a new provider called Shoutbomb that will both save the library district money and offer even more functionality to users. It has a customizable setup where patrons can receive text message notifications for books available for pickup and those that are overdue. They can also renew the books and movies they have checked out.”...
Glenwood Springs (Colo.) Post Independent, Jan. 11
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Wendy Sheehan Donnell and Sascha Segan write: “There are countless tablets on the market, but which one is right for you? Whether you’re eyeing an iPad, one of the many Android tablets available, or a Windows slate for productivity, here are the key factors you need to consider, along with some of the top-rated models we’ve tested. We’d like to make one note: Both Apple’s iPad lineup and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S series are looking old. We’re anticipating updates to both sets of tablets this spring.”...
PC Magazine, Jan. 3, 13
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David Portman writes: “Fans of the latest Star Wars saga Rogue One will notice that digital archiving forms a prominent part in the new film. This is good news, as we can use it as an example of how we are working every day to ensure the durability and security of our content. More importantly it makes our jobs sound much more glamorous. When asked ‘so what do you do?’ we can start with ‘remember the bit in Rogue One?’ However, we couldn’t help but notice some flaws in the Empire’s digital preservation policy.”...
Preservica, Dec. 21
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