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Kevin Maher writes: “On July 19, the House Appropriations Committee voted to approve the same funding levels passed by its Labor–HHS Subcommittee last week. The action was another significant step toward ensuring FY 2018 funding of $231 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services—including $183.6 million for LSTA programs—and $27 million for the Innovative Approaches to Literacy program. These sums equal FY 2017 levels. The bill now heads to the floor for consideration by the full House.”...
District Dispatch, July 20 |
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More than 22,702 people gathered at the 2017 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago in June to discuss the most pressing issues facing the library world today. Common themes of the hundreds of programs on offer were children and teen services, social justice, information access, and science and technology, while big-name speakers such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Bill McKibben, and Hillary Rodham Clinton attested fervently to their admiration for library professionals and the important roles libraries play in the future....
American Libraries feature, July/Aug. |
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Marshall Breeding writes: “The 2017 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago featured an impressive array of technology products. Organizations of all sizes were represented, ranging from corporate giants with their large booth installations to smaller companies with simpler tabletop displays. This mix reflects the current state of the library technology industry where large, consolidated, and diversified corporations dominate; midsized companies continue to create and support a narrower set of products and services; and small start-ups appear, bringing new energy and innovation.”...
American Libraries feature, July/Aug. |
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A retrial has been ordered in the case of former children’s librarian Desirée Fairooz, the activist who faced up to a year in jail and $2,000 in fines after being arrested at Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s confirmation hearing. Chief Judge Robert Morin of the District of Columbia Superior Court was set to sentence Fairooz, an antiwar activist with the group Code Pink, on July 14 but instead declared a mistrial. Fairooz confirmed the judge’s ruling and noted that her retrial is scheduled to begin in September....
AL: The Scoop, July 19 |
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ALA and the Center for News Literacy at the Stony Brook University School of Journalism have launched Media Literacy @ your library, a pilot program that will train public library professionals to teach their adult patrons to be better informed news consumers. During the one-year pilot program (July 2017–June 2018), ALA will work in collaboration with the center to develop an online media literacy curriculum. Five public libraries will pilot the learning series through a “train the trainer” approach....
Programming Librarian, July 20 |
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The Evanston (Ill.) Public Library is set to pay Lesley Williams (right), the former adult services librarian, $110,000 as part of her severance after 21 years of service—time that included two suspensions in the last two months. City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz confirmed that the payment is scheduled to be approved at the July 24 city council meeting. Williams resigned from her post June 29. Library officials declined to comment on details of the personnel issues that led to her resignation....
Evanston (Ill.) Review, July 20 |
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A controversial book has been pulled from a Colorado Springs middle school after administrators say it should have never made it into the library. The school received a parental complaint about the book in March. But a group of librarians, including library media specialist Gina Schaarschmidt at Challenger Middle School, submitted a 92-page appeal on that decision. The District 20 School Board voted to reject this petition on July 20, saying Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles contains inappropriate content....
KOAA-TV, Pueblo, Colo., July 20 |
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Abby Noland, director of the Gleason Public Library in Carlisle, Massachusetts, on July 20 came across live military shells from the Civil War inside a closet in her office. It was her first day on the job. The shells, part of a Gettysburg collection donated years ago, were inside a box with a label explaining they had been examined by a munitions expert and could be live. She notified the police, whose bomb squad rendered the shells safe....
Associated Press, July 20; Boston Herald, July 20
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The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, in partnership with the Technology and Social Change Group at the University of Washington, launched the first Development and Access to Information report at the New York Public Library on July 17 during the United Nations High Level Political Forum. The report shows how essential access to information is for development, and makes the case for coordinated and sustained efforts by all to guarantee it....
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, July 18
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Andrew Pace writes: “I was recently lucky enough to participate with my OCLC Membership and Research Division colleagues in DeEtta Jones & Associates’ Cultural Competency Training. DeEtta taught me that I must unlearn many of the things that we’ve been taught for decades—like denying cultural differences or not talking about race. She taught me that if being marginalized at work doesn’t feel good, then I should imagine being a diverse workforce member on top of that feeling.”...
Hectic Pace, July 20
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Romeo Rosales Jr. writes: “Podcasting is an effective way for many groups, organizations, and individuals to relay their message to thousands of listeners. Public libraries have jumped on this trend and are reaching out to their communities via this platform. Podcasting offers a unique experience to patrons that traditional promotional methods do not. Program flyers and social networking have worked effectively for libraries; however, promoting by way of podcast has been gaining traction. It’s also a more personal experience for listeners.”...
Public Libraries Online, July 18
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Andrew Liptak writes: “If you like classic science fiction, one of the genre’s best magazines can now be found online for free. The Internet Archive is now home to a collection of Galaxy Science Fiction, which published some of the genre’s best works, such as an early version of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Alfred Bester’s The Demolished Man. The collection contains 355 separate issues, ranging from 1950 through 1976.” The Internet Archive also has a complete run of Hugo Gernsback’s Amazing Stories....
The Verge, July 14; Open Culture, July 19
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