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Carrie Russell writes: “Anyone who has ever checked out a library book or an ebook has our nation’s balanced copyright policies to thank. The first line of defense is often a library. But much of that defense would not be possible if not for a person most librarians don’t even know: Jonathan Band (right), who for nearly 20 years has represented libraries on behalf of ALA and other library associations. Band is the 2017 recipient of ALA’s L. Ray Patterson Copyright Award.”...
AL: The Scoop, Oct. 3 |
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Jessica Klymchuk (right) of Valleyview, Alberta, has been identified as one of three Canadians among the 59 people killed in the Las Vegas shooting attack on October 1 that also left more than 500 injured. She was an educational assistant, school librarian, and bus driver at St. Stephen’s School in Valleyview, 217 miles northwest of Edmonton. A single mother of four, Klymchuk was visiting Las Vegas with her fiancé....
CBC News, Oct. 2; My Grande Prairie (Alberta) Now, Oct. 2; National Post, Oct. 2 |
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“I’m just here to let you know this man is anti-Semitic and a Holocaust denier sponsored by hate groups,” Alex Budd told the group of about 35 people who came and went at the Ashland (Oreg.) Public Library on October 1 to hear author Christopher Bollyn, who travels the country selling materials he wrote blaming Jews for the 9/11 attacks. During Bollyn’s talk, Budd interrupted to speak out about the anti-Semitism. He was booed and shouted at by some in attendance and eventually asked to leave by library security.....
Ashland (Oreg.) Daily Tidings, Oct. 2 |
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Valerie Nye writes: “Why is intellectual freedom important? Beyond my role as a librarian, why do I care about free speech? The list of things that come to mind immediately are about education, exploration, growth, and finding one’s personal truth. Intellectual freedom is about being an informed voter. Intellectual freedom is about living curiously and coming up with new solutions to problems. Intellectual freedom provides our world with new technology, cures to diseases, new ways of providing food to starving communities.”...
Intellectual Freedom Blog, Oct. 2 |
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Rhonda Evans writes: “The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice was established in 1872 by Anthony Comstock. Comstock had moved to New York City in 1871 where ‘he was appalled by the flourishing traffic in what he termed pornography.’ The society was immediately successful in seizing ‘obscene materials’ and securing the arrest of anyone involved. However, those arrests rarely turned into convictions. Comstock then coauthored an anti-obscenity bill that he was able to get passed by the New York Legislature in 1873.”...
New York Public Library blogs, Sept. 25 |
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Emily Wagner writes: “In 1945, ALA announced the establishment of its Washington Office. It began operation 72 years ago on October 1. The office was charged with educating and working with legislators and public officials to obtain funding and policies that benefit libraries and public access to information. In addition, the Washington Office was—and continues to be—responsible for making official comments on proposed regulations and advocating for legislation that supports libraries and library service.”...
District Dispatch, Oct. 1 |
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International Games Day became International Games Week in 2017. This week-long event is now more flexible and supports gaming across the spectrum of libraries. This year’s event will take place October 29–November 4. This annual tradition is an initiative run by volunteers from around the world and hosted by the ALA Games and Gaming Round Table. Each year libraries are encouraged to participate by creating fun, educational, and innovative programs that promote gaming....
Games and Gaming Round Table, Oct. 2 |
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When former Selma–Dallas County (Ala.) Public Library Director Patricia Blalock (right) died six years ago at the age of 97, she had quietly demonstrated a truth—that smiles have a way of overcoming anger. A former social worker, she took the job as library director in 1963. Blalock knew a change had to be made if the pain of the past would ever be replaced with a progressive outlook. Her civil rights efforts were noted in late September by way of a posthumous induction into the Alabama Social Work Hall of Fame....
Associated Press, Oct. 2
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Lindsay McKenzie writes: “Eleven new medical schools have been accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education in the last five years, and eight more are currently under consideration. As a condition of accreditation, these new schools must provide access to ‘well-maintained library resources sufficient in breadth of holdings and technology’ to support the school’s educational mission, but it seems many medical schools are deciding that large print collections are no longer a vital component.”...
Inside Higher Ed, Oct. 3 |
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A library originally built 55 years ago at Colorado College in Colorado Springs has just completed a $45 million renovation, turning it into what college officials are calling the largest carbon-neutral, net-zero-energy academic library in the US. The school accomplished that even as it more than doubled seating in the building and expanded it by 25,000 square feet. The Tutt Library, which officially reopens in mid-October, has been undergoing its makeover since May 2016 after a year of planning....
Campus Technology, Oct. 3 |
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The Chicago Sun-Times has agreed to donate its vast collection of movie press kits and memorabilia to the Roger Ebert archives at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The material includes decades of press kits and priceless photos that cannot be sold because the rights belong to Hollywood studios. The newspaper is moving to new offices in November and will no longer be able to accommodate storage of the massive files....
Robert Feder, Oct. 2 |
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Elizabeth Fulford writes: “The Library of Congress provides many resources to support information professionals worldwide. To streamline access to that content, we’ve redesigned our portal for librarians and archivists. The new portal highlights the standard library functions of acquisitions, bibliographic access, preservation, and public service, providing an overview of these activities at LC and links to content in each area. A new banner on the opening page offers access to our most popular online catalogs.”...
Library of Congress Blog, Oct. 3
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