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When you sign up for the Libraries Transform campaign, you’ll gain instant access to free marketing and advocacy information, ideas, and graphics for showcasing the value of libraries—including ALA’s new easy-to-edit Because statement templates. As a special National Library Week offer, anyone who registers for the campaign in April will be entered to win one of 10 Libraries Transform swag packages from the ALA Store; each package will include a Because statement banner, a set of window clings, several bookmarks, and more ($100 approximate value). Meanwhile, here is a step-by-step guide for writing the perfect Because statement to suit your public awareness and advocacy goals....
Public Awareness Office, Apr. 6 |
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Greg Landgraf writes: “April Fools’ Day coincided with Easter for the first time since 1956. That didn’t put a damper on the April Foolishness at many libraries—instead, it simply egged on many jokesters. Here are some of our favorite pranks from this year.”...
AL: The Scoop, Apr. 5 |
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Is your library preparing to observe Choose Privacy Week 2018? Join Erin Berman and Julie Oborny of the San José (Calif.) Public Library for a free webinar on April 16 that outlines the first steps libraries can take to implement up-to-date privacy policies and procedures. The webinar “A Practical Guide to Privacy Audits” will include a discussion about why healthy privacy practices are more critical for libraries than ever before and offers a step-by-step guide for starting a privacy audit at your library. Register online....
Office for Intellectual Freedom, Mar. 13 |
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Larra Clark writes: “In the warp speed of politics, 2020 can seem light years away. But current policy discussions and outreach planning for the United States 2020 Census could have significant impacts for libraries. ALA is working to ensure that libraries are informed and represented in the process. To best position libraries to support our communities in the 2020 Census, ALA has begun engaging with the Census Bureau and other stakeholders, including the Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights.”...
District Dispatch, Apr. 4 |
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Laura Schulte-Cooper writes: “With National Library Legislative Day (May 7–8) just about a month away, this seems an appropriate time to remind everyone about Everyday Advocacy (EA). According to ALSC’s EA website, Everyday Advocacy is ‘a grassroots effort that starts with you and the incredible things you’re already doing for the youth and families you serve.’ Consider Everyday Advocacy an antidote to the advocacy intimidation factor. Here is a sampling of what you will find on the website.”...
ALSC Blog, Apr. 5 |
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At least three Vermont libraries have discovered white nationalist propaganda on slips of paper tucked into books on their shelves, according to emailed responses to a warning sent to institutions across the state. Among those targeted was Southern Vermont College, where library personnel discovered material placed in the literature section of the Karen Gross Library. In reporting a similar incident, Middlebury College noted that materials were also discovered at Saratoga Springs (N.Y.) Public Library....
VTDigger, Apr. 5 |
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Natasha Frost writes: “Georgia Grainger had only been working at Charleston Community Library near Dundee, Scotland, for six weeks when she uncovered a mystery. One library user, an older woman, approached her with a question and an open book. ‘Why does page 7 in all the books I take out have the 7 underlined in pen?’ she asked. ‘It seems odd.’ Most books didn’t have it, but many in a similar genre did: ‘wee old women’ books—romances set in wartime Britain that are particularly popular with older patrons at the library.”...
Atlas Obscura, Apr. 5; Mental Floss, Apr. 5 |
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Two research articles suggest that musical training has enduring benefits for lifelong learning, extending beyond the cultivation of talent, taste, and even therapeutic applications. One article in Neuron reports that “musical training has the capacity to foster the development of nonmusical skills across a host of domains, including language development, attention, visuo-spatial perception, and executive function.” It also notes that “a better understanding of musical creativity could be helpful in recognizing and promoting creativity in other domains.” Another study found changes in cognition among primary-school students in the Netherlands who had music lessons....
National Endowment for the Arts: Art Works Blog, Apr. 5; Neuron, Mar. 21; Frontiers in Neuroscience, Feb. 28 |
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Nick Douglas writes: “Some people can dig up great music like magic, or have friends inside the industry who keep them updated. Some people are contented with their weekly Spotify Discover playlist. But if you need more ways to find music, here are 51 ideas, taken from Twitter users, my colleagues at Lifehacker’s publisher Gizmodo Media Group, and some of my own habits. Some are obvious, some bizarre, some embarrassing, but they’ve all helped people find their new favorite song, or even their favorite band.”...
Lifehacker, Apr. 4 |
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“What skills or abilities do you think are necessary to successfully run public programs at libraries?” More than 1,200 library professionals from all around the US and from all types of libraries weighed in on this question last fall as part of ALA’s National Impact of Library Public Programs Assessment research. As we read their responses, we found nine categories of skills that came up time and again....
ALA Public Programs Office, Apr. 2
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Colin Marshall writes: “Before we kept up with culture through the internet, we kept up with culture through magazines. That may at first strike those of us over 30 as trivial and those half a generation down as irrelevant, but now, thanks to the Internet Archive, we can all easily experience the depth and breadth of the magazine era as something more than an abstraction or an increasingly distant memory. The Magazine Rack is a downloadable collection of over 34,000 digitized magazines and other monthly publications.”...
Open Culture, Apr. 5 |
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Ryan Dube writes: “Why is my computer so slow? This is the single most common complaint among computer users across the world. Some techies call it ‘bit rot.’ Whatever you call it, it’s annoying and it destroys productivity. Unfortunately, the root cause of the problem isn’t the computer. It’s probably you. The way you use your computer can either prolong the life and performance of your computer, or it can contribute to the slowdown problem. Here are six reasons why your computer might be slow.”...
MakeUseOf, Apr. 3 |
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