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At the 2018 ALA Midwinter Meeting, ALA Council adopted the statement “Net Neutrality: An Intellectual Freedom Issue.” Written by the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee, the document affirms that net neutrality is essential to the promotion and practice of intellectual freedom and the free exercise of democracy. Federal protection for net neutrality will officially end on April 23. The FCC’s new regulations abandon rules against blocking, throttling, or otherwise discriminating against lawful content. Five governors have issued executive orders banning state agencies from doing business with broadband providers that don’t promise to protect net neutrality, and at least 26 state legislatures are considering net neutrality rules as well....
ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, Feb. 22; Wired, Feb. 22; Free Press, Feb. 14 |
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Sue Halpern writes: “Among the disappeared in Donald Trump’s FY 2019 budget was the dissolution of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Take that away and virtually all federal support for public libraries disappears. While the institute doesn’t represent a massive amount of money—by one accounting, its $230 million was 0.006% of the federal budget in 2016—it has been crucial for sustaining libraries, especially those in struggling urban neighborhoods and rural areas.”...
The Nation, Mar. 19–26 issue; Institute of Museum and Library Services, Feb. 12 |
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The IFLA Professional Units have issued calls for papers for the program for the 2018 IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 24–30. They are collected on this page. The deadlines for proposals extend through March 18, depending on the unit. ALA members can use the ALA IFLA member code US-0002 to register for the meeting at the IFLA member rate....
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions |
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The York County (Pa.) Libraries are trimming hours, employee schedules, and new book purchases because of a $300,000 budget cut. The cut came in December when county commissioners diverted more resources to combat the heroin and opioid crisis that has gripped the city and county. In a recent announcement, York County Libraries President Robert F. Lambert said, “Our libraries are a lifeline, not a luxury. We need this funding restored to continue meeting the needs of York countians.”...
York (Pa.) Daily Record, Feb. 7, 11 |
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On February 20, the Cody (Wyo.) School Board voted 5–1 on a motion to remove A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone from the library. Trustee Tom Keegan was the lone no vote, saying it was a slippery slope to ban a book. Trustee Scott Weber, who referred to the book as “trashy,” said the board should be expect more parents to come forward with other library books they deem inappropriate. Powell elementary librarian Jennifer Lucas said the book may be “just what [teens] need to get through a tough time.”...
Cody (Wyo.) Enterprise, Feb. 21 |
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Some residents of Orange City, Iowa, are petitioning the public library to separate materials that deal primarily with LGBTQ themes and halt any new acquisitions without public input. Others say they support the library’s integrating these materials, even if they don’t personally endorse the content. Both sides aired their views during a packed meeting of the Orange City Public Library trustees on February 20. Nearly 20 people spoke, half supporting the inclusion of the books and nearly as many against. More than 300 people have signed a petition to either ban or label materials related to gay and transgender content....
Sioux City (Iowa) Journal, Feb. 20; Des Moines (Iowa) Register, Feb. 21 |
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![Cover of Index des livres interdits [Index of Prohibited Books], Vol. XI (1600–1966), Edited by Jesus Martinez de Bujanda, with Marcella Richter, 2002](../februaryimages/indexlibrorum.jpg "Cover of Index des livres interdits [Index of Prohibited Books], Vol. XI (1600–1966), Edited by Jesus Martinez de Bujanda, with Marcella Richter, 2002")
Robert Sarwark writes: “The Index Librorum Prohibitorum was a list of books banned for lay Roman Catholic readership. Any individual who dared read any books included on this list risked excommunication and, thus, spiritual damnation. The index was definitively compiled Church-wide starting around 1600 and semiregularly published in Latin (later in translation) by the Vatican starting in 1632 until it was decommissioned in 1966. Some notable authors on the Index included Gustave Flaubert, Edward Gibbon, Giacomo Casanova, and Galileo Galilei.”...
Intellectual Freedom Blog, Feb. 21 |
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Megan Burton writes: “No one expected a conversation about national news to spark a call to action in a small town library’s Teen Advisory Board (TAB). It all began in June 2016 in the days following the Orlando nightclub shooting. Despite the physical distance, the violence felt close to home. Our conversation sparked a paradigm shift for our group, from being narrowly focused on library programs to thinking broadly about what we could do for our community. We started planning for a Teen Town Hall every week to talk about current events.”...
YALSA Blog, Feb. 21
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Amanda Donovan writes: “Spokane (Wash.) Public Library’s Cathy Bakken discovered the book Cat Castles and the idea immediately came to her that this would make a great hands-on family program. She scheduled a first one for September 2017 through our public calendar. Staff at several branches began to save all kinds of boxes, cardboard tubes, and oatmeal canisters. Bakken created a PowerPoint presentation that supplied instructions for making the cat castles, with design tips, techniques, and ideas.”...
Programming Librarian, Feb. 15 |
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Julie Beck writes: “Some people can read a book or watch a movie once and retain the plot perfectly. But for many, the experience of consuming culture is like filling up a bathtub, soaking in it, and then watching the water run down the drain. It might leave a film in the tub, but the rest is gone. Jared Horvath, a research fellow at the University of Melbourne, says that the way people now consume information and entertainment has changed what type of memory we value—and it’s not the kind that helps you hold onto the plot of a movie you saw six months ago.”...
The Atlantic, Jan. 26 |
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The Rumpus editors write: “It’s Black History Month, and while The Rumpus celebrates writing by black artists year-round, we thought it was especially important to share a list of work written exclusively by black writers this month. We asked our editors for their favorite writing that speaks to black history, past and present. Black artists have been creating art for centuries across a broad spectrum of media and styles—this list highlights just a fraction of that work.”...
The Rumpus, Feb. 9 |
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This year is the 650th anniversary of the Austrian National Library in Vienna, which dates itself to 1368 when a gold-lettered, richly illuminated gospel book was completed for Duke Albert III. Through January 13, 2019, the library’s State Hall will display the treasures of the library: manuscripts, early prints, maps, photos, and artwork. A special highlight will be the exhibit of the month when selected items will be on display that for conservation reasons are only rarely exposed to the light of day....
Austrian National Library |
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Joan K. Lippincott writes: “Content can seem largely invisible in 21st-century academic libraries. Books and print journals are often hidden away on the unrenovated upper floors of the library building and are unseen when people enter the facility. The 1990s trends of content creation and collaborative learning led to some pervasive changes in library space configurations, but sometimes the emphasis on information got lost along the way. Here are ways libraries can show they are places that connect people with content.”...
Educause Review, Jan. 29 |
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John R. Delaney and Tom Brant write: “The monitor you’re using right now might have come bundled with your desktop PC, or maybe you bought it back when 1240-by-768 was considered high resolution. Since you spend a huge part of every day looking at it, however, it pays to be picky when picking the right screen. Price ranges vary widely, as do the quality of panels. We’ll walk you through the latest trends in display technology, as well as the specific features to look for when buying your next desktop monitor.”...
PC Magazine, Feb. 20 |
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