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For daily ALA and library news, check the American Libraries website or subscribe to our RSS feed.
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Amy Carlton writes: “More than 90 librarians were invited to Washington, D.C., for a two-day fly-in of strategic training and meetings with members of Congress on February 25–26. The event is part of the ALA’s new approach to year-round advocacy that is designed to engage lawmakers at different points throughout the appropriations process. Participants were invited based on their congressional districts. The day’s keynote was given by Mignon L. Clyburn (right), former commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission who now serves as a fellow at the Open Society Foundations, and livestreamed on Facebook.”...
AL: The Scoop, Feb. 26 |
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ALA is gearing up for its upcoming election. Polls will open at 9 a.m. Central time on March 11 and will close at 11:59 p.m. Central time on April 3. On February 21, ALA members began receiving notification by email confirming their eligibility to vote. To be eligible to vote, individuals must be members in good standing as of January 31. When the polls open, the ALA will notify voters by email, providing them with information about how to vote online. Emails will be sent over a three-day period, March 11–13. This year, members will vote for the next ALA president-elect, ALA treasurer, and for 34 councilor-at-large candidates to serve a three-year term (2019–2022)....
Office of ALA Governance, Feb. 26 |
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Dian Schaffhauser writes: “The Nebraska Library Commission is using a $531,000 grant to purchase mobile maker labs and deploy them in rural communities for five months at a time. Nine public libraries have been chosen to host what are being called ‘Library Innovation Studios.’ These join 18 other libraries that were previously selected for the same program in 2017. The Studios project provides a rotating set of makerspaces that contain creative tools like 3D printers, laser cutters, and film and photography equipment. The project uses makerspaces hosted by the public libraries to offer participatory learning experiences to local residents.”...
Campus Technology, Feb. 21 |
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ALSC has selected its 2019 list of Notable Children’s Books. The list of titles, published in the previous year, includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and picture books of special interest, quality, creativity, and value to children 14 years of age and younger. For an annotated 2019 list and past Notable Children’s Books lists, visit the ALSC website. More information about all children’s notable media lists is available online....
ALSC, Feb. 25 |
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School librarians, who are required to teach in a classroom for two years, would be excluded from state legislation offering a $5,000 pay raise to all Texas teachers. Senate Bill 3 would allocate $3.7 billion over two years to boost pay for classroom teachers but not other education employees such as bus drivers, counselors, or librarians. The legislation, touted as a way to better retain teachers and recognize them for the importance of their jobs, is a priority for Senate GOP leaders, amid a renewed focus among lawmakers in both chambers and both parties on improving public education. Librarians—4,600 of them statewide—say they’ve been forgotten....
Austin (Tex.) American-Statesman, Feb. 22 |
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A South Carolina state representative got into a heated debate with committee members after suggesting that libraries that allow events such as the Drag Queen Story Hour should be penalized for holding non-age-appropriate events. Rep. Garry Smith (R-Greenville, left) proposed to the House Ways and Means Committee an amendment stating that if libraries fail to comply with making determinations about what events are age-appropriate, they would have to return their funding and have it deposited in a general fund. Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter (D-Orangeburg) pressed Smith on who should determine what age-appropriateness is....
WYFF-TV, Greenville, S.C., Feb. 22 |
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At the University of Chicago, the disciplines come together at the Media Arts, Data, and Design Center, creating a new collaborative space for experimentation, discovery, and impact. The MADD Center will support work by faculty, other academic appointees, students, staff, and community partners through cutting-edge technologies. The 20,000-square-foot center in the John Crerar Library opened February 25. It hosts five resource labs: an expanded Computer Science Instructional Lab, a Hack Arts Lab, a new Weston Game Lab, a Research Computing Center Visualization Lab, and the library’s new GIS Hub, enabling geospatial research and learning activities....
University of Chicago News, Feb. 25 |
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“For anyone who may be interested in what the Green Book actually was, here is a link to more information about this act of resistance and source of love and survival for many African Americans. It started with Victor Hugo Green,” film director Ava DuVernay tweeted. While the film Green Book was receiving Oscars, Ava DuVernay’s tweet spotlighted the man behind Green Books, Victor Hugo Green. For those interested in Green’s work and the history of Green Books, the Schomburg Center’s collection of Green Books can be explored digitally. Patty Wetli also dug into the legacy of Green Book sites in Chicago’s Bronzeville....
New York Public Library blogs, Feb. 25; Block Club Chicago, Feb. 19 |
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Gwen Glazer writes: “We’re obsessed with Black Panther. The film—the first with a black superhero, a black director, and a mostly black cast—is being hailed as nothing short of revolutionary [and now it has won three Oscars]. So, we’ve come up with some book selections for every kind of Black Panther fan, from the movie-goers who’ve never read the comics to the long-time completists. Whether you just saw the movie or think you’ve read every comic in the series, we think we have a suggestion for you.”...
New York Public Library blogs, Feb. 15, 2018; New York Times Magazine, Feb. 12, 2018 |
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Sascha Segan writes: “After using it, I can tell you that Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 is the most amazing thing at Mobile World Congress 2019. The new augmented-reality headset busts through the limitations of the first-gen HoloLens and brings virtual objects into the real world in a compelling, easy way. The difference in experience between the two models is massive. Spatial is an amazing app that lets you collaborate with coworkers’ avatars in virtual rooms. You can throw PowerPoints on the walls and work on 3D models together. A wider field of view means you can actually see enough of what’s going on to be able to work, and the much lighter headset is easier on the neck.”...
PC Magazine, Feb. 24, 26; Aug. 22, 2016 |
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Jeffrey L. Wilson writes: “Let’s get one important fact out of the way before we dive into the deep end of the pool: This is not a historical examination of the most groundbreaking PC games. This an ever-expanding collection of entertaining titles you should buy if you own a gaming desktop or gaming laptop. To clarify, games don’t need to have been released within the calendar year to qualify for this roundup. Any game that is available and still considered excellent when ranked against today’s best is eligible. We think that’s the most useful approach to helping you decide which video games deserve space on your PC’s hard drive.”...
PC Magazine, Feb. 25 |
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The fight against malicious software attacks rests on an important assumption—that suitably powerful and well-designed software can guarantee the security of any information. Indeed, vast cybersecurity businesses are based on this idea. But Ross McIlroy and colleagues at Google say this assumption is dangerously wrong. Their work focuses on a new generation of attacks that have forced them to reconsider the nature of cybersecurity and how it works. The new attacks, known as Spectre and Meltdown, have been studied since early 2018. But their broader significance is only now becoming clear....
MIT Technology Review, Feb. 25 |
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