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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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ALA President-Elect Julius C. Jefferson Jr. encourages members to volunteer to serve on ALA, council, and joint committees for the 2020–2022 term (beginning July 1, 2020). Serving on a committee provides leadership training, networking opportunities, and experience in working on specific Association topics. The online committee volunteer form opened on July 15. To volunteer, complete and submit the form electronically (select “ALA” in the drop-down menu on the main form). To be considered for the 2020–2022 term, forms must be submitted no later than September 30....
Office of ALA Governance, July 15 |
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Libraries across the country are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing this July with a variety of programs, but how many library professionals can say they’ve worked on the first archive that was sent to the moon? Paul Jones (right), professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Information and Library Science, is one of a few who worked on the Lunar Library, a 30-million-page archive in the size and shape of a DVD. Jones, who will be retiring from UNC in 2020, spoke with American Libraries on his contribution to the Lunar Library and his 40 years in information science and journalism instruction....
American Libraries: Newsmaker, July 16; American Libraries feature, July 8; NBC News: Mach, Feb. 28 |
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Shannon Connellan writes: “You’re going to be hearing a lot about the moon in the coming week, so why not crank a playlist to match? The 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing is on July 20, and to capitalize on the buzz (sorry), Spotify crunched through its catalog and found that there are more than 185,000 tracks on the music streaming platform with the word ‘moon’ in the title. To whittle it down, Spotify listed 50 of the most streamed of these tunes. NASA’s own Third Rock Radio put together a playlist of moon-inspired tunes as well, which is a little more abstract and thematic.”...
Mashable, July 15; Spotify, July 15 |
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Wallace High School in Silverton, Idaho, has banned the graphic novel series The Walking Dead and removed all copies from its library, despite the review committee’s recommendation to retain the books. The ban includes asking students not to bring the comic to school grounds and plans to change students’ access to interlibrary loans. Following a complaint, Principal Chris Lund convened a review committee to make a recommendation to the school board. The committee voted overwhelmingly to keep the series in the school library, but Superintendent Bob Ranells ignored the committee and removed the comics from the school library....
National Coalition Against Censorship, July 15; Shoshone (Idaho) News Press, June 22 |
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The ALA Intellectual Freedom Round Table has published four videos to engage nonlibrarians in the fight to protect intellectual freedom. These brief explainer videos cover the basics of intellectual freedom, censorship, and privacy for a nonlibrary audience with key definitions and everyday language. The videos were created as part of the 2019 Emerging Leaders project sponsored by IFRT and showcased at the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. These resources are for community members to share on social media and use as general advocacy tools to make sure that library ideals are upheld. The videos can also be found on YouTube....
Intellectual Freedom Round Table, July 15; OIF YouTube channel, July 12 |
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Elgin and Glencoe, Illinois, recently were welcomed into Dementia Friendly America, said Mary Ek, interim project director for the network. If you think dementia doesn’t affect your family or friends, you’re missing the big picture, said Glenna Godinsky, a staff member at Elgin’s Gail Borden Public Library, whose initiatives in the past year led to the city’s inclusion as a dementia-friendly town. A dementia-friendly advisory council in Elgin includes the library, the mayor, an elder law firm, home care providers, a state senator’s office, a hospital, the police department, and the fire department....
Arlington Heights (Ill.) Daily Herald, July 5 |
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As regional planning officials work to attract the kinds of bike share companies that have thrived in larger cities such as Boston and Providence in recent years, Fall River (Mass.) Public Library has set a plan of its own in motion. Two bikes and a bike rack have been parked in the building’s lobby for the last month, waiting for anyone with a library card and a place to go. City residents can check out each bike for a week at a time and, unlike most bike-shares, it’s free of charge. Originally donated to Government Center as part of the state’s Mass in Motion initiative, the bikes were transferred to the library this spring....
Fall River (Mass.) Herald News, July 12 |
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Elizabeth Pelayo writes: “As we close down our school libraries and think ahead to the next school year, all of us are thinking about our summer reading list. What will we bring home to read? What should we read first? How can we balance professional reading and reading for fun during summer break? All these questions call to us as school librarians and book lovers. Here are five tips to manage the large task of summer reading lists.”...
Knowledge Quest blog, July 16 |
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Jaime Eastman writes: “Access to technology is crucial to a child’s success in today’s digital world. But what about families who do not have access or families who cannot afford to purchase the latest smartphone, tablet, or tech toy? Libraries connect families of all ages, incomes, and abilities with a variety of tech experiences. We know both children and adults benefit from shared learning, so how can libraries support families in developing tech skills? One option is providing circulating tech, which gives families freedom to explore in a comfortable, nonjudgmental environment—their own homes.”...
ALSC Blog, July 13 |
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Rose Eveleth writes: “What will 2050 be like? As our existential anxiety is fueled by a burning planet, eroding privacy, and geopolitical instability, it’s a question that big companies have to take seriously. So earlier this year, the international engineering firm Arup attempted to envision what climate change might mean for their business in 30 years. To do so, they turned to Tim Maughan, who was tasked with crafting four different ‘user journeys,’ written accounts that imagined potential futures. But Maughan isn’t a scientist or an engineer. He’s the author of Infinite Detail, a dystopian novel, and his vignettes are based in fiction, not fact.”...
Wired, July 12 |
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Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe and Roger C. Schonfeld write: “The leakage of scholarly content is a major factor driving down the value of subscriptions and enabling major library and university groups to cancel their Big Deals. ResearchGate has by far the largest traffic of any of these sites and has built a growing bundle of services for those seeking access. Some publishers have responded with lawsuits, while others see an opportunity to leverage this leakage and stabilize the academic library sales channel. Springer Nature is leading in the effort to preserve library subscriptions by syndicating its content and establishing ResearchGate as the foremost service for the distribution of scholarly content.”...
The Scholarly Kitchen, Mar. 1, July 16; Ithaka S+R blog, Mar. 1 |
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Chantry Westwell writes: “Everyone loves a picture of a medieval lion. The Twitter hashtag #notalion celebrates how amusingly unrealistic they often look, frequently resembling cuddly housecats more than the king of beasts. In medieval manuscripts, lions are found not only in bestiaries but also in illuminated bibles and other religious works, and sometimes in images of St. Jerome who, believe it or not, once befriended a lion.”...
British Library: Medieval Manuscripts Blog, July 10 |
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