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Since its emergence in New York City in the late 1970s, hip-hop has grown to become a musical, cultural, and economic force around the world. And it’s been embraced by libraries, which are using the art form for community outreach, teaching, preservation, and more. In Episode 64, Call Number with American Libraries looks at libraries and hip-hop....
AL: The Scoop, July 19
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ALA Executive Director Tracie D. Hall writes: “Author Anne Lamott reminds us of the order in which effective change-making must come: ‘First find a path, and a little light to see by. Then push up your sleeves and start helping.’ As someone innately attracted to meaningful, people- and community-centered work and galvanized by opportunities to help and to serve, I sometimes have to be reminded how essential it is that I take time to nurture the fire that lights the way. When library leaders and stewards allow our light to dim, the path forward becomes harder to discern and serves no one.”...
American Libraries column, Jul./Aug.
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Phil Morehart writes: “Five libraries earned this year’s ALA Presidential Citation for Innovative International Library Projects. The winning projects include programs that offered online academic aid and games to college students during the pandemic; examined the significance of historic lighthouses and maritime history; established lifelines to senior citizens; and provided digital literacy kits to help combat social isolation.”...
American Libraries feature, Jul./Aug.
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James Hennelly writes: “If you have paid any attention to cataloging matters over the past three years, you might have heard rumblings about something called the 3R Project, which is having a large impact on RDA cataloging. Among the 3R Project’s goals was optimization of RDA for international use and in linked-data environments. The emphasis on these two areas is based on a vision for future cataloging that will require greater sharing of metadata for more efficient creation of records but still allow for local practices to better meet the needs of library users. In short, the post-3R RDA is for those who want to catalog locally but share globally.”...
American Libraries feature, Jul./Aug.
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Tom Sens and Kyle Moll write: “When it comes to the use of academic libraries, it is imperative for stakeholders to understand how and why students use that space and what their expectations are. Ask Your Target Market, an independent online research firm, collected input from 500 students from across the country over a two-week period in October 2020. The top five areas where students spent their time in the library were: quiet study space (58.6%), computer lab (37.8%), reading room (35%), café (33.8%), and group study space (32.2%).”...
University Business, July 15
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Since their swearing in on May 19, the new board members of Niles-Maine District Library in Illinois have wasted no time in imposing a much more conservative agenda—slashing budgets and hours, firing staff, and eliminating outreach to schools and nursing homes. In places ranging from Kootenai County, Idaho, to Anne Arundel County, Maryland, to Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, to Frisco, Texas, local efforts are under way to limit what libraries offer—especially when it comes to promoting racial equity and gender inclusivity....
Truthout, July 13
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Magician Mikayla Oz was set to perform her first show in Wyoming on July 14. She booked six shows for kids and teens at Campbell County Public Library in Gillette about a year ago and was excited to bring her family-friendly show about the magic of reading to the state. Then, last week, the library began receiving calls and emails and noticing social media posts protesting Oz’s shows after community members found out she is transgender....
Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, July 15
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The
Center for Countering Digital Hate, a UK/US nonprofit and nongovernmental organization, found that the vast majority of COVID-19 antivaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories originated from just 12 online personalities they dubbed the “disinformation dozen,” who have a combined following of 59 million people across multiple social media platforms. CCDH analyzed 812,000 Facebook posts and tweets and found 65% came from the disinformation dozen....
The Guardian (UK), July 17
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Archivist Mary Kidd writes: “Earlier this year, I read an article titled
‘Hail the Maintainers.’ The authors, writing on the rise of Silicon Valley, argue that too much value is given to innovation, rather than the labor involved in maintaining the technologies resulting from it. I drew parallels between this sort of technological maintenance labor that the authors described and the day-to-day tasks performed by library and archives workers, especially within and in support of special or research collections. Coincidentally, I read this article while involved in two projects where I developed calculator tools that can measure the impact of a single acquisition in terms of staff capacity and associated supplies, transportation, and labor costs.”...
Acid Free Magazine, Issue 13; Aeon, April 7, 2016
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A 1704 edition of the 1688 book The Faith and Practice of a Church of England Man was returned to Sheffield Cathedral in England around 300 years after it was checked out of the cathedral’s library, which itself was dispersed almost 200 years ago. The book arrived in the mail with a note from a woman in Wales explaining that her godmother had died and willed the book back to the cathedral....
Sheffield (UK) Star, July 9
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July marks Disability Pride Month, a movement that seeks to celebrate people with disabilities for who they are, as they are—no exceptions. New York Public Library rounded up several books that celebrate and elevate people with disabilities, call for disability justice, and challenge ableism through reading....
NYPL Blogs, July 2
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