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May 21, 2018 120 × 165 An Overdue Discussion

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15h

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, a bestselling children’s book featuring 100 stories of prominent women, was published in Russia this year—but with one story missing. The story about Coy Mathis, an 11-year-old transgender girl from the US who won a 2013 lawsuit against her school to allow her to use the girl’s bathroom, was omitted. The Russian publisher, Bombora, excised the story due to a 2013 ban on spreading “propaganda for non-traditional sexual relations” to minors. Under the current laws, publishers can either remove LGBT content from books aimed at children and teenagers, or mark them as appropriate for audiences over 18.

Thomson Reuters Foundation News, Nov. 6
15h

3D printing is the way of the future, and in some cases it can even save lives. Northern Arizona University uses the technology to help injured animals. When Daisy, a 75-pound tortoise, was left with two holes in her shell after being hit by a car, doctors at Canyon Pet Hospital teamed up with the Maker Lab at Cline Library to print implants for Daisy’s shell with its 3D printer. Kathleen Schmand, library director of development and communication, said she never imagined the lab being used for something like this, but now that it has and it’s been this successful, she knows they will be able to help other injured animals.

KSAZ-TV, Phoenix, Ariz., Nov. 12
19h

Roger C. Schonfeld writes: “The Digital Public Library of America last week laid off six members of its small staff. Over the weekend, DPLA Executive Director John Bracken, in a talk at the LITA Forum, provided an overview of DPLA’s vision, which appears to include a change in strategic direction. The organization now appears to be pivoting more towards ebook distribution systems. It is also clearly facing some difficulties right now. As is often the case with an organization in the process of a substantial redirection, there is too little information for outsiders to offer a conclusive interpretation of events.”

The Scholarly Kitchen, Nov. 13
20h

Meredith Farkas writes: “A core value of librarianship is open and equal access to the library for all members of our communities. User experience research has taught us that access means more than just letting anyone into our spaces; it requires creating spaces that make people feel like they belong. Another core value is intellectual freedom, and we have a long and proud history of supporting it in the face of censorship. But what if a perspective repudiates the dignity and worth of a group of our patrons? What if a hate group discusses that perspective in your library’s meeting room?”

American Libraries column, Nov./Dec.
20h

When a university cuts majors, programs, or even an entire school, what happens to its library? The obvious answer: Nothing good. As universities across the country trim offerings in hopes of addressing budget deficits, academic libraries must attempt to maintain services, even as it becomes more and more difficult to fulfill their missions. The University of Wisconsin–Superior, which has a reported budget deficit of $2.5 million, has suspended 40 programs, including the library science minor, since 2014. The library budget has seen large cuts as well.

American Libraries Trend, Nov./Dec.
21h

Doug Johnson writes: “A recent conversation about favorite books we owned as a kid led me to purchase copies of Alfred Hitchcock’s Haunted Houseful and Ghostly Gallery short story collections. I’m not quite sure when or why I stopped being a regular reader of short works of fiction. If memory serves, I enjoyed the assigned stories in my English classes as a student and I loved teaching the short story as an English teacher. Authors tend to be more careful when writing in the shorter form. Each word needs to count. Characters are concisely developed, scenery is selective, plots tend to stay on course. The work feels more crafted.”

The Blue Skunk Blog, Nov. 13
21h

David Lee King writes: “Okay, my boss isn’t really a robot. But as smart machines, artificial intelligence, and big data continue to grow and mature, it’s very possible that some performance-based jobs will be measured by a machine instead of a human. Hence—a robo-boss. I know, that sounds sorta weird. But guess what? Some people already have robot bosses. Here are some examples.”

David Lee King, Nov. 13

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