Author Archive: Kevin Maher

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Library Advocates Deliver

By Kevin Maher | April 12, 2019

The annual campaign to gather support for the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) program began with the congressional appropriations process in March, prime time for advocates to tell members of Congress about the important library programs supported by federal funding. With the Institute of Museum and Library … Continue reading Library Advocates Deliver →

Museum and Library Services Act Stalls in House

By Kevin Maher | December 14, 2018

In closed-door meetings in November, the House and Senate negotiated a bipartisan, bicameral agreement to move MLSA (S. 3530) forward. The Senate, with the assent of the library community, accepted changes requested by the House Republican majority prior to the bill passing the Senate on December 4 by unanimous consent. In return, the House committed … Continue reading Museum and Library Services Act Stalls in House →

Subcommittee Calls for Library Funding Increases

By Kevin Maher | September 14, 2018

Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS): $2 million increase Title IV-Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act: $70 million increase National Library of Medicine: $13 million increase Career and technical education state grants: $70 million increase Adult education state grants: $25 million increase Head Start: $200 million increase Level funding was provided for … Continue reading Subcommittee Calls for Library Funding Increases →

Next Steps to Fund Libraries

By Kevin Maher | March 7, 2018

The following excerpt originally appeared March 6 on District Dispatch, the blog of the American Library Association’s Washington Office. Read the full post at District Dispatch. The White House budget proposal for FY2019 recommends the elimination of most federal library funding. Though the budget proposal is concerning, Congress has the final say over the budget. Starting today, two … Continue reading Next Steps to Fund Libraries →

Help preserve funding for the LSTA and IAL

Fight Cuts to Library Services

By Kevin Maher | March 10, 2016

While the American Library Association (ALA) is working in Washington to protect critical library funding, members of Congress respond best when they hear from their constituents. Take a few minutes to call, email, or even tweet your representative and both of your senators to request that they add their names to two letters supporting LSTA … Continue reading Fight Cuts to Library Services →

Latest Library Links

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We often forget that intellectual property rights are not ends in themselves, but instruments at the service of development, creativity, innovation, and welfare. Today, for World Intellectual Property Day 2019, IFLA presents this side of intellectual property, and how it has an impact on libraries. It is not the case that more rights mean better outcomes. Scholars have underlined on several occasions how more flexibility contributes to development, rather than stronger protection. Exceptions and limitations are key for many public interest activities. Copyright needs to be mindful of its impact on cultural heritage, research, and education.

IFLA Library Policy and Advocacy Blog, Apr. 26
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Matthew Humphries writes: “Thinking of a secure password is hard, so demanding a user change it every 60 days fills many with dread and leads to weaker security. Microsoft has realized this and decided to remove default password expiry as a security baseline feature in Windows 10. As part of its security baseline, Microsoft had stipulated a 60-day password expiration policy, but now admits that ‘periodic password expiration is a defense only against the probability that a password (or hash) will be stolen during its validity interval and will be used by an unauthorized entity. If a password is never stolen, there’s no need to expire it.’”

PC Magazine, Apr. 26
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Trustees of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on April 25 deferred a vote on changes to the library’s collection development policy. The policy will likely be voted upon at the board’s May meeting. Questions on weeding raised by residents at a public hearing in March are expected to be answered by the end of April. “The board wants to make sure that they give adequate time and attention to issues they need to think about before they vote,” Library Director Greta Southard said. The goal of the revised collection development policy is “to continue with the spirit of the policy as it’s always existed,” but seeks to clarify the language.

Fort Wayne (Ind.) Journal Gazette, Apr. 25
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Police investigators say Boyd N. Klingensmith was denied computer access at the Greensburg Hempfield (Pa.) Area Library on April 18 because of an outstanding library fine at the affiliated Penn Area Library in Harrison City. This didn’t sit well with Klingensmith, who, according to court records, said, “I hate Penn Library. I’ll have to shoot them. If I go and shoot them, will that take care of the fine?” Library staff let him use a computer, but police later showed up. Klingensmith said he had been joking, but police found an unregistered pistol in his car. Klingensmith is being held on a $10,000 bond and was charged with terroristic threats and weapons counts.

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Apr. 25
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The ACRL Rare Books and Manuscripts Section has selected six winners, three honorable mentions, and a notable citation for the 2019 Katharine Kyes Leab and Daniel J. Leab American Book Prices Current Exhibition Awards. The awards recognize in five categories outstanding printed exhibition catalogs, guides, and electronic exhibitions produced by North American and Caribbean institutions. The winning catalogs will be on display at the 2019 RBMS Conference Booksellers’ Showcase in Baltimore.

ACRL, Apr. 25
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Sally Pewhairangi writes: “When did you last describe your current project as ‘beautiful’? We know beauty when we see it right? So why not beautiful library projects? Wouldn’t you love to think back on a beautiful library project that you worked on 2, 5, or 25 years ago? I think it’s less about what projects you do, and more about how you do them—the work itself. So if you want to make your next project one that you will recall fondly in years to come, here are seven ways you can do that.”

The Library Boss, Apr. 23
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A Geneva Bible, one of 321 rare items stolen from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, has been recovered in the Netherlands. The bible was among the rare books, maps, plate books, and atlases that were discovered missing from the library’s Oliver Room. It has been closed since April 3, 2017, because it is a crime scene. A former archivist at the library and a rare book dealer are accused of stealing more than $8 million of those books. Investigators believe the scheme dates back to the 1990s. The bible, published in 1615, was traced to the American Pilgrim Museum in Leiden. It was returned to the Carnegie Library on April 25.

KDKA-TV, Pittsburgh, Apr. 25

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