Author Archive: Kevin Maher

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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Linda Besner writes: “Researchers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf have ranked Canada as having the best public library systems among 30 major cities studied. (All three Canadian cities included—Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver—came in the top 10.) Readings and events at the 575-seat theater at the Toronto Reference Library are free, and you’d be well advised to book your ticket early: a recent appearance by Roxane Gay sold out in 88 seconds. Sensibly, the researchers also rated the libraries on the availability of snacks.”

The Guardian (UK), June 15
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A new book by Travis McDade, curator of law rare books at the University of Illinois law school, tells the story of the theft of valuable antique illustrations and the destruction of rare books from academic libraries across the US. Torn from Their Bindings: A Story of Art, Science, and the Pillaging of American University Libraries, published by the University Press of Kansas, describes Robert Kindred’s spree of cutting prints from academic libraries across the country during the summer of 1980.

Illinois News Bureau, June 18
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Terry Hong writes: “With all the fear, uncertainty, and difficulties that adult refugees face, a young child’s experience is likely to be exponentially more challenging. In encouraging understanding and empathy—especially in schools and other kid-centric institutions—books can be especially useful as validation for the refugee child in seeing her/ him/ themselves reflected in the pages, and as portals for their new classmates and friends to learn more about the refugee experience. Here are some recommendations.”

The Booklist Reader, June 18
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Kevin Smith writes: “The simple fact is that publisher bundling deals are larded with what, from the point of view of usage, is simply junk—obscure titles that can only be sold by tying them to more desirable resources. At my institution, over 30% of the titles in our journal package from Wiley are zero-use, but it is still less expensive to buy the package than to subscribe only to the titles that would get substantial use. This practice is highly coercive, and the impact on peer review is inevitable.”

IO: In the Open, June 16
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Michael D. Higgins, president of Ireland, met his Latvian counterpart Raimonds Vejonis in Riga on June 18 as he began a state visit to Latvia on the centenary of its independence. During a visit to the National Library of Latvia, Higgins donated some history books, including a copy of the newly published four-volume Cambridge History of Ireland saying, “In doing so I am sharing our long and sometimes difficult battle for independence and the experience of our diasporic people, their trials and tribulations.”

RTE, June 18
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The ALA Office of Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services has selected the recipients of its 2018–2019 Diversity Research Grant. This grant financially assists researchers in completing a project that is closely tied to equity, diversity, or inclusion in the LIS field. The recipients of this one-time $2,500 grant are Anthony Bernier (San José State University), Julie Marie Frye and Maria Hassler-Barker, and Stephanie Toliver and Mariah Parker (University of Georgia).

Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services, June 18
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Every Carnival season brings with it some type of party ephemera—admit cards, beads, crowns, doubloons, duke badges—and New Orleans Public Library is there to catalog it. “The invitations are definitely one of the highlights,” notes Christina Bryant, department head of the library’s Louisiana Division/City Archives and Special Collections. “They are each a miniature work of art and sometimes engineering,” she says of the elaborately paneled and intricately drawn creations.

American Libraries Bookend, June

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