Author Archive: Kevin Maher

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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Justin Krajeski writes: “After putting in more than 100 hours of research and testing 21 laptops over the past two years, we found that the Dell XPS 13 (9360) is still the best Windows ultrabook for most people because of its small size, eight hours of battery life, and powerful performance. Plus, it has a great keyboard and trackpad, a vibrant display, and a variety of new and legacy ports.”

Wirecutter, Feb. 21
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Feliza Casano writes: “Young adult fantasy titles hit the right balance between adventurous escapism and handling difficult topics in a way younger readers can relate to, and each year brings exciting new titles to the genre. With a mix of sequels, standalones, and series conclusions on schedule, 2019 is shaping up to be a pretty fantastic year. Here are some of the most anticipated YA fantasy titles coming out this year.”

Brightly, Feb. 5
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Sasha Moss writes: “The US Office of Technology Assessment, which wrote objective analysis on complex technology issues, was disbanded in 1995. Unlike the Congressional Research Service, which provides objective policy and legal analysis on a wide range of topics, the OTA was tasked with authoring long-form academic reports on technology issues, which could take years to complete. And because the committee hearing schedule is often influenced by popular topics of the day, the OTA simply could not keep up. But what made the OTA unique was that it focused solely on technology policy.”

Roll Call, Feb. 22
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Meredith Steiner writes: “Inspired by Brooklyn (N.Y.) Public Library’s innovative idea, libraries all over the country are hosting Big Play Dates and growing community, providing big fun, supporting parental learning, and strengthening the brains of our youngest patrons in the process. Here at San Francisco Public Library, we host what we call ‘The Big San Francisco Play Date’ at each of our 28 locations plus the bookmobile at least once per year. We will be hosting our 6th year of Big Plays Dates in 2019. Many of our libraries host them in April, the month of the young child, but each branch chooses what works best for them.”

ALSC Blog, Feb. 22
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Adam Clark Estes writes: “Smartphones have been boring for years. They’re just glass rectangles that connect to the internet and take photos. When you rub on the screen, you can do other stuff like text your friends or play music. New smartphones are increasingly bigger and slicker than their predecessors, but really, they all do the same stuff. This year is supposed to bring us something different. This year, phones are getting weird again. Samsung kicked it off on February 20 with the launch of the Galaxy Fold, a Frankenstein’s monster sort of device that resembles a chunky smartphone at first but then opens up to become a small tablet.”

Gizmodo, Feb. 21
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ALCTS has named Stephen Bosch, materials, budget, procurement, and licensing librarian at the University of Arizona, as the 2019 recipient of its Ross Atkinson Lifetime Achievement Award. Bosch was cited for his pioneering work on evidence-based collection decisions, particularly for demand-driven monographs. The citation and monetary award, sponsored by EBSCO Information Services, will be presented at the ALCTS Awards Ceremony on June 22 at ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.

ALCTS, Feb. 21
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The ALCTS Preservation and Reformatting Section has selected Paula De Stefano, head of preservation at New York University, for its 2019 Paul Banks and Carolyn Harris Preservation Award. Sponsored by Preservation Technologies, the award consists of $1,500 and a citation. De Stefano was cited for her early implementation of digital preservation for audiovisual collection materials and her advocacy for the preservation of time-based media.

ALCTS, Feb. 21

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