Page 847 | American Libraries Magazine

New Colorado Facility Becomes First Carbon-Positive Library

By Greg Landgraf | December 12, 2009

Thanks to solar panels, a geothermal heating and cooling system, and a gift of carbon-offset credits, Rangeview Library District’s new Anythink Brighton, Colorado, branch is believed to be the first carbon-positive library in the United States. The building, which opened in September, offsets 167,620 pounds of carbon dioxide—16% more than it is anticipated to use … Continue reading New Colorado Facility Becomes First Carbon-Positive Library →

Fresno Students Protest with Study-in

By Dave Tyckoson | December 11, 2009

There has been a resurgence of student activism at public universities throughout California. State budget reductions and rising student fees have resulted in students paying more and getting less. Students have occupied buildings, held marches, and been arrested at UCLA, Berkeley, and Santa Cruz. California State University at Fresno is not known as a radical … Continue reading Fresno Students Protest with Study-in →

SLA says “no” to ASKPro

December 10, 2009

SLA announced today that its members have voted in record numbers to reject the association's proposal to change its name to the Association for Strategic Knowledge Professionals (ASKPro), in a 3225 to 2071 vote. Fifty percent of eligible members voted. "The active discussions, online and in local meetings, are a testament to the passion and … Continue reading SLA says “no” to ASKPro →

Imhoff Responds to Inflammatory Lexington Library Audit Report

December 9, 2009

Embattled former Lexington (Ky.) Public Library director Kathleen Imhoff is scheduled to appear at a board meeting today and present a detailed response to a report from city auditors that accuses her of, among other things, conflict of interest in her consulting work and using her library laptop to view "adult materials" on the internet. … Continue reading Imhoff Responds to Inflammatory Lexington Library Audit Report →

State Associations Join Call for End to Patriot Act’s Library Provision

By Gordon Flagg | December 9, 2009

As the December 31 deadline for reauthorization of three provisions of the USA Patriot Act approached, more than 30 state library associations had passed resolutions calling for Congress to allow Section 215, which permits the Justice Department to conduct searches of library and bookstore records, to expire. Many state library associations also voiced opposition to … Continue reading State Associations Join Call for End to Patriot Act’s Library Provision →

Graphic-Novel Flap Fuels Recataloging of Kentucky Library’s Collection

By Beverly Goldberg | December 9, 2009

In response to concerns voiced in November to officials of the Jessamine County (Ky.) Public Library about sexually explicit drawings by illustrator Kevin O'Neill in author Alan Moore’s graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier, JCPL’s senior staff and trustees have decided to reclassify the library’s entire graphic-novel collection and reshelve the … Continue reading Graphic-Novel Flap Fuels Recataloging of Kentucky Library’s Collection →

ABLE in Afghanistan

By Carol A. Erickson | December 9, 2009

Blue-eyed octogenarian and information advocate Nancy Hatch Dupree is a rare bright spot in Afghanistan today. But the impact of her work can only be fully appreciated in its brutally unglamorous context. The 2009 Afghan presidential elections were lengthy and disappointing, highlighting the extreme levels of corruption that are endemic in this war-torn nation of … Continue reading ABLE in Afghanistan →

Imhoff Responds to Inflammatory Lexington Library Audit Report

December 9, 2009

Embattled former Lexington (Ky.) Public Library director Kathleen Imhoff is scheduled to appear at a board meeting today and present a detailed response to a report from city auditors that accuses her of, among other things, conflict of interest in her consulting work and using her library laptop to view “adult materials” on the internet. … Continue reading Imhoff Responds to Inflammatory Lexington Library Audit Report →

Rolling Out the new American Libraries website

December 7, 2009

American Libraries is rolling out a newly redesigned website, tentatively scheduled to appear January 4. The site, which is live now but still carrying the “beta” label, is at www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org. We encourage you to take a look and update your bookmarks and any links to us in your blogs and websites. The AL Online RSS … Continue reading Rolling Out the new American Libraries website →

Rolling Out the New American Libraries Website

December 7, 2009

Charleston on My Mind

Mary Ellen Quinn | December 4, 2009

I don’t usually get to attend the Charleston Conference (in fact, I’ve only been to one), so I look forward to seeing the annual Charleston Conference Proceedings. The 2008 edition showed up on my desk this past November (around the time that the 2009 Conference was taking place). The theme for 2008 was “The Best … Continue reading Charleston on My Mind →

New York City Welcomes America’s Favorite Librarians

By Leonard Kniffel | December 4, 2009

New York City welcomed the 10 winners of the 2009 I Love My Librarian Award with the lighting of the city's Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. At least the timing made it look that way, and some 750,000 extra people in the streets made it seem as if the entire city had turned out to … Continue reading New York City Welcomes America’s Favorite Librarians →

Latest Library Links

4h

Jennifer A. Keach, Jenne M. Klotz, and Galen J. Talis write: “Library leaders at all levels are well-placed to create opportunities for joy in their organizations and to model how to do so with nuance and balance. Toward that end, we explored the multidisciplinary literature and compiled an annotated bibliography for leaders who wish to support joy within groups, organizational change agents who want to create equitable conditions for joy in the workplace, and readers seeking to develop their personal practice of joy. We provide a guide exploring five themes: defining joy, finding individual joy, work and organizational joy, empowering change with joy, and joy-adjacent emotions.”

Library Leadership and Management, June 30
7h

David Vickers Loertscher and Michelle Young write: “This tutorial introduces school librarians to the use of data visualization tools for documenting and communicating their impact on teaching and learning. By leveraging accessible platforms like Google Forms and Google Sheets, the authors demonstrate how librarians can build dashboards and real-time visual reports to showcase co-teaching, instructional collaboration, and student engagement. The tutorial features real-world examples, highlights common data sources already available to librarians, and argues that dynamic visual storytelling is a powerful alternative to traditional library statistics.”

Learning Hub, June 25
9h

Robin Camille Davis writes: “It wasn’t until seven years into my career as a user experience librarian that I realized I’d been accidentally excluding a sizable segment of users from my user research. Interviews, surveys, and usability studies favor people who are gifted at oral and written communication. What about people who are more gifted at visual communication? In the context of user research, this participatory design invites participants to design their own response to a given prompt.”

Choice 360 LibTech Insights, June 30
13h

Stories from communities nationwide come to life on ALA’s new Show Up for Our Libraries interactive site map. The stories illustrate the real-life consequences of potential funding cuts to rural, research, city, state, and university library programs and, in turn, to the hundreds of millions of library users across the country. Services such as summer reading programs, telehealth resources, interlibrary loan, and ebooks have all been affected. ALA collected the stories in conversation with patrons, library professionals, and advocates across the country to better understand the impact of federal funding cuts since the President’s executive order to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office, June 25
1d

On June 27, the Supreme Court upheld the Universal Service Fund, which funds the E-Rate program. ALA issued a statement regarding the ruling that reads, in part, “The ALA applauds the Supreme Court’s 6–3 decision to uphold the Universal Service Fund. The system of telecommunications subsidies administered by the Federal Communications Commission includes the E-Rate program, which provides libraries and schools billions of dollars each year for broadband access and connectivity. More than half of all public libraries apply for funding to subsidize the cost of internet connectivity through E-Rate each year.”

AL: The Scoop, June 27
1d

On June 27, ALA announced its new executive director, Daniel J. Montgomery. ALA’s announcement read, in part, “Montgomery has worked on behalf of public education and the rights of workers for more than two decades. He was elected to a three-year term as president of the 103,000-member Illinois Federation of Teachers in October 2010 and has been unanimously reelected every three years since then. He will start at ALA on November 10. The steering committee chose Montgomery because of his commitment to public institutions, his comfort working across diverse and difficult political situations, his service to both cities and rural areas, and his experience managing a complex, member-driven organization.”
5d

Oliver Moody writes: “In the €100 million Oodi library, which looms over central Helsinki like a cruise ship from the future, robots called Tatu, Patu, and Veera trundle back and forth between the shelves and the reading rooms. Against this backdrop, foreign visitors might be surprised to see how many children and teenagers are engaged in an almost unsettlingly archaic activity: reading and borrowing books. In the age of TikTok, Netflix, and Candy Crush, it is not just Finland’s public libraries that are booming, but also demand for their physical paperbacks and hardbacks.”

The Times (London), June 20

View more Latest Library Links