Page 848 – American Libraries Magazine

American Libraries Advisory Committee Looks to 2010 and Beyond

July 17, 2009

The central concerns expressed by the American Libraries Advisory Committee, which held one of its two annual face-to-face meetings July 11 during the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, related to the magazine’s ever-changing role as a communications vehicle, a membership perk, and a revenue generator. The objective was to advise the editorial and marketing staff in matters … Continue reading American Libraries Advisory Committee Looks to 2010 and Beyond →

Coretta Scott King Awards Celebrate 40th Year

July 17, 2009

Chicago native and Black Entertainment Television Sunday Best finalist Shari Addison led a capacity crowd in “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” to begin the 40th Annual Coretta Scott King Book Awards Breakfast at the Hyatt Regency Chicago July 14. Despite the early hour, attendees were greeted by a star-studded array of inspiring thank-you speechs from … Continue reading Coretta Scott King Awards Celebrate 40th Year →

Who Owns Antiquity?

July 17, 2009

James Cuno Do antiquities still belong in museums located far in time and space from the makers of the artifacts they house? Or do they belong to the government that happens to be in control of the land where the culture once flourished? At the ALCTS President’s Program on Monday, James Cuno, president and director … Continue reading Who Owns Antiquity? →

A Stationary Parade of Bookmobiles

July 17, 2009

Bookmobiles were again on view Sunday, parked outside McCormick Place, at ALA’s third annual Parade of Bookmobiles event. Visitors could examine both the exteriors and interiors of vehicles from the Warren-Newport Public Library in Gurnee, Illinois; Kenosha (Wis.) Public Library; Aurora (Ill.) Public Library; Fossil Ridge Public Library District in Braidwood, Illinois; Fountaindale (Ill.) Public … Continue reading A Stationary Parade of Bookmobiles →

Her Stroke of Insight

July 17, 2009

Harvard-trained neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor captivated the audience Monday as she described the massive, debilitating stroke she suffered in 1996 at age 37 and her “journey into and back out of the silent abyss of the wounded brain.” On the morning it happened, she “could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of my … Continue reading Her Stroke of Insight →

Sharing Real Life with Real Kids

July 16, 2009

"God bless the [school] librarians who let me lay on my belly in the stacks and read and read and read," acclaimed YA author Laurie Halse Anderson told an electrified capacity crowd at the American Association for School Librarians' President's Program, "Literacy Leadership and Librarian Flair." Asserting that kids need school librarians more than ever, … Continue reading Sharing Real Life with Real Kids →

When Challenges Coalesce

July 16, 2009

The proximity of Chicago to southern Wisconsin gave embattled officials of the West Bend Community Memorial Library, located some 40 miles northwest of Milwaukee, a platform to offer their hard-earned insights at "Intellectual Freedom on the Front Lines: West Bend Library Supporters Share their Story." The program was cosponsored by ALA's Freedom to Read Foundation … Continue reading When Challenges Coalesce →

Coretta Scott King Awards Celebrate 40th Year

July 16, 2009

Chicago native and Black Entertainment Television Sunday Best finalist Shari Addison led a capacity crowd in "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" to begin the 40th Annual Coretta Scott King Book Awards Breakfast at the Hyatt Regency Chicago July 14. Despite the early hour, attendees were greeted by a star-studded array of inspiring thank-you speechs from … Continue reading Coretta Scott King Awards Celebrate 40th Year →

Her Stroke of Insight

July 16, 2009

Harvard-trained neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor captivated the audience Monday as she described the massive, debilitating stroke she suffered in 1996 at age 37 and her "journey into and back out of the silent abyss of the wounded brain." On the morning it happened, she "could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of my … Continue reading Her Stroke of Insight →

A Stationary Parade of Bookmobiles

July 16, 2009

Bookmobiles were again on view Sunday, parked outside McCormick Place, at ALA's third annual Parade of Bookmobiles event. Visitors could examine both the exteriors and interiors of vehicles from the Warren-Newport Public Library in Gurnee, Illinois; Kenosha (Wis.) Public Library; Aurora (Ill.) Public Library; Fossil Ridge Public Library District in Braidwood, Illinois; Fountaindale (Ill.) Public … Continue reading A Stationary Parade of Bookmobiles →

Who Owns Antiquity?

July 16, 2009

Do antiquities still belong in museums located far in time and space from the makers of the artifacts they house? Or do they belong to the government that happens to be in control of the land where the culture once flourished? At the ALCTS President's Program on Monday, James Cuno, president and director of the … Continue reading Who Owns Antiquity? →

Gregory Maguire’s Wicked Beginnings

July 16, 2009

“It’s no wonder that I grew up not merely a storyteller, but a storyteller bewitched by notions of abandoned children” explained Wicked author Gregory Maguire matter-of-factly at the first of ALA Annual’s Auditorium Speaker series for 2009. Telling how he was placed in an orphanage for a time after his mother Helen Maguire died giving birth … Continue reading Gregory Maguire’s Wicked Beginnings →

Latest Library Links

2h

Trey Walk writes: “Over the past few years, new policies and laws in Florida have stopped teachers from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity, while also repressing any honest efforts to grapple with systemic racism and slavery. [But] many people have taken a stand against these prejudiced policies, including in Florida. Their goal: to build a brighter future for the state. We hope today’s leaders fighting censorship in Florida can offer a blueprint to people across the US to further truly free and just education.”

Human Rights Watch, July 18
20h

Angela Dennis writes: “Young scholars, parents, and staff from the East Tennessee Freedom Schools program, a local summer enrichment program, marched in downtown Knoxville July 17 to protest literary censorship in public schools and libraries across the country. Recent legislation in Tennessee has fueled concerns about literary censorship. In May, Gov. Bill Lee signed into law an expansion of the Age-Appropriate Materials Act. Opponents fear the new law might exclude the perspectives of marginalized groups in educational materials. The Knox County Schools Board recently revised its library policy to align with the new state law, further fueling debate.”

Knoxville News Sentinel, July 18
24h

Daniel Pfeiffer writes: “Information literacy has become a watchword for librarians—not merely a pedagogical aim but a moral obligation in a digital and political landscape riddled with misinformation. The clear necessity of information literacy in society belies a more difficult question: Should librarians be the ones to take on the full weight of this mantle?” Pfeiffer interviewed Amber Willenborg and Robert Detmering, librarians at the University of Louisville in Kentucky and authors of a new paper examining this question through interviews with 20 academic librarians.

Choice 360 LibTech Insights, July 17
1d

Jennifer Nardine writes: “I recently finished a second master’s degree, in counseling, from Virginia Tech’s School of Education (in Blacksburg). Shortly after graduating, I was startled when a colleague asked, ‘How are you going to show that [mental health] counseling is related to your work?’ Her implication: even though I’d put in the work to earn the degree, it wouldn’t serve me when it came time to apply for promotion. My response: It’s obvious to me that education, librarianship, and counseling are related.”

ACRLog, July 18
2d

Willem Marx writes: “Sometimes it’s not about catching up on the newest news or the hottest debut. Sometimes it’s about taking a bath with a cup of tea on a Sunday morning and listening to famous writers laugh about their MFA students while going nuts about their favorite short story writers. Sometimes it’s about taking a plane across the Atlantic just to visit a bookstore and pretend it’s still 1922 and Ulysses is all the rage. The book life is about a lot of things and these podcasts cover every single one.”

Electric Literature, July 19
2d

Stephanie Buffamonte writes: “Altamonte Springs (Fla.) residents came together to save their local library. In an Altamonte Springs City Commission meeting July 18, commissioners voted to keep the city’s local library after the city previously announced it would close. The city held a special meeting to discuss the library shutting down, and residents came out in droves. Most argued to commissioners that the library should not shut down and is vital to the city.” Commissioners voted at the meeting to raise the city’s property tax rate from 3.01 mills to 4 mills.

WRBW-TV (Orlando), July 19; WESH-TV (Orlando), July 9; Orlando Sentinel, July 19
2d

ALA applauded the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s July 18 vote allowing libraries and schools to use federal E-Rate funding to purchase Wi-Fi hotspots for lending. The new policy is a keystone of FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel’s Learn Without Limits proposal, announced at ALA’s 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition, to meet increasing connectivity needs nationwide by expanding and modernizing the E-Rate program. The move comes amid concerns about the impact of recently sunset pandemic-era programs, including the Emergency Connectivity Fund, which helped more than a thousand libraries provide Wi-Fi hotspots during the past three years.

ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office, July 18

View more Latest Library Links