The October 2007 fires in southern California burned hundreds of thousands of acres and destroyed thousands of buildings, and libraries were among those threatened. Helen Fried of the Orange County Public Library and Margaret Todd of the County of Los Angeles Public Library spoke to AL Focus on October 26, as the fires were still … Continue reading After the Fire
ALA Treasurer Rod Hersberger and Marilyn Hinshaw, Chair of the Budget Analysis and Review Committee (BARC), sit down for a chat with Director of Membership Development John Chrastka. Hersberger offers a glimpse of his plans for the Treasurer’s Online Forum and talks about brining ALA financial information to the members in a timely fashion, while … Continue reading Rod Hersberger & Marilyn Hinshaw interview
This report from the Banned Books Read-Out, held September 29 in Chicago, features ALA President Loriene Roy and Judith Krug from ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom speaking on the importance of choosing your own reading material, and authors Carolyn Mackler and Chris Crutcher on how librarians “save our lives daily.”
A couple of generations ago, a catchphrase entered the American lexicon, representing growing concern about the quality of education and in particular a perceived decline in literacy. “Why Johnny Can’t Read,” from the title of 1955 book by Rudolf Flesch, became a byword for the perception of relaxed standards and concomitantly lower achievement in schools. … Continue reading Why Johnny Can’t Search
