Take, for example, Los Angeles Public Library, which partners with the city to provide patrons access to free classes to obtain a high school diploma. Or librarians in Alaska, who have partnered with the state to use devices to identify bats in danger of extinction and help preserve the biodiversity of the region. As many … Continue reading From Local to Global
Like many parents, I worry about how to keep my videogame-obsessed child from becoming a couch potato without spending a fortune on camps. Public libraries have been a reliable ally in the war on “summer slide,” the loss of academic gains made in the previous school year. This loss tends to hit children from lower-income … Continue reading Plan Now for a STEAM-y Summer
My 1st-grade students recently prepared for a trip to the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis by analyzing photographs and films of streetcars to better understand the part they played in our city. Inspired to share their learning, students wrote about streetcars and built their own with simple tools like paper, scissors, tape, and … Continue reading The Power of Primary Sources
I tell them that I believe that digital citizenship falls naturally under the domain of librarians, as we place high value on using and creating information ethically. In schools, we have a curriculum that teaches students the concepts of citizenship, community, and social justice through varied disciplines. And in the school library, these ideals come together. … Continue reading Shaping Digital Citizens
Budget-friendly VR and AR devices are available that can reach a broad spectrum of library users. One option launched in 2014 is still useful: Google Cardboard. Using a combination smartphone and simple viewer, the Cardboard headset allows patrons to experience a multitude of low-level VR applications. While not comprehensive, it does offer a taste of … Continue reading Virtual and Augmented Reality
EverBlock EverBlock took the typical plastic brick toy and made it larger—almost the size of a cinderblock. The bricks fit together with lugs and can be used to build modular furniture, walls, and even small buildings. As a free-play tool, the possibilities are vast, limited mostly by the size of the play space and number … Continue reading Ready, Steady, Build!
In Six Issues Facing Libraries Today: Critical Perspectives, John M. Budd calls these issues persistent and thorny—and they are. The first topic addressed is information: what it is and what it is not. Budd explores the criteria used to evaluate statements and suggests further avenues for considering the theory of information. Next is information literacy, an … Continue reading Future Strategies
Change takes commitment, courage, and effort. By collaborating, we can take action to ensure that libraries receive the support needed to continue serving communities at academic, public, school, special, and all other types of libraries. The voices of our big ALA team of more than 58,000 members and advocates from across the globe make us … Continue reading Libraries = Strong Communities
Carvey When Inventables launched Carvey in 2015, it was one of the first fully enclosed desktop computer numerical control (CNC) carvers, solving a problem many other subtractive manufacturing machines posed: They were large, noisy, and produced a lot of dust. Billed as a “3D carver,” Carvey works within many of the same design principles of … Continue reading Make It 3D
I’ve thought a lot about this disconnect and realized that, at least in part, library staffers continue to stay inside because of systemic barriers. What are some of these barriers? Job descriptions. Think about how your work is defined. Do your responsibilities include regularly going outside of the building to build relationships with teens and … Continue reading Organizational Barriers
Some examples of cloud backup services are Backblaze, iDrive, Carbonite, and SpiderOak One. They are designed to routinely back up all your computer files to an encrypted remote location, with easy ways to restore them in case your computer is lost, stolen, has a virus, or is otherwise destroyed. They usually provide a way to … Continue reading Data Security
Yet these revelations and incidents lead to troublesome, difficult questions: What should we do about the books these authors have written? Do we remove them from circulation or pledge to no longer purchase them? Do we keep them on the shelves as if nothing has changed? Do we owe something to our patrons, our colleagues, … Continue reading How Should Libraries Respond to #MeToo?
