Newsmaker Archives | Page 9 of 9 | American Libraries Magazine

Charles Ogletree on Race, Reading, and the Presumption of Guilt

August 20, 2010

Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law School professor and founder of Harvard Law’s Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, serves as one of several celebrity honorary co-chairs of the American Library Association’s Spectrum Presidential Initiative, an effort to raise $1 million in scholarships for minority students pursuing a master’s degreee in library and information science. … Continue reading Charles Ogletree on Race, Reading, and the Presumption of Guilt →

That Girl Loves Libraries: An Interview with Marlo Thomas

August 4, 2010

The author of five bestselling books, Marlo Thomas is most famous for her groundbreaking television comedy series That Girl and her equally pioneering recording for children Free to Be . . . You and Me. She is the winner of numerous awards, including four Emmys, a Golden Globe, a Grammy, and a Peabody, and she … Continue reading That Girl Loves Libraries: An Interview with Marlo Thomas →

The Future of Libraries: Interview with Thomas Frey

Tom W. Sloan | July 16, 2010

Without consulting a crystal ball, Thomas Frey, executive director and senior futurist at the DaVinci Institute, writes and speaks about a promising future for those libraries strongly connected to their communities and quickly adaptable to the changing world around them. Tom Sloan, executive director of the DuPage Library System in Geneva, Illinois, asked Frey to discuss … Continue reading The Future of Libraries: Interview with Thomas Frey →

Award Winning Author Katherine Paterson Is Ambassador for Children’s Reading

April 16, 2010

Katherine Paterson, two-time winner of both the National Book Award (The Great Gilly Hopkins and The Master Puppeteer) and Newbery Medal (Bridge to Terabithia and Jacob Have I loved), is the second person to be named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. She takes over for children’s author … Continue reading Award Winning Author Katherine Paterson Is Ambassador for Children’s Reading →

Nobel Prize Winner Al Gore on the Environment and the Eternal Role of Libraries

March 31, 2010

Nobel Prize and Oscar winner, former vice president and, in his own words, the man who “used to be the next president of the United States,” Al Gore delivered the Arthur Curley Memorial Lecture January 16 at the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting in Boston. His message: The environmental threat facing the planet as a … Continue reading Nobel Prize Winner Al Gore on the Environment and the Eternal Role of Libraries →

Arnold Adoff on African-American Literature and the Legacy of Virginia Hamilton

By Pamela A. Goodes | February 23, 2010

The legacy of Virginia Hamilton, described as “America’s most honored writer of children’s literature,” continues through the efforts of her husband, poet and anthologist Arnold Adoff, who spoke exclusively with American Libraries during February’s observance of Black History Month. Hamilton, who died February 19, 2002, wrote more than 40 award-winning books. Through those books, her scores … Continue reading Arnold Adoff on African-American Literature and the Legacy of Virginia Hamilton →

Author Wesley Adamczyk Documents World War II Soviet Deportation of Poles to Siberia

January 4, 2010

In 1940, author Wesley Adamczyk was deported at age 7 from his native Poland to Siberia with his family. He was among more than a million poles who were exiled, imprisoned, or enslaved at hard labor. His father was murdered by the soviets in the Katyn Massacre; his mother died of disease and starvation while … Continue reading Author Wesley Adamczyk Documents World War II Soviet Deportation of Poles to Siberia →

Newsmaker: Mohammad Abbas

December 31, 2009

American Libraries Editor in Chief Leonard Kniffel interviewed Mohammad Abbas, head of the new Library Department of the Iraqi Coucil of Representatives (ICOR, the nation's parliament in Baghdad) August 24 during the World Library and Information Congress of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions in Milan, Italy, and by e-mail in the days following. American … Continue reading Newsmaker: Mohammad Abbas →

Newsmaker: Arne Duncan

October 31, 2009

The U.S. Secretary of Education shared his views on, among other things, volunteerism, No Child Left Behind, reading readiness, and libraries, in an exclusive June 22, 2009, telephone conversation with American Libraries Editor in Chief Leonard Kniffel. Arne Duncan at the Fanwood (N.J.) Public Library for the June 22 kick-off of "United We Serve." American Libraries: … Continue reading Newsmaker: Arne Duncan →

David Weinberger

October 23, 2009

Few have been able to capture the essence of the Internet Age like David Weinberger. In 1999, he coauthored The Cluetrain Manifesto, which took a seemingly radical approach to the web as a vehicle for cultural interaction, in a time when the media focused on the web’s commercial aspects. Recently released in a 10th anniversary … Continue reading David Weinberger →

OCLC’s Andrew Pace Reveals Plans for Web-Scale Management

April 28, 2009

The executive director for networked library services at the world’s largest library consortium paints the big picture regarding OCLC’s web-platform initiative in an April 24, 2009, conversation with American Libraries Editor-in-Chief Leonard Kniffel. American Libraries: Who is the target market for this new management service? Andrew Pace: You’re talking about the web-scale management services, not … Continue reading OCLC’s Andrew Pace Reveals Plans for Web-Scale Management →

Latest Library Links

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The National Archives launched a new web-based finding aid featuring digitized historical photographs from the Bureau of Indian Affairs records in Record Group 75. For the first time, you can explore digital copies of over 18,000 photographs through an engaging and easy-to-use interactive experience: the Bureau of Indian Affairs Photographs Finding Aid.

National Archives AOTUS blog, Nov. 25
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Kelly Jensen writes: “Despite a COVID-19 positivity rate of over 15% and a stay-at-home order from Mayor Lori Lightfoot encouraging residents to ‘only leave home to go to work or school, or for essential needs such as seeking medical care, going to the grocery store or pharmacy, picking up food, or receiving deliveries,’ Chicago Public Libraries are still open for in-person browsing, reference, computer use, and more. Major library systems in other US cities, including New York Public Library (with a city-wide positivity rate of about 2%), Los Angeles Public Library (with a city-wide positivity rate around 5%), and Houston Public Library (with a city-wide positivity rate around 8%) have closed to in-person services, instead remaining available for digital access as well as grab-and-go services.”

Book Riot, Nov. 27
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Volume II of the Public Libraries Survey report, released November 30 by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, provides trend analysis of public library use, financial health, staffing, and resources. Together, Volume I and II document the varied ways in which trends in libraries are similar and different across states, location types, and the size of the populations they serve. For more information about the Public Libraries Survey, including a snapshot of rural libraries and state detail tables, please visit the IMLS website.

Institute of Museum and Library Services, Nov. 30
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Tor Haugan writes: “Subject headings usually exist outside of the realm of dinner-table banter, often confined to discussions among library folk. But in recent years, the heading “Illegal aliens” and its ilk shot to national attention. After a hard-fought (and ultimately unsuccessful) war of the words started by students at Dartmouth College, which would have changed subject headings used by libraries across the country, UC Berkeley Library saw an opportunity to act. Along with other institutions nationwide, the library has adopted alternatives to the controversial heading—a step toward greater inclusion.”

Berkeley Library News, Nov. 17
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Troy Belle, JBH Research and Reference Division at New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, writes: “Kwanzaa is one of my favorite times of the year and has been a part of my family celebrations for nearly 20 years. Our family has taken part in all types of Kwanzaa celebrations, including intimate ones at our home, private celebrations with other families, and large public community gatherings. Books have always been incorporated into our Kwanzaa celebrations as a way to reintroduce the principles. I hope you enjoy this collection of books about Kwanzaa, which includes a couple of our family favorites and options for all ages.”

NYPL Blogs, Nov. 23
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Paul Collins writes: “On November 22, 1820, the New York Evening Post ran a perfunctory book ad that was none too particular in its typesetting: ‘WILEY & HALSTED, No. 3 Wall Street, have just received SYMZONIA, or a voyage to the internal world, by capt. Adam Seaborn. Price $1.’ As literary landmarks go, it’s not quite Emerson greeting Whitman at the start of a great career. But this humble advert may herald the first American science fiction novel.”

The New Yorker, Nov. 28
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The annual publishing convention and trade show known as BookExpo, a decades-old tradition where guest speakers have ranged from Bill Clinton to Margaret Atwood, may be coming to an end. ReedPop, which has managed BookExpo for a quarter century, announced December 1 that effectively immediately it was “retiring” the event, along with the fan-based BookCon and merchandise-based UnBound.

AP News, Dec. 1

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