An excerpt from Making the Most of Your Library Career, edited by Lois Stickell and Bridgette Sanders (ALA Editions, 2014). Making your mark Many thoughts percolated in my brain the day I started a new library position. I considered the new technologies, theories, and trends that I had encountered in graduate school, in journal … Continue reading How to Make the Most of Your Library Career
With the advent of the digital revolution and the opportunities and challenges that this disruption provides, the school librarian is one of the most prepared professionals to make momentous choices on behalf of students. These choices comprise a broad range of options that include hardware, software, age appropriateness, access, pricing models, collaboration with classroom teachers … Continue reading Digital Resources in School Libraries
People were increasingly looking for digital content for their e-readers and mobile devices. And they were turning to libraries, expecting that just as they had been able to borrow print books, they would also be able to borrow ebooks. Libraries were trying to keep ahead of this trend and began allocating more of their materials … Continue reading Ebooks: Getting There … But Not There Yet
It’s been two years since the Ephrata (Pa.) Public Library began lending Roku devices—digital video players that people plug into their televisions so they can view on a larger screen digitized programming that is archived online, such as the content of PBS.org, and on other streaming platforms like Netflix. The lending program has proved wildly … Continue reading Libraries Stream toward Roku Lending
Libraries and publishers are in the business of connecting readers and authors. Bestsellers make up the majority of traffic in public libraries, but how can libraries, publishers, and others in the ecosystem team up to help readers discover the best fit for their tastes? This is the brass ring that supports a diversity of thought … Continue reading Ebook Discovery
Much attention has been paid to library lending, the availability of ebook titles that public libraries can purchase, and the business models associated with ebook acquisition. When we consider school libraries and ebooks, we discover a very different situation—greater access to the ebooks that school libraries collect, a greater variety of business models, and a … Continue reading School Library Ebook Business Models
The Pew Research Center’s Internet Project has intensively studied the changing world of public libraries for the last three years. The first stage of our research explored the growing role of ebooks, including their impact on Americans’ reading habits and library habits. Our second stage examined the full universe of library services, as well as … Continue reading A New Way of Looking at Public Library Engagement in America
You’ve been working on adapting The Giver into a movie for almost two decades. Why do you think this book has such potential as a film? Well, I was looking for a project to do with my father, Lloyd Bridges, and I wanted to make a children’s movie. So I started to look through some … Continue reading Newsmaker: Jeff Bridges
Standing in the Cecil B. DeMille Reading Room, Mehr holds one of the library’s prized possessions: director Fred Zinnemann’s shooting script for the Academy Award–winning 1953 film From Here to Eternity, filled with his handwritten production notes.
It’s been more than 40 years since ALA held its annual conference in Vegas, and many things have changed since then. But the 2014 ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition, June 26–July 1, still brings together the professional development you’ve come to expect with exciting new ideas to help propel librarianship into the future. The program … Continue reading ALA Las Vegas Annual Conference & Exhibition
Buffets, 99-cent shrimp cocktails, and cigarette smoke-choked “gourmet rooms” once defined the Vegas culinary scene. The goal: Feed gamblers quickly so they can get back to the slot machines and roulette wheels. Not anymore. The city of neon has lured some of the world’s best chefs and restaurateurs, all eager to build their brand (and … Continue reading A Taste of Las Vegas
Herbst served in the US Army from January 2001 to March 2009, including two deployments during the Iraq War. It was during this time that he developed his love of reading. Herbst would visit the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation tents (MWRs) on base when time permitted. MWRs often housed small libraries that contained books donated … Continue reading From Boots to Books
