Youngsters learn how to navigate a sewing machine courtesy of the Cleveland Public Library’s Lorain branch “Sew Lorain Kids” program. Debuting this past fall, the low-tech drop-in maker class has students producing finger puppets, lunch napkins, and hand warmers. At the suggestion of one boy in the program, kids are also experimenting with upcycling older … Continue reading Keeping Kids in Stitches
This phase of the industry offers many choices, including both proprietary and open source license options, some based on cloud technologies and others that continue to rely on local hardware. Though a new generation of library services platforms has entered a phase of early adoption, the integrated library system remains viable, especially when extended to … Continue reading Library Systems Report 2014
I know you’re not supposed to ask this of writers, but how’s the current book going? Slowly! It’s never good for me to stop and start, and with this book I’ve had to do that several times. Two years off to write and produce the Tiger Eyes movie. Months away from it for other reasons. But … Continue reading Newsmaker: Judy Blume
The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has announced a new partnership with public libraries to help them become a trusted source for unbiased financial education information and resources in their communities. “Libraries already play an important role in communities across the United States,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said at an April 7 press conference … Continue reading Public Libraries to Take Center Stage in Financial Literacy
These are the American Library Association’s Emerging Leaders of 2014. Initiated in 1997 as a one-year program under former ALA President Mary R. Somerville and revived in 2006 under former ALA President Leslie Burger, the Emerging Leaders program recognizes the best and brightest new leaders in our industry. It’s open to librarians under 35 years … Continue reading Emerging Leaders
Last August, 40 librarians gathered at the Eaglewood Resort and Spa in Itasca, Illinois, to participate in the first ALA Leadership Institute. Facilitated by ALA past-president Maureen Sullivan and Association of College and Research Libraries content strategist Kathryn Deiss, the group learned about models of leadership and group dynamics, and shared ideas and research. They … Continue reading ALA Leadership Institute Participants Continue to Benefit
This native of New York State’s burned-over district never could stop thinking about the number 10. As an adolescent, Dewey fell hard for the metric system, whose “great superiority,” as he wrote in a high school essay, “over all others consists in the fact that all its scales are purely decimal.” Considering 10 a magic … Continue reading Melvil Dewey, Compulsive Innovator
You might have missed it, but a passage in author Christopher Hitchens’s 2010 memoir, Hitch-22, triggered a happy buzz among library bloggers at the time, and it can still judder the heart of library lovers. These days any good word about libraries is cheering, and Hitchens exalted the word library itself. He wrote, “The lexicographer … Continue reading Library: The Most Beautiful Word?
Maggie Farrell maggiefarrell.com As I neared completion of my library science degree, a professor of mine, Ed Miller, encouraged my class to join the American Library Association. He spoke about the importance of ALA in advancing our professional values of intellectual freedom, privacy, and inclusion. As a member, I have benefited from ALA’s strong advocacy … Continue reading Meet the 2014 Candidates for ALA President
A superior way to innovate is to gather a varied mix of people to think about problems and solutions in much the same way that variety enhances a species gene pool. But getting everyone from frontline staff up to administrators on board and actively innovating is time-consuming and could disrupt the daily functions of a … Continue reading The Constant Innovator
The variety of costumes on display weren’t limited to Cats in Hats. Tuscaloosa (Ala.) Public Library saw Horton from Horton Hears a Who, thanks to members of the Tuscaloosa Children’s Theatre Seussical cast. Activities around the country included a wide variety of children’s crafts, such as a pipe cleaner sculpture created by Bozeman (Mont.) Public … Continue reading Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss
Steve Leggett, program coordinator of the National Film Preservation Board at the Library of Congress (LC), laughs as he retells this Hollywood urban legend. Nevertheless the story contains truth. Scores of films were destroyed during cinema’s early years by studios that viewed silents as obsolete. These silent classics were not seen as works of art … Continue reading Saving Our Celluloid Past
