“Georgia’s Archives are a showcase of our state’s rich history and a source of great pride,” Deal said. In September, following the announcement of the closure, ALA President Maureen Sullivan wrote a letter to Gov. Deal, expressing her concern and dismay. Calling the Georgia State Archives a “treasure trove of unique documents and official records,” … Continue reading Georgia Archives to Stay Open
John Chrastka, ALA’s director of membership development from 2003 to 2011, didn’t leave library advocacy behind when he resigned from ALA to devote more time to his start-up consulting agency. First, he was already on the Berwyn (Ill.) Public Library board (where he has served for six years). Now, in characteristically maverick fashion, Chrastka has … Continue reading An Interview with John Chrastka
Then a phoenix arose. Across the street from the closed library, a new high school was about to be built, including an 8,000-square-foot library building. Brian Bannon, Chicago’s library commissioner, heard that the Chicago Public Schools might be interested in sharing library space and costs. The idea was intriguing, and it seemed cost-effective, too. “We … Continue reading Rocking the Joint
No librarian is an island, and nowhere was that more evident than at the 2012 ALSC National Institute held September 20–22 in Indianapolis. Hundreds of youth librarians from across the country gathered for three days of networking, sharing ideas, and learning from and teaching each other. I sat down with librarians after the very first … Continue reading Thinking Purposefully at the ALSC Institute
How would you like to tell the world that in one day more than 160,000 people visited your state’s libraries and more than 1,000 people received job-search help? Thanks to Library Snapshot Day, you can. Launched three years ago in New Jersey, the effort has expanded to include librarians nationwide in collecting statistics, customer comments, … Continue reading Library Snapshot Day Turns Three
Yet another major reason why the Forbes.com article received so much traction in the library community is that it reflects the current fears and apprehension that exist among librarians and other public service professionals. The underlying issue is that there’s a significant problem for librarianship when it comes to articulating a public benefit message. In … Continue reading Forbes Folly
This year, the American Library Association bestowed its highest honors and awards on a variety of individuals and institutions whose achievements underscore their bold vision for librarianship and their strong commitment to the profession. Selected by their colleagues and peers, the 2012 honorees highlighted in these pages represent the best of the best in ALA … Continue reading 2012 ALA Award Winners
The Institute of Museum and Library Services and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation made $100,000 grants this past November to eight libraries and four museums to plan and design their own digital learning labs where teens can hang out, mess around, and geek out. In the process, these young patrons learn to … Continue reading Geek Out
Art and books have been two big passions in my life, but I was not able to combine them professionally until after I was into my seventh decade. I enjoyed the 40-plus years I spent working in an academic library, but before I knew it, I was 68 and past due for retirement in 2004. … Continue reading Working Part-Time After Retirement
“Librarians of the future will be knowledge navigators. They will understand digital resources as well as printed books and other formats. Their services will not be restricted by physical location, either of the materials or of themselves.” That was what Deanna B. Marcum, then on the cusp of creating the Council on Library and Information … Continue reading What’s New in LIS Schools
How important? “In the last 30 years, nearly all net new jobs were created by start-ups, and they will continue to play a critical role in America’s economic future,” noted the US Department of Commerce’s chief economist Mark Doms in a March 23, 2011, post to Commerce’s Economics and Statistics Administration blog about business startups. … Continue reading How Public Libraries Are a Boon to Small Business
Karen Keninger became director of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., in March. She is the first person who is blind to direct the Braille and talking-book program. Keninger is former director of the Iowa Department for the Blind, a provider of … Continue reading An Interview with Karen Keninger
