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
Conventional wisdom would tell you building an all-glass library on the shore of Chicago’s Lake Michigan is probably not a good idea if your plans call for a high-performance building that is supposed to reduce energy usage. But that is exactly what Loyola University Chicago did with its four-story Richard J. Klarchek Information Commons, an … Continue reading Information Commons Reduces Energy Consumption
Librarians and their supporters spoke loudly and clearly about the value of libraries during the American Library Association’s 2010 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., June 24–29. On Library Advocacy Day, June 29, some 2,000 librarians and library supporters registered for a rally at Upper Senate Park, according to Emily Sheketoff, executive director of ALA’s Washington … Continue reading Librarians Head for the Hill to Rally for Reading
Early in July 1982, Larry Walters tied more than 40 weather balloons to his lawn chair and rose 16,000 feet above the smog over Los Angeles. Spotted by various aircraft, he descended by shooting the balloons with a BB gun, eventually drifting some 20 miles. He ended up hanging from some power lines. FAA officials … Continue reading Up, Up, and Away: A Bird’s-Eye View of Mission Marketing
The American Library Association got a brand-new president June 29, when Roberta Stevens of the Library of Congress entered the ballroom at the Renaissance hotel in Washington, D.C., dancing to the tune of “Celebration,” along with the incoming presidents of the 11 ALA divisions and four of her favorite authors: Marie Arana, Brad Meltzer, Sharon … Continue reading Our Authors, Our Advocates
Toni Morrison “For me, there are certain kinds of books that I like to read on an iPad, because you just turn the pages and enjoy yourself. Then there are other books where I really need the book, because I am part of that book. It’s not just reading, it’s making notes in it, and underscoring, … Continue reading Speaker Sound Bites: D.C. 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
Christopher, a bubbly 7-year-old, has come to the La Mesa branch of San Diego County (Calif.) Library to read to Sunny. With book in hand, Christopher sits down and begins. As he reads, he and Sunny cuddle together. Sunny, an 80-pound collie, is a certified therapy dog and with his handler, Gloria Laube, he visits … Continue reading Good Dog. Sit. Listen.
The child-care room buzzes with activity at the end of the school year. Children laugh and parents chat about their summer plans. When the librarian from Seattle Public Library comes in, the children gather around for story time. As she closes the book at the end of the story, the excitement mounts. Everyone knows this … Continue reading Raising A Reader Gets Children Started Early
I’d like to admit something to you upfront: I love books. I don’t mean the “isn’t-the-new-Stephen-King-great” type of love. I’m talking about a real passion here: I love the way the binding cracks the first time you open a new hardcover book; the little globules of glue that cling to the corners of the binding; … Continue reading Books and Literacy in the Digital Age
An avid colleague once told me that facilitating a book discussion is the most fun we can have at work. She was right. However, she didn’t mention the three Rs of any professionally done book discussion: reading, rereading, and research. As lovingly dedicated book laborers, we do most of this in our off-time with little … Continue reading Party On! at Your Book Discussions
At some point in my life, I realized that making lists belongs on my list of top 10 favorite things to do,” says American Libraries Senior Editor George M. Eberhart, “and that’s how I came up with the idea for The Librarian’s Book of Lists.” To be released this summer by ALA Editions, the book … Continue reading Top 10 Lists in The Librarian’s Book of Lists
