“I am a librarian. I discovered me in the library. I went to find me in the library. Before I fell in love with libraries, I was just a 6-year-old boy. The library fueled all of my curiosities, from dinosaurs to ancient Egypt. When I graduated from high school in 1938, I began going to … Continue reading The Library Is the Real School
As summer days grew longer and the heat increased, so did my trips to the public library. This summer, I had a companion: a longtime friend’s 84-year-old mother—now another good friend. While I cruised the children’s section, Doris would head to the shelves with large-print books. Her library use heightened my sensibilities about how we … Continue reading An Old Friend in the Library
Picking up the culinary gauntlet thrown down by San Antonio (Tex.) Public Library, 20 area teens formed several salsa-making teams at SAPL’s Central Library August 8 at the “Pica! Teen Salsa Throwdown” and left it to the judges to decide which team of 13–18 year-olds had created the zestiest dish. Ingredients were donated by the … Continue reading Salsa Throwdown at San Antonio Public Library
The World Library and Information Congress in Helsinki, Finland, concluded August 17. A look at the worldwide movers and shakers of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Photos by Carlon Walker.
This summer saw wild weather events spring up across the country, with record high temperatures, historic droughts, thunderstorms that downed power lines, massive wildfires, and flash floods. The resulting mayhem provided opportunities for libraries to better serve their communities while it spelled disaster for at least one facility. Perhaps the hardest hit was the Jim … Continue reading Library Heroes Shelter Evacuees from the Summer of 2012
“FY2012 has proven to be relatively stable,” the bipartisan National Council of State Legislatures (NCSL) said August 7 in its State Budget Update: Summer 2012 (PDF file). “Projected revenues and appropriations in FY2013 also are expected to rise moderately.” Although a sustained robust recovery still eludes state coffers, the NCSL report affirms that “new budget … Continue reading Louisiana Denied State Aid; Support Varies Elsewhere
It’s no surprise: As a profession, we are facing a rapidly developing issue of growing significance, and that is e-content. It comes down to this: Libraries often cannot offer the types and amounts of e-content our users want and need. A lot of material is simply unavailable for us to access and circulate in electronic … Continue reading Essential Bookmarks
We all know about life imitating art, but what about novels imitating film—film noir in particular? Patrick Conrad’s No Sale (the words written in lipstick on a mirror by Gloria Wandrous, the Elizabeth Taylor character in Butterfield 8) is only the latest in a short list of noir fiction that draws on film noir. I’m … Continue reading An Homage to Film Noir
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
Meet Michael. In June, he graduated from a high school where he was encouraged to use his own technology for teaching and learning, and to connect to the district’s Wi-Fi network, where he shared almost complete open internet access on school- and personal-learning devices while on campus. The district’s guidelines for appropriate conduct are delineated … Continue reading A Tale of Two Students
[EDITOR’S NOTE: American Libraries conducted the following interview with writer Jonah Lehrer on July 29, one day before news broke that Lehrer was resigning from his position as staff writer at The New Yorker. It was discovered that he had fabricated quotes from singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and had included those quotes in his bestselling book … Continue reading A Day Before Disgrace
It’s a question every used car buyer has to answer: “Is it the years or the miles?” Am I better off buying that vintage Pontiac LeMans with the really cool styling or that stodgy-looking two-year-old Honda? Looks can be deceiving. The vintage Pontiac was driven by a little old lady from Pasadena who used it … Continue reading Your Mileage May Vary
