I’ve never been to Ketchikan, Alaska, but I wouldn’t mind being there right now, contemplating the amazing vista of woods and mountains from the Ketchikan Public Library windows. I’d be happy to check out the reading room view from the Spartanburg County (S.C.) Public Libraries’ Middle Tyger branch, too, watching the river tumbling over rocks. These … Continue reading Dreamy Reading Rooms and More
What does a commercial-free space mean to you? With corporations doing their best to surround children with advertising from birth, providing commercial-free spaces is essential to our continued democracy, which depends on creativity and critical thinking, skills that pervasive marketing can repress. Libraries, with our continual campaign for intellectual freedom, are the perfect places to … Continue reading Sponsored by Your Library
Most libraries currently feel stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to providing access to all the materials their patrons seek. Over the years, the prices of content have soared, often well beyond the rate of inflation. At the same time, library budgets have been slashed, which further degrades purchasing power. … Continue reading Libraries as Publishers
I am a firm believer in the value of libraries because I have always enthusiastically accepted the axiom that you can learn how to do anything from a book, even the most difficult of all human endeavors—how to swing a golf club. In the course of my life, I have competed, at some level, in … Continue reading Par for the Course
AMERICAN LIBRARIES: What appealed to you about becoming executive director of the American Library Association’s (ALA) American Association of School Librarians (AASL)? SYLVIA Knight NORTON: As a school librarian, AASL is my professional association. Much of the knowledge I have today about libraries and education was gained through AASL and ALA. I looked to the … Continue reading Newsmaker: Sylvia Knight Norton
If you’re like me, you’ve completely lost track of the number of times you’ve clicked the little “I agree” button—on software, upgrades, website registrations, and the like. We know, as little attention as we pay to such things, that they probably mean something, sorta, and we have that microscopic pang of guilt—or more appropriately, misgiving—about … Continue reading Exiled by iTunes
Each year, ALA Annual Conference hovers like a beautiful and tempting hot air balloon, ready to take us off on an amazing ride, filled with excitement, ideas, and a chance to see old friends and meet new ones. I observed ALA Council sessions this year, met with advertisers, and perused new products in the Exhibit … Continue reading Moving Along
Whether we are going back to school or not, most of us sense new beginnings in the air. And whether we are in a school library or not, we are all part of the educational process. Literacy and learning start before school. Every Child Ready for School: Helping Adults Inspire Young Children to Learn is … Continue reading Back to School
Library workers nationwide are educating themselves about the next implementation phase of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which is slated to begin October 1. On that date, the Health Insurance Marketplace opens to an estimated 7 million people who are uninsured so they can select a health-insurance policy. “Libraries have a long tradition of making … Continue reading Libraries Stress Neutrality As They Prep for Queries on Health Care Law
It’s the time of year when all of us connected to the publishing world begin speculating about the season’s big books. The major book shows—BookExpo America in May and ALA Annual Conference in June—have come and gone, leaving dozens of potential big books in their wakes. Now comes the predicting, the opinion swapping, and, one … Continue reading Marisha Pessl’s Night Film Leaves a Lasting Impression
We like to think we’re done when we graduate from library school, MLIS in hand. But then we meet the real world and a whole new set of questions and challenges: How, specifically, does your first employer’s library really approach customer service? How does it implement new technology? And a little further down the career … Continue reading Keeping Up with Continuing Education
Each year, I spend a good deal of time speaking to various groups about libraries and the Association. Often, I talk about library myths. One of the most widespread and persistent myths is that younger people are not joining the Association. Data, however, shows that this is just not true. In a 2009 study conducted … Continue reading Who We Are
