Bill Ptacek, 69, Calgary (Alberta) Public Library CEO since 2014, died October 15. During his tenure, the library built 12 early learning centers across the city and opened two new locations and a new Central Library. Calgary named him as its 2018 Citizen of the Year, and the Urban Libraries Council awarded him the 2019 … Continue reading Ptacek, Bill
Featured Speakers Opening Session Friday, January 24, 4–5:15 p.m. Author and social entrepreneur Wes Moore will open ALA’s Midwinter Meeting. Raised by a single mom in Baltimore and the Bronx, Moore overcame childhood challenges to become a Rhodes Scholar, decorated captain and paratrooper with the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, and White House Fellow to … Continue reading 2020 Midwinter Preview
Here are the best of the best, from faux-colonial taverns to historic food-hall cornucopias, whiskey bars to funky vegan eateries, and Pennsylvania Dutch smorgasbords to Zahav, named the top restaurant in the country in 2019 by the James Beard Foundation. Conventioneers are doubly fortunate to have the three dozen food stands of 125-year-old Reading Terminal … Continue reading The Philly Food Scene
Macmillan Ebook Policy Draws Fire Macmillan Publishers announced a policy preventing libraries from purchasing more than one copy of a new ebook title for the first eight weeks after a book’s release. In protest, American Library Association (ALA) launched the #eBooksForAll petition, which by November 27 had garnered more than 216,000 signatures. Said ALA President … Continue reading 2019 Year in Review
Caught on old home movies, each image offers an intriguing glimpse of a specific community. But if those movies stay trapped on dusty VHS tapes or forgotten reels of 8-millimeter film, their stories—and those of the populations they belong to—stay hidden. That’s why some libraries in the United States and Canada are offering patrons the … Continue reading Uncovering the Past
Will that change? No one is certain. Though ICE’s official policy states it will avoid carrying out enforcement actions at “sensitive locations” such as daycares and places of worship, libraries are not specifically named among those locations. In this politically tense climate when immigration has been a major focus, some libraries wonder how they should … Continue reading Know Your Rights—and Theirs
Who were your favorite authors growing up? As a young kid, I liked Leo Lionni and the Babar books. I loved, loved, loved Beverly Cleary (like I’ve loved almost no other author). Then I got very into the Little Women books. In junior high, I loved Brave New World. In high school, I got very … Continue reading Newsmaker: Rainbow Rowell
6 Number of years since the American Library Association last held its Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Philadelphia. 6 million Number of visits the Free Library of Philadelphia’s (FLP) 54 locations receive annually. 130,000 Number of current and historical maps in the Map Collection at FLP’s Parkway Central Library. $1,975 Amount that collector A. S. … Continue reading By the Numbers: Literary Philadelphia
Mirroring offerings from Netflix and Hulu, libraries are seeing renewed interest in materials through the creation of binge box collections—sets of movies and television shows on DVD with related themes and titles to help sate patrons’ binge-watching needs. “We were just going to do it for [a] summer and put it on display downstairs, but … Continue reading Ready to Binge-Watch?
“He was really excited about them,” says Kristina Gomez, MPL events and programming librarian. “I was really happy to see that he participated.” Though usually small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, zines pack a punch as an empowering form of personal and community expression. Small and self-published, zines are handmade publications … Continue reading On the Zine Scene
The call represented a trend unfolding in public facilities across the country: individuals who arm themselves with video cameras, proclaim themselves First Amendment auditors, and enter police precincts, post offices, libraries, and other spaces under the auspices of the First Amendment right to free speech in order to record staff violations. The Connecticut caller was … Continue reading Free Speech—or Free-for-All?
The origins of these events can be traced back to communal meals such as the World’s Longest Lunch, held annually across Australia. In 2015 the first Longest Table meal served 400 people along a two-block stretch of downtown Tallahassee, Florida. That inaugural evening was organized by city and county leaders, local nonprofit The Village Square, … Continue reading Tables of Content
