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    Difference in response rates and % of blacks in employment. The discrimination index is obtained by pooling the data of the two waves and aggregating the data at the state level. Observations are weighted by the number of emails sent in each state. N = 50 (Washington D.C. is excluded)

    Tanvi Misra writes: “It’s been well documented that people with names like LaKeisha or DeShawn, which became popular among African Americans during the civil rights era, can face disadvantages in the job market. But that’s not the only place they are likely to bump up against conscious or unconscious biases. A recent study finds that a LaKeisha is much less likely to get a response when they contact public librarians or school district officials than, say, a Becky. And when they do, it’s less likely to be polite.”

    City Lab, Jan. 11

  • Latest Library Links

    • 20h
      The new Qatar National Library

      Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani officially opened the new Qatar National Library in Doha on April 17 and symbolically presented its one-millionth acquisition, an 843-year-old manuscript copy of Sahih al-Bukhari. The building was designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas’s firm, the Office for Metropolitan Architecture. The 42,000-square-meter facility, conceived as a single room that houses both people and books, also serves as a public library and university library.

      Designboom, Apr. 17

    • 22h
      Deepfake video starring Jordan Peele as Barack Obama

      Craig Silverman writes: “Technology to trick our eyes and ears is advancing rapidly. This ObamaPeele video was created using another emerging technology: FakeApp. Part of the process for creating this video involved taking an original video of Barack Obama and pasting Jordan Peele’s mouth into it. It looked really clumsy at first. But things got remarkably better the longer FakeApp was left to process a more believable blend. Here are some basic tips you can follow to ensure you don’t get fooled easily.”

      BuzzFeed, Apr. 17

    • 23h
      Library professionals demonstrate coding in a public library computer lab

      The Institute of Library and Museum Services has awarded YALSA a Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program grant to work with the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies to train 11,000 library staff in all 50 states and 5 US territories. Building on the ALA Ready to Code Initiative, the grant will provide professional development to librarians so they can help prepare teens for computational thinking. The grant is one of 42 totaling $10.4 million to support libraries across the US.

      Institue of Museum and Library Services, Apr. 18

    • 23h

      Jennifer KaminskiUnited for Libraries has awarded its 2018 Thriftbooks Friend Conference Grant to Jennifer Kaminski, secretary of the Friends of the Daviess County (Ky.) Public Library. Kaminski will receive $850 plus full conference registration to attend the 2018 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans.

      United for Libraries, Apr. 17

    • 23h

      Peter PearsonPeter Pearson, lead consultant and cofounder of Library Strategies Consulting Group, was elected 2019–2020 president of United for Libraries. Pearson will serve as vice-president/president-elect during 2018–2019 and will assume the presidency in July 2019. As president of the Friends of the Saint Paul (Minn.) Public Library, he led three capital campaigns and coordinated an annual grassroots advocacy campaign that added millions of dollars of public funding to the library’s budget.

      United for Libraries, Apr. 17

    • 23h
      Diana Haneski and Yvonne Cech

      Diana Haneski, library media specialist at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and Yvonne Cech, director of the Brookfield (Conn.) Library and a former library media specialist at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, have been awarded the 2018 Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced with Adversity. Haneski and Cech will receive a cash prize and an object from Daniel Handler’s private collection during the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans.

      Office of ALA Governance, Apr. 17

    • 23h

      Christina DorrChristina Dorr, media specialist at Weaver Middle School in Hilliard, Ohio, has been named the 2018 winner of ALA’s Scholastic Library Publishing Award. The award recognizes a librarian whose contribution to the stimulation and guidance of reading by children and young people exemplifies outstanding achievement in the profession. Dorr was cited for her series of videos made for the Ohio Educational Library Media Association that demonstrate strategies to use when reading aloud with children.

      Office of ALA Governance, Apr. 17

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