Latest Library Links
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ALA President Patricia “Patty” M. Wong writes: “In our all-too-recent past, entire groups were denied access to the institutions we serve. That’s why during Library Card Sign-Up Month, celebrated each September, I am calling on all of us to recognize the errors of the past and commit to fighting for improved access for groups that may still be excluded, such as people experiencing homelessness and undocumented immigrants.”
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Phil Morehart writes: “Welcome to the 2021 Library Design Showcase, American Libraries’ annual celebration of new and renovated libraries that address user needs in unique, interesting, and effective ways. That this year’s slate features building projects completed during the pandemic makes them even more noteworthy. Despite libraries being temporarily closed or operating at reduced hours because of COVID-19 restrictions, beautiful new facilities and innovatively renovated spaces continued to open to the public over the past year and a half.”
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Marshall Gunnell writes: “With the recent boom in smart home technology, even our garage doors and light bulbs are connecting to the internet. And because of this, you may now need Wi-Fi coverage in parts of your home that previously didn’t need access. There are numerous products that aim to solve this pain point, but you’ll need to understand the differences between them to know which one to buy. We’ll detail the major differences between Wi-Fi extenders, Wi-Fi repeaters, Wi-Fi boosters, and Wi-Fi bridges.”
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School board members are largely unpaid volunteers, traditionally former educators and parents who step forward to shape school policy, choose a superintendent, and review the budget. But a growing number are resigning or questioning their willingness to serve as meetings have devolved into shouting contests between deeply political constituencies over how racial issues are taught, masks in schools, and COVID-19 vaccines and testing requirements.
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David Crotty writes: “A fun video below from the folks at Storied, looking at author-created ‘nonces’ (words created to be used once) and their path to neologism, and eventually to just becoming part of our daily vocabulary. A favorite from the video is freelancer, from Sir Walter Scott, described in the video as ‘a violent term for someone who designs corporate logos.’ What can you add to the list presented here?”
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Erin Overbey writes: “On a recent Tuesday, Bruce Janu, the head librarian at John Hersey High School, in Arlington Heights, Illinois, was rummaging through an old storage cabinet in his new office. Janu, a former history teacher and documentary filmmaker, became the librarian at the school in July. ‘On one of those shelves was this small plastic bag hidden way in the back,’ he said. ‘So I reached in and pulled out an original issue of The New Yorker from August 31, 1946, and it had a narrow white band around it, which read Hiroshima: This entire issue is devoted to the story of how an atomic bomb destroyed a city.’”
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Starting with a 1975 discovery at a New York antique story, Larry West began collecting photographs from some of the early African American photographers, including James P. Ball, Glenalvin Goodridge, and Augustus Washington. Now, his collection of 286 objects dating from the 1840s to about 1925, which includes daguerreotypes and other early types of photographic works, has been sold to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. Stephanie Stebich, the museum’s director, calls it “a transformative collection for us.”
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Libraries and library workers interested in examining racism, bias, and inequity have a new tool to do so. The University Libraries at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has released the syllabus of its recent 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge focused on libraries and archives. The syllabus is the work of the University Libraries’ IDEA (inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility) Council. It is part of the Library’s Reckoning Initiative, which commits to using equity, inclusion, and social justice as a lens for its work.
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Since 2017, Jaffrey (N.H.) Public Library has been adding programs to build food literacy in its community. JPL started with a seed library, then added a Learning Garden in 2019. This year, the library added a new program: the “Farm Fresh Checkout” refrigerator. Produce from the Learning Garden has been joined by donations from three local farms to stock a minifridge near the library check-out desk.
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Boston Public Library was hit with a cybersecurity attack August 25 that crippled its computer network, the library said in a statement August 27. There is no evidence that sensitive employee or patron data has been compromised; affected systems were taken offline immediately, and steps were taken to isolate the problem and shut down network communication. BPL’s IT department is working with the mayor’s Department of Innovation and Technology on restoring services, and law enforcement has been contacted. The central branch as well as about two dozen neighborhood branch locations remain open and workers are manually checking out books.
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Mark Hurst writes: “Google, as the platform that practically invented surveillance capitalism, is not a library. We might more accurately describe it as the antithesis of a civic institution, in that its ultimate aim is exploitation, rather than service, of the community. Regardless of how many pages are captured in its search index, or how many tech sectors it monopolizes, Google deserves no trust, and no authority, in the public sphere.”
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Tina Jordan writes: “You might think of them as solitary creatures, furiously scribbling or typing alone, but as long as there have been writers in New York City, they have socialized together in an assortment of bars, restaurants, apartments, and clubs. Here, we celebrate a few of the most memorable ones.”
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