Latest Library Links
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Nathan Newman writes: “For many families and schools, ebooks were a lifeline to keep kids reading during lockdown. Total numbers of digital books borrowed from libraries hit 289 million in 2020—a 33% increase over 2019. That makes the feisty public library the main challenger to Amazon, which almost completely monopolizes private sales of ebooks and sold 487,000 in 2020. But there is a giant problem.”
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On June 2, a group of DC Public Schools librarians gathered outside the John A. Wilson building, where Mayor Muriel Bowser has an office, for a protest. At the “read in,” each librarian grabbed a book and read in silence. The protest had two main goals: to appeal to the DC Council to help improve the literacy rates of students by reducing class sizes and using collaborative teaching models, and to make sure every DCPS school has a full-time librarian.
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June 19 is the date when Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the US, is observed each year. The holiday is also sometimes called Freedom Day or Emancipation Day. In our June issue’s By the Numbers feature, we have stats celebrating Juneteenth and the Black authors who uphold the tradition.
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Officials at a Louisiana jail reacted reasonably to the COVID-19 pandemic by taking away printed books and giving inmates tablets on which they could read books instead, a federal judge has ruled. Magistrate Judge Janis van Meerveld dismissed Terrebonne Parish jail inmate James Robert Pitre’s lawsuit claiming that his constitutional rights were violated when his Bible and other books were taken. The Bible was available on his tablet, and he got one of his printed Bibles back after one day, van Meerveld said. She also noted that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised using digital rather than printed materials if possible.
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Rebecca Rego Barry writes: “Marlon Brando’s personal library of 3,000+ books, headed to auction in Los Angeles on June 8, shows a broad-minded and attentive reader, in subjects spanning art, literature, psychology, politics, and more, with notes (“Horseshit!”) often scribbled in the margins. Most of Brando’s books will be offered in themed lots containing dozens or hundreds of books in each. As one would expect, his library boasts a fair amount of books inscribed to him by the author or presented to him by celebrity friends.”
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Legal issues arise in libraries. Which is why, over the past year and a half, our Letters of the Law column at americanlibraries.org has explored a wide range of legal topics, led by two authorities: Mary Minow, a librarian who became a lawyer, and Tomas A. Lipinski, a lawyer who became a librarian. We’ve assembled some of their most topical entries, touching on copyright issues for remote learning, face-mask exceptions, and liability waivers, among other things.
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On June 1, the winners of the 33rd Annual Lambda Literary Awards were announced in a virtual ceremony. These winners were selected by a panel of over 60 literary professionals from more than 1,000 book submissions from over 300 publishers. In addition, four special honors were awarded: Ana-Maurine Lara received the Randall Kenan Prize for Black LGBTQ Fiction, the Jim Duggins PhD Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize went to Sarah Gerard and Brontez Purnell, Nancy Agabian received the Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction, and the Judith A. Markowitz Award for Emerging LGBTQ Writers was awarded to Taylor Johnson and T Kira Madden.
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Pia Ceres writes: “While homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, it has never been considered the American norm. In 2019, homeschooled students represented just 3.2% of US students in grades K–12, or around 1.7 million students. By comparison, 90% of US students attend public school. But a March 2021 report from the US Census Bureau indicates an uptick in homeschooling during the pandemic: In spring 2020, 5.4% of surveyed households reported homeschooling their children (homeschooling being distinct from remote learning at home through a public or private school). By fall 2020, the figure had doubled to 11.1%. The pandemic may also have given rise to a more diverse group of homeschoolers.”
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Mark Lawton writes: “In September 2018, Rodney E. Freeman Jr. was at home lying on his couch when he heard about Botham Jean. Jean, a 26-year-old Black accountant in Dallas, had been shot and killed by his neighbor, a white Dallas police officer, when she entered his apartment thinking it was her own. The incident compelled Freeman to consider how Black men are perceived in the US. Freeman is one of a number of archivists who have chosen to create their own archives around the Black experience in America rather than participate in an institutional archive, such as those maintained by universities or other large library systems.”
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IFLA’s World Library and information Congress 2021 platform is now open. IFLA WLIC 2021 will be held August 17–19, spanning three time zones. On the website, you’ll find information about the theme and subthemes and of course, how to register and take advantage of the Early Bird rates. IFLA has lowered its fees to widen inclusivity and encourage the broadest possible attendance to its first virtual conference.
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, June 3
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ALA announced on June 2 that former President Barack Obama will be the Closing Session speaker at ALA’s Annual Conference and Exhibition Virtual. He will appear noon–1 p.m. Central on Tuesday, June 29, in conversation with Lonnie G. Bunch III, the 14th secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and first African American appointed to the role. They will be introduced by ALA President Julius C. Jefferson Jr.
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