Latest Library Links
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Andrew Albanese writes: “A Maryland state bill that would ensure public libraries the right to license and lend ebooks that are available to consumers in the state is now law. In a May 28 letter to Maryland Senate president Bill Ferguson, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan informed legislators that the library ebook bill (HB518 in the House of Delegates and SB432 in the Senate) was among the many bills that would become law without the governor’s signature—normal procedure in the state, where the legislature typically passes hundreds of bills each session.”
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Jennifer Garry writes: “Summertime often means visits to the beach. Like everything with kids, going to the beach can lead to lots of questions. Is seaweed a weed? Do jellyfish have brains? Why would someone throw their garbage in the ocean? If you don’t have all of the answers (and, honestly, even if you do), this collection of books will inspire and delight ocean enthusiasts while creating conservationists in the process.”
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ALA President Julius C. Jefferson Jr. writes: “With my final column as ALA president, I’d like to look back over the past year and offer thanks. Thanks to all who joined me last summer on the virtual “Holding Space” tour, a conversation series with libraries. I will forever remember you as faithful partners and travel companions as we faced seemingly insurmountable difficulties. Thanks in part to our advocacy, libraries secured federal relief funding of historic proportions.”
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Terra Dankowski writes: “In 1986, Friends of Libraries USA President Frederick G. Ruffner Jr. had the ambitious idea to start the Literary Landmarks Association, an organization that would encourage the development of historic literary sites across the US. For those hitting the open road this summer, American Libraries has curated glimpses of some of these inspiring attractions—many of them outdoors and conducive to social distancing. Read on, mask up, and follow our route to literary greatness.”
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Sarah Poko writes: “It was a cold March evening. I was tired, but my master’s thesis was almost done. I just needed something more to boost my research, so I headed to the library. I remember strolling through the empty library, scanning the shelves carefully, section by section, almost like a hunter looking for prey. That’s when I saw it: a green book with white text that stood out boldly on the dark binder. Canadian Savage Folk, it said.”
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Dan Goodin writes: “If you use Alexa, Echo, or any other Amazon device, you have only a few days to opt out of an experiment that leaves your personal privacy and security hanging in the balance. On June 8, the merchant, Web host, and entertainment behemoth will automatically enroll the devices in Amazon Sidewalk. The new wireless mesh service will share a small slice of your Internet bandwidth with nearby neighbors who don’t have connectivity and help you to their bandwidth when you don’t have a connection.”
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Abby Hargreaves writes: “Many of us have done it: You place a hold on a library book with the best intentions and then life gets in the way or you decide you’re not interested in the book after all and so you don’t pick it up before the expiration date. On occasion, I get patrons who express shame for—from their perspective—making library workers do meaningless extra work. It’s true that there is a fairly involved process tied to getting a book from its home in the stacks to the hold shelf, but to say doing that work is meaningless if the patron ultimately doesn’t pick up the book is inaccurate. There’s plenty of value in abandoned library holds.”
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On May 25, the Institute of Museum and Library Services released data from its 2019 Public Libraries Survey, which collects information on key indicators of public library use, financial health, staffing, and resources. Explore the FY 2019 data and documentation or query the Library Search and Compare Tool. Each year since 1988, the survey has provided a national census of America’s public libraries. The data are collected from approximately 9,000 public library systems comprised of over 17,000 individual main libraries, library branches, and bookmobiles in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and US territories.
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Halifax (N.S.) Public Library’s decision to keep a controversial book on its shelves, containing what advocates call transphobic misinformation and hate speech, has led to local backlash and a break with Halifax Pride. A community petition was launched last month to remove Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters by Abigail Shrier from library shelves. But on May 27, HPL released a statement saying it has decided to “not censor” the book and keep it in circulation. Halifax Pride announced May 28 it was ending its partnership with the organization.
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Candida Moss writes: “Last September, New York City’s Swann Galleries were advertising the sale of an invaluable piece of Spanish and Mexican history: a 500-year-old letter involving Hernán Cortés, the Spanish military leader and colonizer. The letter was expected to sell for somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000 until a group of academics intervened. Reuters reports that the letter was one of a cluster of Cortés documents that had been stolen out of the National Archive of Mexico and put up for sale. What’s even more shocking is that this is not the first time that important and valuable pieces of history have been stolen from a national archive, prominent library, or museum and ended up on the block at a prominent auction house.”
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Laurin Mayeno writes: “Last month, I was stunned to see that the children’s book I wrote made the front page of the News Reporter in Columbus County, North Carolina. Reading on, I learned that the local school district had banned my book One of a Kind, Like Me/Único como yo, calling it ‘age-inappropriate.’ When you ban my book, you’re telling me that a child like mine doesn’t belong in your schools or your communities.”
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Sixty years ago this spring, nine Tougaloo College students entered the main branch of the public library in Jackson, Miss., to consult books not available at the “colored” branch. Their goal? To integrate a Deep South public facility that refused to serve Black patrons even as it depended on Black taxpayer dollars.
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