Latest Library Links
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Jordan Calhoun writes: “If you’ve abandoned Goodreads, a good alternative can be hard to find, especially if a robust community is important to you. Whether you’re looking for a simpler review platform, a smaller user-base, want to avoid feeding Amazon, or just yearn for the simpler days of tracking your books without the pressure, here are a few suggestions.” -
New York Public Library’s Carrie McBride writes: “Watching the Tour de France (Aug. 29–Sept. 20) on television has been a favorite rite of early summer for my family. The pandemic has pushed the Tour to late summer this year so there’s still time to familiarize yourself with it if you’ve been missing sports. Below are some reading selections about the history of the Tour (the scandals!) and some of the major players, as well as some fiction reads if that’s more your speed.” -
Provincetown (Mass.) Public Library and Provincetown Community Television have released the first three videos of the 2020 Virtual Moby-Dick Marathon. With the help of more than 35 dedicated readers, a shortened version of the marathon took shape through video and audio recordings after the in-person marathon was canceled due to COVID-19. The Virtual Moby-Dick Marathon includes nine videos, which will be released every two weeks on the library’s Vimeo channel. -
The results of the 2020 Census will allocate billions of dollars in federal funding to local communities over the next decade, including more than $1 billion to libraries. As of late July, only 62.7% of US households had completed the self-response form. Young children, people of color, Indigenous people, and urban and rural low-income households have been under-represented at disproportionately high rates in past Census counts. To help in those efforts, ALA is partnering with actress Auli’i Cravalho, star of the animated film Moana, in a read-along video of WE COUNT! A Census Counting Book for Kids (and the Grownups That Love Them) August 27 at 11:00 a.m. Central on the American Library Association Facebook page. -
Todd A. Carpenter writes: “As colleges are opening up, and quickly going virtual in some cases, we are entering a very challenging year for the scholarly community. It isn’t at all certain how this academic year will shape up. Institutions are contending with the added costs of keeping students and faculty healthy and safe, while also picking up the added costs of transitioning to a virtual learning environment. For all this financial hardship, the one place the budget ax shouldn’t fall is the library.” -
Lynn Weinstein writes: “The census has been increasingly in the news these days, as the pandemic has caused its operations to be curtailed. The census responses are of critical importance because they can impact the drawing of congressional districts, the federal funding of programs, and they provide crucial statistics related to industries. As a business reference and research specialist in the Science, Technology, and Business Division, I depend on census data from both the Decennial Census as well as other censuses to answer questions for patrons.” -
Thorin Klosowski writes: “No one should have to spend five minutes searching for a how-to guide to delete an account. If you’re having trouble finding such instructions, entire websites such as Just Delete Me and Account Killer exist to help. Of course, in some cases, simply remembering that you even have an account is difficult enough. If you’re like me, you probably have dozens of zombie accounts spread across the web, lost to time—until you get the inevitable email announcing an account breach. Here’s how I went about finding mine.” -
Travis McDade writes: “Like nuclear power plants and sensitive computer networks, the safest rare book collections are protected by what is known as ‘defense in depth’—a series of small, overlapping measures designed to thwart a thief who might be able to overcome a single deterrent. The Oliver Room, home to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s rare books and archives, was something close to the platonic ideal of this concept. Greg Priore (right), manager of the room starting in 1992, designed it that way.” -
September is Library Card Sign-up Month, but with many libraries still offering limited services, reaching non-cardholding community members may feel overwhelming. Library marketing expert Angela Hursh offers six ways to successfully grow your cardholder base, even when you’re dealing with COVID-19. -
Kelsie Smith writes: “It was a real whodunit when a stash of beer and gum from the 1980s was discovered behind the walls of the Mystery section at a Washington library. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Walla Walla Public Library has been closed to the public since March and has since taken the time to do some renovations, library director Erin Wells told CNN. During the demolition three weeks ago, five full cans of Hamm’s beer and an opened pack of Godzilla Heads gum was found in a disintegrated paper bag, Wells said. Facilities Maintenance Specialist Luis Cuellar found the odd treasure when he removed a seven-foot-tall corner panel on some open-top shelving believed to be original to the 1970s building.” -
On August 20 the Institute of Museum and Library Services announced grants totaling $5,263,000 through three programs designed to support and improve library services of Native American and Native Hawaiian organizations. Native American Library Services Basic Grants support existing library operations and maintain core library services. Native American Library Services Enhancement Grants augment existing library services or implement new library services for Indian tribes. Native Hawaiian Library Services Grants are available to nonprofit organizations that primarily serve and represent Native Hawaiians so they can enhance existing or implement new library services. -
Marley Dias, founder of #1000BlackGirlBooks, will be starring in and executive producing a new series for Netflix called Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices. The 12-episode series will feature prominent Black celebrities and artists—including Common, Misty Copeland, Tiffany Haddish, and Jacqueline Woodson—reading children’s books from Black authors that highlight the Black experience. The show debuts September 1.
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