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A free “United for Libraries Institute: Friends, Foundations, and Trustees” will be held January 26 at Seattle Central Library’s Microsoft Auditorium at the 2019 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. Jan Masaoka, chief executive officer of the California Association of Nonprofits, will deliver the keynote: “Be Passionate about Your Library! Creating and Developing Effective Advocates for Your Library.” Other speakers include Ross Baker, Tess Wilson, Julia Stringfellow, and Susan Gregory.

United for Libraries, Dec. 18
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Hundreds of people joined in with protest action at Wivenhoe and Brightlingsea libraries in the UK on December 15 and took out the maximum of 14 items allowed per patron. Their action came after Essex County Council announced it wanted to close the libraries unless volunteers are willing to run them. Rosalind Scott, one of the Wivenhoe protest organizers, said: “The book borrowing machines were not working and that meant there were long queues but it became like a big party and demonstrated we need our librarians.”

Colchester (UK) Daily Gazette, Dec. 18
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Katherine Martinko writes: “Visiting libraries wherever you go is a wonderful way to get to know a city. But not all libraries are created equal. They can be big, small, public, private, academic, national, kid-oriented, quiet, or lively. So how does one go about finding the best libraries to visit that suit one’s interests and company? A new blog called Library Planet, launched at the beginning of December by two Danish library lovers, Christian Lauersen and Marie Engberg Eiriksson, allows travelers to share descriptions and photos of the libraries they visit all around the world.”

TreeHugger, Dec. 14
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Bryan J. McCormick, director of Hedberg Public Library, Janesville, Wisconsin, writes in a letter to the editor: “Dear Speaker Paul Ryan, I am asking for you to please hear bill S3530 in the House, reauthorizing funding for the Museum and Library Services Act. In Wisconsin, funding has been used to set up our statewide delivery of library materials, strengthen our broadband networks, provide access to databases for research, and digitize historical documents, as well as many other worthwhile projects. I feel that the return on investment for this program is one of the highest that receives federal funding.”

Janesville (Wis.) Gazette, Dec. 17
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A panel created by President Trump to help prevent future school shootings called December 18 for getting rid of Obama administration guidance aimed at making sure nonwhite students aren’t disciplined more harshly than their peers. In its report, the Federal Commission on School Safety also encouraged schools to “seriously consider” arming certain school staff members, in partnership with local law enforcement to ensure proper training. But it did not suggest arming school staff—a measure supported by Trump—become a federal mandate.

Education Week, Dec. 18
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On the morning of September 2, the world woke to the news that Brazil’s National Museum in Rio de Janeiro had caught fire, destroying one of Latin America’s oldest and most important scientific and cultural institutions. Princeton University’s newly established Brazil LAB (Luso-Afro-Brazilian studies), along with the Princeton University Library and Princeton University Press, is partnering with the Postgraduate Program in Social Anthropology based at the National Museum to replace damaged or lost books and materials in the Francisca Keller Library, the principal anthropology library in Brazil.

Princeton University, Dec. 17
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The ALA Intellectual Freedom Manual Review Working Group, which reviewed all documents in preparation for the next edition of the Intellectual Freedom Manual, recommended consideration of updating the Library Bill of Rights in a narrow manner to add an Article VII focused on the concept of ensuring privacy and confidentiality for library users. The Intellectual Freedom Committee would appreciate feedback on this article draft by December 21. Comments can be posted on the Google Doc draft itself.

ACRL Insider, Dec. 14