I am a firm believer in the value of libraries because I have always enthusiastically accepted the axiom that you can learn how to do anything from a book, even the most difficult of all human endeavors—how to swing a golf club. In the course of my life, I have competed, at some level, in … Continue reading Par for the Course
Have you ever heard the expression, “It’s an honor just to be nominated,” usually gushed by a celebrated entertainer after making the short list for an Oscar or what-have-you? Well, it is. Just ask any of the five school librarians nominated for a Bammy (Body and Mind) Award in the new School Librarian category this year. … Continue reading Rolling Out the Red Carpet for School Librarians
AMERICAN LIBRARIES: What appealed to you about becoming executive director of the American Library Association’s (ALA) American Association of School Librarians (AASL)? SYLVIA Knight NORTON: As a school librarian, AASL is my professional association. Much of the knowledge I have today about libraries and education was gained through AASL and ALA. I looked to the … Continue reading Newsmaker: Sylvia Knight Norton
Why, then, if the library community has learned this formula for successful advocacy, does it so often seem that we are not winning? Why do so many libraries continue to struggle for funding and awareness? The reality is that effective advocacy must go beyond connecting our goals to those of the constituencies we serve; we … Continue reading America’s Right to Libraries Movement
Each year, I spend a good deal of time speaking to various groups about libraries and the Association. Often, I talk about library myths. One of the most widespread and persistent myths is that younger people are not joining the Association. Data, however, shows that this is just not true. In a 2009 study conducted … Continue reading Who We Are
Douglas County (Colo.) Libraries has been publishing a monthly list of pricing for print and ebook bestsellers for the past year. We began in September 2012 when we realized that the availability and pricing of ebooks for libraries was out of whack with the market. Not only could we see a difference in the amount … Continue reading A Year of Ebook Price Comparisons: Has Anything Changed?
Recent lawsuits against libraries in Kentucky continue to reverberate across the state, ever since two separate circuit-court rulings were handed down in April 2013 that found Campbell County Public Library and Kenton County Public Library had improperly raised their millage rates since 1979 and 1967, respectively. The decisions stated that the libraries did not follow … Continue reading Tax Battle in the Bluegrass State
The closing session of the 79th World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) August 22 offered the 3,750 attendees from 120 countries a recap of 224 sessions held over six days in Singapore. Along with thanks to the local organizers and volunteers for making the conference … Continue reading IFLA Closes Singapore Conference Looking to the Future
Geo-strategist Parag Khanna, bestselling author of How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next Renaissance, asserted that the great ages of mankind are the Stone Age, the Agrarian Age, the Industrial Age, and the Information Age; but now, he said, we are entering the “Hybrid Age,” a time when technology is erasing … Continue reading Geo-Strategist Parag Khanna Ushers IFLA into the “Hybrid Age”
“What is the fate of the public in an age of individual choice?” That’s the central question posed by Cherian George, journalist and professor at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. George’s speech launched the fourth day of IFLA’s 79th World Library and Information Congress. George … Continue reading At IFLA 2013, Singapore Journalist Cherian George Delivers Scathing Indictment of Mass Media
It’s designed to assess “the impact of new technology on our global information environment,” said IFLA President Ingrid Parent, introducing the new IFLA Trend Report August 19 during the World Library and Information Congress in Singapore. Commissioned in 2012 and involving social scientists, economists, business leaders, educators, legal experts, and technologists, Riding the Waves or Caught … Continue reading New Report Portends Global Societal Trends, as IFLA Continues in Singapore
More than 260 librarians and almost 800 library technicians who work for the Department of Defense (DOD) are being furloughed 11 days, one day per week from July 8 to September 27, due to sequestration. While this is a personal financial hardship, we are also concerned about having to cut library services for our patrons: … Continue reading Under Sequester
