The voice on the phone sounded exhausted. “I have lost my life’s work,” the man said. He was an artist who had his paintings stored in a basement somewhere in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It was November 2, 2012, four days after Hurricane Sandy hit the New Jersey coast, and the call came … Continue reading To Protect and Preserve
Libraries across Kentucky face an uncertain future in the wake of recent court rulings against two libraries in the northern part of the state. On April 2, a Kentucky circuit court ruled that Campbell County Public Library has improperly raised its property tax rates since 1978. On April 11, a circuit court handed down a … Continue reading Lawsuits Impact Kentucky Libraries
National Bookmobile Day, April 17, celebrated during National Library Week, is a chance for libraries and patrons to recognize and honor mobile services and the dedicated employees who ensure that patrons who are unable to reach brick-and-mortar libraries can still receive library services. Here are examples of several public libraries that offer bookmobile service and … Continue reading A Snapshot of Our Nation’s Bookmobiles
Last week I led an ALA delegation to New York to meet with a number of key players in the publishing ecosystem. Overall, I left town feeling a bit more optimistic, although I recognize that libraries are in the midst of a digital revolution that we will be navigating for years to come. Our biggest … Continue reading Report from Manhattan: Librarians Navigating the Digital Revolution
“We are pleased Simon & Schuster has recognized the vital roles of libraries in supporting reading in all its formats by announcing a library e-lending pilot in New York City,” ALA President Maureen Sullivan said today in response to the publishing house’s announcement. “As we celebrate the 55th annual National Library Week, it is a … Continue reading ALA President Commends Simon & Schuster’s Entry into Library Ebook Market
On Day Two of the “Imagine. Create. Innovate.” conference, Jim Loter, director of information technology at Seattle Public Library, discussed his library’s digital content strategy and the ReadersFirst movement. While Douglas County (Colo.) Libraries, under the leadership of Jamie LaRue, has focused on independent publishers and self-published content, Seattle uses quite a number of mainstream … Continue reading Seattle’s Jim Loter Reveals His Library’s ReadersFirst Strategy
The increasingly digital context brings challenges and opportunities for librarians, library staff, archivists, and museum professionals. New roles and the competencies required to perform them are evolving. One overriding role for all of us is that of the leader. The complexity of the changes we experience leads to many unfamiliar situations in which deep learning … Continue reading Leadership in a Digital Age
I’m writing this from the Monroe County (N.Y.) Library System’s Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, which is hosting “Imagine. Create. Innovate.” The technology conference is focusing on future issues like the library as publisher and ebook adoption. James LaRue from Douglas County (Colo.) Libraries and the ALA Digital Content and Libraries Working Group … Continue reading James LaRue speaks at “Imagine. Create. Innovate.” conference
Library patrons lined up for personalized poems, created by six local poets at the Deerfield (Ill.) Public Library’s “Poems While You Wait” event in celebration of April as National Poetry Month. Poets tapped out verse on vintage typewriters for patron-selected themes that ranged from Ninjas and sports to twins, English bulldogs, Thailand, and even secret … Continue reading Poems While You Wait at Deerfield (Ill.) Public Library
Author Caroline Kennedy spoke to a packed audience April 5 at Highland Park (Ill.) Public Library about her family’s love for reciting and collecting poetry. “Poems are little capsules of memory,” she said, helping listeners recall favorite teachers, friends, sights, and sounds of the time when the poem was first heard. She found that learning … Continue reading Caroline Kennedy Helps Highland Park (Ill.) Public Library Celebrate 125 Years
Central to the purpose of ALA’s Digital Content and Libraries Working Group (DCWG) is communication. DCWG members and staff, along with ALA leadership, engage in a wide variety of outreach activities, whether presenting at conferences or meetings, representing ALA in forums, participating in workshops, or publishing articles and reports. Since the 2013 Midwinter Meeting, ALA … Continue reading Ebooks Everywhere
For April, the Douglas County (Colo.) Libraries ebook price report turns back to the top 25 bestselling ebooks from Digital Book World. Overall, libraries fare better in this comparison, with 11 of the 25 titles available through OverDrive and 10 through 3M. Still, there are two titles that are only available digitally and yet are … Continue reading April Ebook Report from DCL
