Librarians shouting about funding is fast becoming old news. We need to find new ways to take a stand against library budget cuts. A grassroots push is a terrific advertising tool, and it can be really fun to pull off. It’s a wonderful motivator to get people out and keep them coming back to do … Continue reading Grassroots Advocacy: Putting Yourself Out There
[For UPDATES since the clearing of Zuccotti Park, scroll to the end.] The People’s Library at Occupy Wall Street in New York City started spontaneously shortly after the protest began on September 17, when a pile of books was left in a cardboard box at Zuccotti Park on Wall Street. The books were passed around … Continue reading A Library Occupies the Heart of the Occupy Movement
Like a good book, the 11th annual National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., September 24–25, took readers to places they had never been before. The new expanded two-day schedule of events, record roster of writers, and new pavilions reflected recent literary trends. With the theme “Celebrate the Joys of Reading Aloud,” the festival was organized … Continue reading National Book Festival Stacks Up as Record-Breaker
Are your website visitors doing what you expect them to do or what you want them to do? Are they following the path you thought they would follow when you designed your menu system? Are visitors to your digital-library page finding the link to historical photos of your city or the university’s archival images? These … Continue reading Using Web Analytics Well
One day in the mid-1990s Doug Zweizig and I were having lunch on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, where we both taught. I was contemplating a history of the small-town American public library, I told him, but wanted a fresh perspective. Eighty percent of public library systems existed in towns of fewer than 25,000, I … Continue reading Main Street Public Library
Returning to New Orleans for the 2011 American Library Association Annual Conference this year was both rewarding and emotional for many of us. Five years earlier, we traveled to Louisiana less than a year after the devastating hurricanes and massive flooding from failure of the levies. At that time, we were welcomed with much more … Continue reading The Big Easy Revisited
Each week I have at least one conversation about how schools and libraries are working to support teaching and learning in STEM: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. I’ve discovered that some librarians are struggling to figure out what their role should be in the STEM universe. I’m here to give you a few pointers. First, … Continue reading The Lowdown on STEM
The individuals and libraries shown here have been singled out by their peers for their extraordinary achievements. These are the highest and most prestigious awards given by the American Library Association, but they are only a handful of the 200-plus awards presented annually by ALA, its divisions, round tables, offices, and other units. Meet more … Continue reading Leading By Example: 2011 ALA Award Winners
Now that the debate over raising the debt ceiling is over and the smoke is beginning to clear, the question remains: What does this really mean? And, more specifically, what does this mean for libraries? First, a recap: With little time to spare, Congress finally passed on August 2 the Budget Control Act of 2011, … Continue reading A Librarian’s Primer on the Debt-Ceiling Deal
On eight school-day mornings every September, school buses pull into the Selma–Dallas County (Ala.) Public Library every hour starting at 9 a.m., unloading 40–50 bubbling 1st graders. They line up excitedly outside the door and then head in for one of the library’s best programs for kids. “Welcome to Your Library” has been welcoming 1st-graders … Continue reading First Things First: First-Class Service for 1st Graders
“This is one of the best days I’ve had in two years!” exulted Cathleen Russ, director of Troy (Mich.) Public Library the morning after some 58% of voters saved the library from closing permanently by approving a five-year operating millage. The August 2 special election was the third library referendum held there in the past … Continue reading Third Time’s the Charm for Troy Public Library
Wake up, librarians! No-fee public access to government information is in danger, because on July 22 the U.S. House of Representatives voted 252–159 to drastically cut the Government Printing Office (GPO) appropriations for FY2012 and eliminate funding for the GPO Federal Digital System (FDsys). FDsys was created by GPO in 1994 to fulfill the requirement … Continue reading Government Information in Peril
