ALA President Archives | Page 16 of 17 | American Libraries Magazine

Charlotte Mecklenburg Branches Saved; Fundraising Aims to Rehire Staff

By Beverly Goldberg | March 24, 2010

In an emergency meeting on the morning of March 24, the board of the Charlotte Mecklenburg (N.C.) Library rescinded its controversial week-old order to close half the system branches and lay off 148 staff members. Instead, trustees unanimously approved an alternative plan that will keep all 24 branches in operation at a reduced schedule; lay … Continue reading Charlotte Mecklenburg Branches Saved; Fundraising Aims to Rehire Staff →

$2 Million Sought by March 24 for Charlotte Mecklenburg Library

By Beverly Goldberg | March 19, 2010

Frantic messages with hashtags of #cmlibrary and #2millioninoneweek are dotting the twitterverse about efforts to avert—or at least allay—sudden plans to close 12 branches of the Charlotte Mecklenburg (N.C.) Library and lay off 148 library workers April 3. The startling March 17 announcement was followed the next day by a library board meeting at which … Continue reading $2 Million Sought by March 24 for Charlotte Mecklenburg Library →

Bostonians Deplore “Downloadables” as Branch Substitutes

By Gordon Flagg | March 16, 2010

[UPDATED March 17] “Not the computers, not the high-tech, not the downloadables,” said Boston resident Maria Rodriguez at a March 9 Boston Public Library board meeting. “Libraries are about books and librarians. I didn’t hear anything about that in your vision.” Rodriguez was one of nearly 400 people who came for details about the planned … Continue reading Bostonians Deplore “Downloadables” as Branch Substitutes →

Designing Space for Children and Teens

By Sandra Feinberg and James R. Keller | March 14, 2010

Envisioning a new youth services space is a joint effort on the part of the architects, design professionals, staff, board, and community. It requires an examination of the mission and roles of the library and how the library utilizes space to satisfy the needs of the community and, in particular, the needs of families and … Continue reading Designing Space for Children and Teens →

Obama’s “Safe Schools Czar” Targeted in New Jersey Challenge

By Beverly Goldberg | March 10, 2010

A reconsideration request regarding three anthologies in the collection of the Rancocas Valley Regional High School (RVRHS) library in Mount Holly, New Jersey, may be part of a national campaign supported by a Burlington County group to get a Department of Education official ousted from the Obama administration. And learning how to evaluate the validity … Continue reading Obama’s “Safe Schools Czar” Targeted in New Jersey Challenge →

Save the Library, Urge Los Angeles Public Library Workers

By Beverly Goldberg | March 3, 2010

The union that represents Los Angeles Public Library workers has mounted a campaign to stave off an anticipated reduction in LAPL’s workforce over five years. As of early March, the FY2010 plan to help narrow a municipal deficit of $212 million hinged on the early retirement of 145 library employees and the elimination of 110 unfilled … Continue reading Save the Library, Urge Los Angeles Public Library Workers →

Olympic Sponsorship Rules at Library Raise Vancouver’s Eyebrows

By Gordon Flagg | January 26, 2010

As the city prepares for the upcoming Winter Olympics, local media—on the lookout for games-related malfeasance—pounced on a request from the Vancouver (B.C.) Public Library administration asking staff to adhere to the sponsorship rules of the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) when holding Olympics-related programming. A memo (Word file) sent to branch heads and supervisory staff … Continue reading Olympic Sponsorship Rules at Library Raise Vancouver’s Eyebrows →

Branch-Closing Threat Galvanizes Northwestern University’s Neighbors

By Beverly Goldberg | January 24, 2010

The determination of grassroots activists in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois—home to Northwestern University—has motivated the city council to put off shuttering two beloved public library branches as of March 1, and to agree instead to study the efficacy of creating a third branch in an underserved part of town. “This is an unofficial … Continue reading Branch-Closing Threat Galvanizes Northwestern University’s Neighbors →

Embracing Change for Continuous Improvement

By Peter Hernon and Ellen Altman | January 13, 2010

Progress implies change. Not all change is progress, but all progress requires change. Change can be planned or unplanned. Libraries have experienced some serious unplanned changes in the recent past; they have been buffeted by changes in technology and scholarly communication and the downturn in the economy. Even so, most libraries have adapted wonderfully to … Continue reading Embracing Change for Continuous Improvement →

Newbery Award Winner Named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature

By Beverly Goldberg | January 6, 2010

Katherine Paterson, two-time Newbery Award winner for Bridge to Terabithia and Jacob Have I Loved, has been appointed the 2010–11 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature by the Center for the Book of the Library of Congress and the Children's Book Council's Every Child a Reader initiative. Paterson succeeds Jon Scieszka, who became the first-ever … Continue reading Newbery Award Winner Named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature →

Tough Times and Eight Ways to Deal with Them

By James LaRue | December 29, 2009

Many public libraries—in Colorado, the United States, and even worldwide—are facing significant financial troubles. We are part of a larger economic system, and this is a dip in the cycle. Such dips are inevitable over the course of one’s career. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of some strategies for reining … Continue reading Tough Times and Eight Ways to Deal with Them →

New York City Welcomes America’s Favorite Librarians

By Leonard Kniffel | December 4, 2009

New York City welcomed the 10 winners of the 2009 I Love My Librarian Award with the lighting of the city's Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. At least the timing made it look that way, and some 750,000 extra people in the streets made it seem as if the entire city had turned out to … Continue reading New York City Welcomes America’s Favorite Librarians →

Latest Library Links

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Sheila Craft-Morgan writes: “Citations are a key measure of the impact of a researcher’s work. However, research in a variety of disciplines has found that women are less likely to be cited than men; citations contain geographic bias; and the Matthew effect—in which those who begin with advantage continue to gain advantage—leads to more citations for prominent scholars in a specific discipline. These findings contribute to the notion that scholarly knowledge comes from a homogenous group of researchers, thereby overlooking the contributions of other groups.”

American Libraries column, June
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Mel Baldwin writes: “Regardless of why someone comes into a library, every patron should be free to interact with staff, browse materials, and use the internet without fear of harassment or worse. That freedom depends on libraries upholding patron privacy. With nearly 400 active anti-trans bills pending in state legislatures as of April 2024, it is a dangerous time in the US to be gender nonconforming, someone whose gender expression does not align with the traditional male or female binary. And for trans people of color, studies show the risk of discrimination and violence is higher.”

American Libraries column, June
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Greg Landgraf writes: “On a school morning last September, small groups of 5th-graders crowded around tools connected to scientific research—a microscope, a robotic camera, and even a snake named Morgan Freeman—clipboards and pencils in hand. They were at the Melrose branch of Roanoke (Va.) Public Libraries (RPL), judging graduate students from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on their research. The event was RPL’s second Flip the Fair, introduced in 2022 to help graduate students develop skills to effectively communicate their research while engaging local elementary students with STEM topics and the library.”

American Libraries Trend, June
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Aaryn Bierly writes: “Disability Pride Month is traditionally celebrated in July to celebrate the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. The ADA regulates laws regarding service animals, requires employers to accommodate their employees’ physical and medical needs, stipulates the number and placement of accessible parking spaces and restrooms, and more. One in five Americans has some type of disability that makes working more difficult, and the ADA has made working conditions easier for a significant number of Americans. We’ve got several great lists of books for kids and teens of different ages featuring characters with a range of disabilities.”

Herrick District Library (Holland, Mich.), July 1
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“Many people already turn to libraries as sources of trusted information ahead of elections, and organizations like ALA and the League of Women Voters are hoping to expand those numbers. We’ve curated a selection of resources, tools, and ideas to help inform your library’s approach to this important work.”

WebJunction, July 3
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“A federal appeals court in New Orleans is taking another look at its own order requiring a Texas county to keep eight books that deal with subjects including sex, gender identity, and racism on public library shelves. Llano County officials had initially removed 17 books from its shelves amid complaints about the subject matter. The June 6 order was vacated July 3 after a majority of the 17-member court granted Llano County officials a new hearing before the full court. The order did not state reasons and the hearing hasn’t yet been scheduled.”

Associated Press, July 7
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Todd Spangler writes: “In the days after Paramount Global disabled mtvnews.com and mtv.com/news in June—removing a trove of hundreds of thousands of articles about music and pop culture from the internet—the not-for-profit Internet Archive assembled a searchable index of 460,575 web pages previously published at mtv.com/news. The Wayback Machine’s archive of MTV News is not the full complement of what was published over the span of more than two decades. But the new collection at least ensures, for the time being, that much of MTV News’ articles remain accessible in some form.”

Variety, July 2

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