This year’s Banned Books Week is September 23–29. 416 Number of books banned or challenged in 2017, according to the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF). 100,000 Number of copies that Angie Thomas’s young adult novel, The Hate U Give, printed in its first month. The Coretta Scott King Book Awards honoree, about … Continue reading By the Numbers: Banned Books Week
11 Number of years ago that International Open Access Week was first observed. In 2007, a coalition of US college students, researchers, and librarians celebrated Open Access Day, which was extended to Open Access Week the following year and has evolved into a global effort. 72 Number of countries represented by groups discussing issues of … Continue reading By the Numbers: Open Access Week
95 Percent of libraries that offer summer reading programs, according to the American Library Association’s 2014 Digital Inclusion Survey. 4-5 Number of books children should read over break to prevent “summer slide,” a loss in reading achievement experienced by young readers between school years, according to a 2004 Harvard study. Studies show children from low-income … Continue reading By the Numbers: Summer Reading
7 Years since the American Library Association’s (ALA) Annual Conference was last held in New Orleans. 16,964 Number of Annual attendees in 2006, the year ALA was the first national group to hold a conference in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina and the convention center’s reopening. 1014 Dumaine Street address of the town house once … Continue reading By the Numbers: New Orleans
39 Years ago that Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week was first observed. In 1990, the week was expanded to the month of May. 1980 Year that the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association was founded. The group formally became affiliated with the American Library Association (ALA) in 1982. 45th Anniversary that the Chinese American Librarians Association celebrated this … Continue reading By the Numbers: Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month
11 Date in April that National Bookmobile Day—part of National Library Week—will be celebrated. 2010 Year that National Bookmobile Day was first observed by the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services (ABOS), Association for Rural and Small Libraries, and American Library Association’s Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. 1905 Year that the first bookmobile … Continue reading By the Numbers: Bookmobiles
5,280 Denver’s elevation (in feet) above sea level gives the city its “Mile High” nickname. Over the years, three different steps outside the gold-adorned Colorado State Capitol building have been marked as the official mile-high point. 150 Number of archival collections of personal and professional items from African Americans in the West available in the … Continue reading By the Numbers: Get to Know Denver
1990 Year that President George H. W. Bush, at the request of Congress, issued a proclamation designating November as National American Indian Heritage Month. Similar proclamations and variations on the name—including Native American Heritage Month and National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month—have been issued each year since 1994. 567 Number of federally recognized … Continue reading By the Numbers: Native American Heritage Month
1988 The year then–Secretary of Education William Bennett issued the challenge: “Let’s have a national campaign. Every child should obtain a library card—and use it.” The following year, the American Library Association declared September as Library Card Sign-Up Month. 500 Number of children who attended the October 14, 1988, kickoff event on the National Mall … Continue reading By the Numbers: Library Cards
756,000 Square footage of Chicago Public Library’s (CPL) main building, the Harold Washington Library Center. At the time of its completion in 1991, it was the largest single library building in the US. 9th Floor of the Harold Washington Library Center where you’ll find the Winter Garden, a meeting space featuring an atrium, marble floors, … Continue reading By the Numbers: Literary Chicago
1–7 Dates in May that Choose Privacy Week is annually observed. 1939 Year that the American Library Association adopted its Bill of Rights, which affirms a commitment to privacy in its first iteration. 48 Number of US states (plus the District of Columbia) that protect the confidentiality of library users’ records by law. The remaining … Continue reading By the Numbers: Privacy
1857 Year that Jane Wadden Turner was hired as a library clerk by the Smithsonian. She was the first woman to secure a paid position at the institution. 16 Number of years that the Amelia Bloomer List, a project of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Social Responsibilities Round Table Feminist Task Force, has been recommending … Continue reading By the Numbers: Women and Libraries
