By the Numbers Archives | Page 3 of 3 | American Libraries Magazine

By the Numbers: Banned Books Week

By Terra Dankowski | October 1, 2015

11,300 Number of books that have been challenged since 1982, according to the American Library Association. The Banned Books Week campaign launched the same year, in response to the surge in challenges to books in schools, bookstores, and libraries across the country. 60 Years ago, this September, that Vladimir Nabokov first published Lolita in Paris—after … Continue reading By the Numbers: Banned Books Week →

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Dami Lee writes: “Twitter is rolling out a new desktop design July 15 that adds more customization options and a completely rearranged navigation experience. The redesign has been open to testers for the past few months, but it will be available to everyone over the next few days. Unlike previous redesigns, however, opting into the new experience will be mandatory, and there will be no legacy Twitter to fall back to. The biggest, most noticeable change is that the top navigation bar has been moved to the left sidebar, which contains bookmarks, lists, your profile, and a new explore tab.”

The Verge, July 15
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J. D. Sartain writes: “Protecting yourself from online scams is a fact of life now. According to the FBI’s 2018 Internet Crime Report, internet scams from 2014 through 2018 cost consumers $7.45 billion. Scams include nondelivery of products ordered, identity theft, credit card fraud, and denial of service attacks. Other threats include ransomware, malware, scareware, and viruses, along with a few dozen other categories of crime. I got hit with ransomware twice and learned from the remedies I tried, as well as the experiences of friends who were hit. Read on to see what I did. We wrap up with a checklist that will help you fend off online scams of all kinds.”

PC World, July 16
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Chris Hoffman writes: “Windows PCs freeze for a variety of reasons. One instance might be a fluke, but repeated freezes suggest a problem you’ll want to fix. Here’s how to unfreeze and recover a stuck PC—and stop it from freezing again. Sometimes, all you have to do is wait a few seconds—the PC might get hung up while doing some work and unfreeze itself a few seconds later. If a full-screen application freezes and prevents you from leaving it, press Alt+F4. This closes the application if a game, for example, is experiencing graphical problems, but it won’t work if it has frozen completely. To see if the computer is still responding, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete.”

How-To Geek, July 16
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Wallace High School in Silverton, Idaho, has banned the graphic novel series The Walking Dead and removed all copies from its library, despite the review committee’s recommendation to retain the books. The ban includes asking students not to bring the comic to school grounds and plans to change students’ access to interlibrary loans. Following a complaint, Principal Chris Lund convened a review committee to make a recommendation to the school board. The committee voted overwhelmingly to keep the series in the school library, but Superintendent Bob Ranells ignored the committee and removed the comics from the school library.

National Coalition Against Censorship, July 15
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Libraries across the country are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing this July with a variety of programs, but how many library professionals can say they’ve worked on the first archive that was sent to the moon? Paul Jones, professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Information and Library Science, is one of a few who worked on the Lunar Library, a 30-million-page archive in the size and shape of a DVD. Jones, who will be retiring from UNC in 2020, spoke with American Libraries on his contribution to the Lunar Library and his 40 years in information science and journalism instruction.

American Libraries Newsmaker, July 16
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Elgin and Glencoe, Illinois, recently were welcomed into Dementia Friendly America, said Mary Ek, interim project director for the network. If you think dementia doesn’t affect your family or friends, you’re missing the big picture, says Glenna Godinsky, a staff member at Elgin’s Gail Borden Public Library, whose initiatives in the past year led to the city’s inclusion as a dementia-friendly town. A dementia-friendly advisory council in Elgin includes the library, the mayor, an elder law firm, home care providers, a state senator’s office, a hospital, the police department, and the fire department.

Arlington Heights (Ill.) Daily Herald, July 5
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Elizabeth Pelayo writes: “As we close down our school libraries and think ahead to the next school year, all of us are thinking about our summer reading list. What will we bring home to read? What should we read first? How can we balance professional reading and reading for fun during summer break? All these questions call to us as school librarians and book lovers. Here are five tips to manage the large task of summer reading lists.”

Knowledge Quest blog, July 16

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