Support and education for today’s youth is the key to liberation. That was the overall message delivered by Jamal Joseph, author of the newly released Panther Baby: A Life of Rebellion and Reinvention (Algonquin Books), who delivered the 13th annual Arthur Curley Lecture Saturday. The lecture series was created in honor of the late ALA … Continue reading Curley Lecturer Discusses His Life as a Black Panther
This piece is excerpted from the January 2012 issue of Library Technology Reports. You can purchase the full issue on the ALA Store. Google “smartphone user.” Click on Images. What do you see? When I tried this, I saw some graphs, pictures of devices (many of them BlackBerrys), and a bunch of white people, mostly … Continue reading Bridging the Digital Divide with Mobile Services
When the Kansas Digital Library Consortium’s contract with digital-content distributor OverDrive was up for renewal last year, two issues made Kansas State Librarian Joanne Budler decide it was time to move on and transfer the ebook titles to another vendor who could offer a better deal. First, OverDrive planned to raise license fees by almost … Continue reading Threats to Digital Lending
The digital revolution in libraries is not exactly a secret. Every day we read about some upheaval in the ebook industry, a new development in digitization, or yet another service from Google. And the recent announcement of an ALA-wide initiative on digital content and libraries, while important and necessary, won’t exactly make media headlines. It … Continue reading The Revolution Isn’t Just Digital
Join the more than 10,000 library leaders, publishers, authors, and guests in discussions about the transformation of libraries, learn firsthand from frontline Occupy movement librarians, and engage in the excitement of Youth Media Award announcements during the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting January 20–24 at the Dallas Convention Center and area hotels. More than 1,800 … Continue reading The Conversation Starts in Dallas . . .
Few would disagree that a diverse work force makes us better stewards of the communities we serve. It enhances our ability to respond to an increasingly changing world of patrons, strengthens relations with our communities, and expands the creativity of our libraries. While efforts to diversify the profession have gradually improved in the past quarter-century, … Continue reading Reflecting Our Communities
At the Australian School Library Association conference in October 2011, Executive Director Karen Bonanno offered several excellent insights in her keynote (Vimeo, 31:46) that are useful to all librarians in this era of tightened budgets and job opportunities. School librarians in particular may want to implement Bonanno’s five-finger mnemonic to craft that one-minute elevator speech … Continue reading Making Progress by Fives
Welcome to the first Outside/In, our new column for American Libraries. Some readers may remember us from Public Libraries magazine, where we wrote the Internet Spotlight column about web topics relevant to librarians and the public library sector. Our goal with this new column is to share practical information, news, and tips about emerging web … Continue reading Add to Your (Library) Cart
A few years ago an earnest-sounding college student called the ALA Library to gather information about librarianship as a career, adding that she didn’t want to work with computers. We all have days we’d be happy to see our technology replaced with pen and paper that doesn’t crash. But that is not our world, and … Continue reading Occupying Technology
Public librarians have come up with all kinds of reasons why their communities should support them. Some of these reasons are even realistic: Many people enjoy reading or listening to a good book; Free Wi-Fi and electricity are attractive perks; Preschoolers love story hours and puppet shows; Students need a place to do homework assignments; … Continue reading Taking Care of Business
ALA provides a strong, unified voice for our libraries. Much of the Association’s strength comes not just from our divisions, round tables, and other ALA units, but also from our chapters and affiliates. Each year, many chapters and affiliates invite the ALA president to participate in their conferences, providing a wonderful opportunity for both ALA’s … Continue reading Chapters, Affiliates Display Their Strength
With all types of libraries suffering budget crises, a key skill is to know where—and how—available dollars might be stretched. In Cost Control for Nonprofits in Crisis, G. Stevenson Smith interprets the principles of cost accounting for use in libraries and other nonprofits. Following an overview of the chapter, Smith provides tools and examples to … Continue reading New from ALA Editions
