intellectual freedom Archives | Page 15 of 29

Books-on-Demand Technology Comes to Brooklyn Public Library

By Beverly Goldberg | March 7, 2012

A group of 3rd-graders from Brooklyn’s P.S. 399 watched Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses being printed on demand in bound paperback format March 7 at Brooklyn (N.Y.) Public Library’s Central branch. The children were invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony to introduce the library’s new Espresso Book Machine, which can print more than … Continue reading Books-on-Demand Technology Comes to Brooklyn Public Library →

Key Strategies Discussed

By Keith Michael Fiels | March 6, 2012

ALA’s Executive Board discussions during the 2012 Midwinter Meeting in Dallas focused on some key Association initiatives. The ALA Strategic Plan (PDF file) outlines Association goals and objectives and provides a framework for plans, strategies, and initiatives on a day-to-day and year-by-year basis. This past fall, the board met with the leadership of ALA’s 11 … Continue reading Key Strategies Discussed →

Is It Censorship If It’s Pizza?

February 29, 2012

I love reading Seth Godin’s work; his musings on marketing and business practices provide a wealth of ideas for libraries. Recently he launched a new project on transforming schools called “Stop Stealing Dreams” that includes a core manifesto on education. Godin is spreading the free manifesto far and wide, but ran into a bit of … Continue reading Is It Censorship If It’s Pizza? →

“Book Traffickers” Meet Tucson Ban on Mexican-American Studies

By Beverly Goldberg | February 22, 2012

Educators in the Houston metro area are readying a “book trafficker” caravan that would travel March 12–18 from Houston, Texas, to Tucson, Arizona, to donate books about the Mexican-American experience to four volunteer libraries. The donations are meant to counter the January removal of at least seven titles from Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) … Continue reading “Book Traffickers” Meet Tucson Ban on Mexican-American Studies →

Create a Library “Tech Shop”

We librarians are experts at collecting. Our jobs, our departments, our very buildings have been designed to acquire content. There is, however, another side to content that many libraries haven’t yet fully explored, and that is content creation. Yes, we have books about how to create a graphic novel, how to learn a musical instrument, … Continue reading Create a Library “Tech Shop” →

ALA’s Digital Content Efforts Receive International Attention

February 9, 2012

As co-chair of the Digital Content and Libraries Working Group, I was very disappointed to miss the meetings with publishers in New York. But in the end I had the best of both worlds. I read the great report from ALA President Molly Raphael and know that our subgroups are energized to continue the discussion … Continue reading ALA’s Digital Content Efforts Receive International Attention →

ALA Goes to New York, Things Don’t Get Violent

February 3, 2012

This week, ALA leadership met with senior management from Penguin, Macmillan, Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Perseus publishing houses to discuss ebooks and libraries. ALA went in with a strong mission statement from ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels: “Dialog begins with saying you need to deal with libraries and you need to do … Continue reading ALA Goes to New York, Things Don’t Get Violent →

Ebook Talks: First Report

February 2, 2012

Here’s a first take on the talks held this week between American Library Association leaders and the senior management of several New York–based publishers: Dear Colleagues: Here is a brief report on our meeting with publishers in New York on January 30–February 1. Others participating in these talks besides myself were: Maureen Sullivan, ALA President-elect … Continue reading Ebook Talks: First Report →

We Need Copyright 2.0

By Neal Starkey | February 1, 2012

I applaud the hard work of everyone who has tackled the thorny issues confronting libraries in the increasingly hostile ebook environment in which we find ourselves. However, I believe we are missing an essential component in any solution: copyright law reform. At last summer’s ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans, I listened to an impassioned … Continue reading We Need Copyright 2.0 →

Copyright Fair Use – Update

January 26, 2012

If you missed the fair-use panel presented by the ALA Washington Office at Midwinter, you may want to check out ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy and get access to policy briefs, webinars, and more. Also, the Association of Research Librarians has a webinar today from 3 to 4 p.m. Eastern time about ARL’s new … Continue reading Copyright Fair Use – Update →

John Green: Nerdfighter, Fighter for Free Speech

January 23, 2012

“Librarians adopted our social media presence way before anyone else,” said New York Times bestselling young adult author and vlogger extraordinaire John Green, who was at the 2012 American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in Dallas to promote his new book, The Fault in Our Stars. “And the only people who watched us were either librarians … Continue reading John Green: Nerdfighter, Fighter for Free Speech →

The Librarians of Occupy Wall Street

January 21, 2012

Five librarians associated with the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement’s People’s Library offered their views on democracy, protest, and the difficulties of providing reader’s services under radically different circumstances at “A Library Occupies Wall Street,” Saturday morning as part of the ALA Midwinter Meeting Masters Series. All five spoke of their personal experiences as part … Continue reading The Librarians of Occupy Wall Street →

Latest Library Links

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Steph Campbell writes: “From a combination of hype from Stranger Things, captivating performances on Critical Role, acceptance of ‘nerd culture,’ and so many other reasons, TTRPGs have greatly increased in popularity over the past few years, and youth activities are reflecting this. Running games is often seen as the core for facilitating this interest, but you can connect your library’s book collection to this too. By displaying books that focus on themes from your library’s game sessions, you can help players find other stories that they relate to.”

ALA Games & Gaming Round Table, July 11
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Share innovative strategies and resources with your peers by submitting an education program proposal for the 2025 LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience, taking place January 24–27, 2025, in Phoenix, Arizona. The submission site is open now through August 12. The programmatic theme of LibLearnX 2025 is Reimagine, Refocus, Reset: Charting a Path for the Future. The LibLearnX Program Submission Guide provides detailed explanations of the learning formats and step-by-step instructions for submitting a proposal. Consult the Program Proposal Rubric for evaluation criteria and scoring and view a video on using the submission site to create and submit your proposal.

ALA Conference Services, July 15
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Summer is in full swing. This means getting outside, soaking up some sunshine, and listening to our favorite tunes—from oldies-but-goodies to today’s hits. In Episode 97, Call Number covers music. This episode includes conversations with librarians who have organized programs for local patrons who love Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and K-Pop, as well as librarian and Grammy Award–winning French horn player Joy Worland. Attendees of ALA’s 2024 Annual Conference and Exhibition in San Diego also share memories of the first concert they attended.

AL: The Scoop, July 15
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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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