Your Virtual Brand

February 4, 2010

I recently started teaching another great group of future librarians at San José State University about Web 2.0 technologies. I’m always in awe of their enthusiasm for the subject matter and for their chosen field. This year, I also feel a little sad, knowing that some of them will likely struggle to find work after … Continue reading Your Virtual Brand


Libraries Take Disproportionate Hit in New York Mayor’s Budget

January 29, 2010

New York City’s three library systems took a disproportionate hit in the $63.6-billion budget proposal released by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg January 28. In order to close a $4.9-billion deficit for FY2011, the plan makes $1.6 billion in reductions to city agencies. Of the 834 job cuts, 299—more than one-third—would come from library staff, prompting … Continue reading Libraries Take Disproportionate Hit in New York Mayor’s Budget







Staff Shortages Stymie Service Stability in Philly

December 15, 2009

Attrition, layoffs, and budget cuts have been plaguing the Free Library of Philadelphia’s 54 branches since the fall, making it difficult for the system’s reduced workforce to maintain five-day-a-week service in the neighborhoods. “The library is critically short-staffed,” Friends Director Amy Dougherty said in the December 14 Philadelphia Daily News. “Librarians [are] completely stressed out. … Continue reading Staff Shortages Stymie Service Stability in Philly



Community Outrage Prompts Officials to Reopen Colton Libraries

December 2, 2009

Less than a month after city administrators in Colton, California, abruptly shuttered both public libraries as part of an effort to close a $5-million budget gap, Colton Public Library is back in business. The December 1 reopening of the main library came just two weeks after some 100 area residents, including library board President Pete … Continue reading Community Outrage Prompts Officials to Reopen Colton Libraries


It May Cost Too Much to Close Libraries in Reading, Pennsylvania

November 4, 2009

Concerned citizens in Reading, Pennsylvania, have been brainstorming about how to keep the three branches of the Reading Public Library open ever since the board announced in late October that it had to close the three facilities at year’s end and lay off nine of the 20 branch library workers, leaving the city of about … Continue reading It May Cost Too Much to Close Libraries in Reading, Pennsylvania


Gwinnett Board Blinks, Rescinds System Reorganization

October 25, 2009

Citizen-activists in Gwinnett County, Georgia, won a months-long battle with library officials October 21 when trustees at a specially called meeting voted unanimously to keep all 15 branches of the county system open as full-service libraries instead of converting three facilities to bookless computer centers or shuttering them altogether. “I believe we put enough pressure … Continue reading Gwinnett Board Blinks, Rescinds System Reorganization