“We forgot a long time ago what situation constitutes normal and what situation does not,” said Saad Eskander, director of the Iraq National Library and Archives, after almost a decade of war that followed the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. Since the American troop withdrawal last year, “life has not changed for the overwhelming majority … Continue reading Terror Has Not Withdrawn: Daily Life for Librarians in Iraq
Last-minute wrangling in the Florida legislature produced a deal to preserve state funding for libraries at the current-year level. At just before midnight on April 26 the House, which originally wanted to zero out all funding for the State Aid to Public Libraries program, accepted a Senate offer to restore it to the FY2009 appropriation … Continue reading In Midnight Deal, Florida Legislature Reprieves Public Library Funding
For three weeks in October, the American Library Association served as host for a legislative fellow from Morocco in an exchange program sponsored by the US Department of State. Khadija Semlali serves as a project manager for the Books, Libraries, and Archives Department in the Moroccan Ministry of Culture in Rabat. One of her duties … Continue reading ALA Hosts State Department Fellow
It frustrates me profoundly to have someone in the library profession approach me at a conference to challenge my credibility as a speaker—usually in view of the fact that I’m retired, out of touch, and behind the times. In other words, I’m no longer actively involved in library matters. My defense is immediate. I explain … Continue reading Trust in Your Trustees
The past year has been challenging for ALA, reflecting both the difficult economic conditions affecting libraries across the US and our continuing focus on a strong Association that serves its members and supports the work of libraries and the needs of their users. ALA is ending FY2012 with a deficit. This reflects lower-than-expected revenue from … Continue reading Background on Our Budget
John Chrastka, ALA’s director of membership development from 2003 to 2011, didn’t leave library advocacy behind when he resigned from ALA to devote more time to his start-up consulting agency. First, he was already on the Berwyn (Ill.) Public Library board (where he has served for six years). Now, in characteristically maverick fashion, Chrastka has … Continue reading An Interview with John Chrastka
Then a phoenix arose. Across the street from the closed library, a new high school was about to be built, including an 8,000-square-foot library building. Brian Bannon, Chicago’s library commissioner, heard that the Chicago Public Schools might be interested in sharing library space and costs. The idea was intriguing, and it seemed cost-effective, too. “We … Continue reading Rocking the Joint
Yet another major reason why the Forbes.com article received so much traction in the library community is that it reflects the current fears and apprehension that exist among librarians and other public service professionals. The underlying issue is that there’s a significant problem for librarianship when it comes to articulating a public benefit message. In … Continue reading Forbes Folly
How important? “In the last 30 years, nearly all net new jobs were created by start-ups, and they will continue to play a critical role in America’s economic future,” noted the US Department of Commerce’s chief economist Mark Doms in a March 23, 2011, post to Commerce’s Economics and Statistics Administration blog about business startups. … Continue reading How Public Libraries Are a Boon to Small Business
“FY2012 has proven to be relatively stable,” the bipartisan National Council of State Legislatures (NCSL) said August 7 in its State Budget Update: Summer 2012 (PDF file). “Projected revenues and appropriations in FY2013 also are expected to rise moderately.” Although a sustained robust recovery still eludes state coffers, the NCSL report affirms that “new budget … Continue reading Louisiana Denied State Aid; Support Varies Elsewhere
Karen Keninger became director of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., in March. She is the first person who is blind to direct the Braille and talking-book program. Keninger is former director of the Iowa Department for the Blind, a provider of … Continue reading An Interview with Karen Keninger
The Olympic Games are not all about sports and athletes—poets participate, too. Bryan Thao Worra, Lao-American writer, poet, and a member of the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), was selected to represent Lao poets in Poetry Parnassus, a weeklong poetry festival named after the home of the Greek Muses and part of Southbank Centre’s Festival … Continue reading APALA Member Represents at the London Olympics – through Poetry
