To help area residents identify next steps, Hammes helped organize a panel on climate change in February 2018. Held in conjunction with the local Coulee Region Sierra Club Group and the La Crosse Citizens’ Climate Lobby, the panel brought together five area farmers and entrepreneurs to discuss their personal experiences with changing weather patterns. Topics … Continue reading Climate Change and Sustainability
On October 2, OCLC President and CEO Skip Prichard opened the day by outlining the five Cs that libraries need to catalyze their communities. Libraries contribute, developing unique offerings that help make them indispensable. Through those contributions, they forge connections. Catalysts create, introducing big changes and little shifts. They compete, constantly pushing themselves forward. And … Continue reading Libraries as Community Catalysts
Libraries are the critical component in the free exchange of information, which lies at the heart of our democracy. They hold our nation’s heritage, the heritage of humanity, the record of its triumphs and failures, and of its intellectual, scientific, and artistic achievements. American public libraries grant all people access to an ever-growing compendium of … Continue reading Remembering Andrew Carnegie’s Legacy
Starting October 1, CPL will eliminate overdue fines on all CPL-owned items currently in circulation, which it said will remove barriers to basic library access, especially for youth and low-income patrons. CPL’s data shows that one in five suspended library cards citywide belong to children under age 14. The data also indicates the disproportionate impact … Continue reading Chicago Public Library Goes Fine-Free
These libraries, each completed within the past three years, are now centerpieces of their communities. They have inspired awe and appreciation, increased user engagement, received architecture and design awards—and won over some of their critics. So how did these endeavors come together? How does a beautiful building become a reality? We asked three administrators—who have … Continue reading How to Build a Library
But he says any move to automate would be about expanding services, not cutting staff. “I told that journalist, the conversation would regard whether we repurpose one of our staff, who is doing transactional work, to do more transformational work enhancing library resources and programs in senior living facilities or nursing homes or low-income housing … Continue reading Automatic for the People
Meridian Library District’s (MLD) Tiny Library—a brick-red, 320-square-foot repurposed shipping container—stands out. As families cross the parking lot to the YMCA and spot the new building, we’ve heard kids ask “Can we go today?” and adults remark “This is so neat!” The Tiny Library was born out of the desire partner with other community organizations … Continue reading Tiny but Mighty
When Theresa Beck, a member of the Boulder, Colorado–based beekeeping team and advocacy group the BeeChicas, shared her idea with Kathy Lane at the Bee Boulder Festival in 2014, she didn’t think of it as more than a playful suggestion. But Lane, who is programs, events, and outreach coordinator for the Boulder Public Library (BPL), … Continue reading File under Bee
The Supreme Court had ruled against the administration’s addition of the question on June 27 and sent the issue back to lower courts. The July 11 announcement brought a final close to the debate for 2020. This was a big win for all advocates for a fair, inclusive, and accurate decennial census, including the American … Continue reading Next Steps on the Census
They’re some of the activities that thousands of libraries across the country are putting together to celebrate space exploration in their summer reading programs, with “A Universe of Stories” as the slogan. And the sky’s the limit. The umbrella initiative, Summer of Space, is a partnership among NASA, the Collaborative Summer Learning Program consortium, and … Continue reading To Space Education … and Beyond
“Love and Resistance: Stonewall 50,” through July 13 New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwartzman Building “Many people think of Stonewall as the start of the LGBTQ activist movement,” says Jason Baumann, assistant director for collection development at NYPL and coordinator of the library’s LGBTQ initiative, who curated the exhibit. “We wanted to show how … Continue reading Collecting Pride
“Questions are being raised about what is the role of libraries in this epidemic,” said Sharon Streams, director of OCLC’s WebJunction, at the outset of “Public Libraries Respond to the Opioid Crisis with Their Communities,” a June 24 session at the American Library Association’s 2019 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. More than 130 people die … Continue reading Addressing the Opioid Epidemic
