The Big Ideas series, a new morning lecture program debuting at PLA 2014, kicked off on Thursday, March 13, with a talk by writer and motivational speaker, Simon Sinek. The author of Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action and Leaders Eat Last and a popular presenter on TEDx, Sinek drew … Continue reading Simon Sinek Opens with Big Ideas
In a new report issued March 13, the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project has explored the motivations behind the relationships that American adults have with their public libraries. “Rather than describe the basic library usage of various groups, as we’ve done in the past,” Kathryn Zickuhr, the report, titled “From Distant Admirers … Continue reading Pew Charts the Motivations of Library Lovers and Distant Admirers
With early January's Polar Vortex already fading into distant memory, it is sobering to realize that communities are still struggling to recover from the October 2012 devastation left by Hurricane Sandy. The Category 3 storm destroyed thousands of homes and killed 286 people, 72 in the US alone. “While speedy repair work and first rounds … Continue reading How Libraries Are Faring since Hurricane Sandy
This is my first column as ALA’s new treasurer, and I would like to use this opportunity to share with you my overall observations about ALA’s current financial situation. Despite the recession, ALA is a financially viable and financially solvent organization. One of these strengths is the fact that the Chicago headquarters—both 40 East Huron … Continue reading ALA: Dollars and Sense
The activists behind Libraries Without Borders (Bibliothèques Sans Frontières) understand that priority must be given to food, water, shelter, and medicine. They also recognize that little attention is paid to another basic human necessity: the knowledge resources needed to cope with catastrophe. Founded in Paris in 2007, Libraries Without Borders (LWB) provides targeted books and … Continue reading Disaster Relief … with Books
Nine days after the Boston Public Library found itself part of the crime scene as law enforcement investigated the Boston Marathon bombings, the landmark Central Library received its all-clear and reopened on April 24. Shortly afterward, BPL President Amy Ryan emailed the following thank-you note to library colleagues (care of ALA, the Association of Research … Continue reading Back in Business in Boston
ALA Immediate Past President Molly Raphael had the opportunity to visit China last fall to speak to the library community there about some of the struggles that many American libraries face as they try to provide ebooks and digital content to the public. Her speaking tour included stops in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xi’an, Guangzhou, Dongguan, … Continue reading International Libraries Confronted by Ebook Library Lending
Recent court filings, news reports, and online posts, however, have begun to shine a spotlight on libraries’ filtering policies and practices. According to legal complaints, some libraries are denying users access to websites that discuss Wicca and Native American spirituality; blacklisting websites that affirm the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities while whitelisting sites … Continue reading Filtering and the First Amendment
Penguin Group USA revealed today that, as of April 2, it will remove the six-month embargo on ebook titles licensed to libraries and instead offer new titles immediately after they are released in the consumer market. Other pilot terms are expected to continue, including a one-year expiration date on ebooks licensed to libraries and library … Continue reading Penguin Revisits Library Pilot Terms
“Happiness is contagious.” This missive, which is one of the many kernels of wisdom I jotted down at SXSW, stands out as I pour through my notes and reflect on the powerful, transformative experience I just had in Austin. The quote was about workplace happiness, but I saw it play out all around me and … Continue reading Librarians and Happenstance Voyagers, SXSW 2013, Day Four and Five Wrap-up
Wowza! SXSW is dazzling. I got to see one my favorite authors, Douglas Rushkoff, on Saturday. Rushkoff’s advice is to treat interactions with devices and online life as periodic dips into a rushing stream, with no need to capture or cling to all that’s happening. That advice applies beautifully to South By Southwest. I’ve got … Continue reading Librarians and Happenstance Voyagers, SXSW 2013 – Day 2 and 3 Recap
Lisa Genova, neuroscientist and bestselling author of Still Alice (2008), Left Neglected (2011), and Love Anthony (2012), presented the Arthur Curley Memorial Lecture on Saturday morning, January 27. Although her more recent novels focused on autism and hemispatial neglect, Genova chose to talk about her first book, which revolved around a 50-year-old woman, Alice Howland, … Continue reading The Story of Still Alice
