Library News, Reviews, and Views
More than a dozen New York City Council members, the presidents of New York’s three library systems, and several hundred librarians, library staff, supporters, advocates, and children from nearby schools rallied on the steps of city hall to protest $106 million in proposed funding cuts. Council members Jimmy Van Bramer and Vincent J. Gentile also pledged to introduce legislation that would create a baseline of stable funding for the city’s public library services.
“[Our] library in Freeport is the heart of that community,” says 2013 Mover & Shaker Margaux DelGuidice, who shares duties with fellow honoree Rose Luna at the Freeport Memorial Library in Long Island, NY. These two powerhouses also hold full-time teacher librarian positions at two area high schools, and have devoted countless hours to professional advocacy. In our interview, they share their inspirations and passions, their best practices for constructive collaboration, and their goals for the future of libraries.
From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: A Missouri library has agreed not to censor patrons’ internet searches on the Wiccan faith, Native American religions and other spiritual matters, the ACLU said Wednesday. In the consent judgment, approved Tuesday, the Salem, Mo., Public Library’s board agreed not to re-impose filters that blocked the category “occult,” among others. [...]
Macmillan will launch a pilot program selling ebooks to public libraries, CEO John Sargent announced today. The pilot, which will launch in the first quarter of this year, involves more than 1200 backlist titles from the Minotaur imprint, which handles mysteries and crime fiction. Macmillan will distribute the books under the agency model and work with multiple distributors, including OverDrive, Axis 360, and the 3M Cloud Library. Once purchased by a library, each will be available for two years or 52 circulations, whichever comes first.
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the New York, Queens, and Brooklyn Public Library have partnered with the city to provide online courses to students displaced from their homes.
The modern spirit of haste often blurs fundamental clauses of our social contract like this one, even among librarians. My epiphany was to recapture a sense of just how radical a concept the public library is.
If one theme runs through Tracie D. Hall’s career, it’s the passion she feels for young people and
Tracie D. Hall
ensuring they have the resources to succeed. As Queens Library’s newest director of strategy and organizational development, she’s involved in the library’s customer service priorities—but she’ll also ensure that youth services remains a priority.
“I’m always in awe of the raw potential in young people,” says Hall, who came aboard on July 16. “Institutions can either squash that and try to [...]
Just because citywide budget cuts have forced the Seattle Public Library to close its doors for a week starting Monday, doesn’t mean kids will be left without good books or fun things to do during that time. A group is organizing a “People’s Library” in the Central District—and it needs children and YA titles.
Some 60,232 Chicago kids read more than 1.5 million books this summer, thanks to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Rahm’s Readers, the Chicago Public Library’s summer reading program. Studies show that children who participate in summer reading programs maintain or improve their reading skills and start school ready to learn.
Literacy isn’t the only thing Washington, DC, public libraries are offering kids this summer. They’re also serving up some lunch.
“We wanted to make sure they had a reason to come,” says Ginnie Cooper, chief librarian for the District of Columbia. “Sometimes the kids will come for the lunch, and sometimes they come for the program.”
INFOdocket by Gary Price
