Message from Jen Hoyer of the Interference Archive in NYC: Hi all, I thought some on this list might be interested in recent updates from Interference Archive — a project near and dear to my heart. Located in Brooklyn, NY, since 2011 Interference Archive (http://interferencearchive.org/) has collected and provided open stacks access to material produced … Read more Call for Assistance — Interference Archive
We are renewing our EveryLibrary “Personal Donor Challenge” for 2016. It’s a challenge grant of $1,000, designed to attract 75 new $10 monthly donors to EveryLibrary. EveryLibrary is a great organization that supports public library ballot measures around the country. They depend on donations from you in order to do their work. We are very … Read more EveryLibrary/Library Juice Academy Donor Challenge
Post on March 5, 2015 by John Chrastka EveryLibrary today announces a new “Monthly Donor Challenge” from Library Juice Academy, a noted provider of professional development workshops and training for librarians. Library Juice Academy is pledging a $1,000 donation to EveryLibrary when 25 personal donors contribute at least $10 each month as reoccurring donors before … Read more Library Juice Academy Makes $1,000 EveryLibrary Fundraising Challenge
Recommended reading: LibrarianShipwreck on the fate of the Emma Goldman Papers…
John Chrastka is the former membership director at the American Library Association, and has left that position recently to start a political action committee for library advocacy purposes, called Every Library. This organization is about three months old at this point. I had heard of it and realized that I didn’t know anything about it, … Read more Interview with John Chrastka, Executive Director of the Every Library PAC
George Eberhart of American Libraries magazine has written an article about the role of libraries during Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath: “Libraries Weather the Superstorm.” He summarizes the damage done to libraries by the storm (to the extent that we know about it at this point), describes some budding efforts to repair damage and rebuild … Read more Libraries and Hurricane Sandy
Barbara Fister expresses a welcome dissenting view regarding the death of libraries and reading in the current Inside Higher Ed: “The End of the Twilight of Doom.” I agree with what she says, especially regarding the problem of high level administrators believing the hype about the death of reading, and the danger that it poses … Read more Barbara Fister on the “End of the Twilight of Doom”
Here is a guest post from Julie Teglovic, an MLIS student at the University of Denver, where students have been protesting a decision regarding the library… Library as Space: University Students Want Books This April, the paper books at the University of Denver’s Penrose Library began a move into a storage facility 10 miles away … Read more Students at the University of Denver Want Books
Citizens, though ye may be weary, please read this item from the ALA Washington Office: BATTLE FRONT: Federal Depository Library Program….
The Pennsylvania legislature has passed a bill that funds the Philadelphia Free Library to stay open. News on their blog. I’m glad but frankly still really disturbed by the whole thing.
Philadelphia has announced that they are closing all branches of the Philadelphia Free Library. I thought it must be some kind of a prank when I first read the news, because of the massiveness of the closure – all branches, not just reduced hours, not just some locations. Cities, counties, and states are in such … Read more Philadelphia Free Libraries – Closing All Branches
CLOSED EPA LIBRARIES TO RETURN IN LAVATORY-SIZED SPACES; Political Appointee Asserts Control over All Libraries, Repeals 30-Year-Old Manual “Ordered by Congress to re-open its shuttered libraries, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is grudgingly allocating only minimal space and resources, according to agency documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).”… Thanks to Jonathan … Read more EPA libraries restored in miniature form
I have not seen this and make no endorsement: Arthur and Esther, A Dark Comedy about Libraries, Lakes, and Lost Love…
I will simply refer you to the ALA blog District Dispatch and let you read it there…
This isn’t an analysis of a military action after the fact, as with last July’s reports of the destruction of a public documents archive in Nablus. What is happening now is that Israeli authorities have issued a warrant to the owner of the building housing an important Palestinian library in Jerusalem, ordering him to evacuate … Read more Israeli authorities planning to destroy a Palestinian library in Jerusalem
Arch Conservative Bush advisor Grover Norquist has been pushing the “Starve the Beast” strategy for a long time. This is the strategy that says run up a huge budget debt and then a future Congress will be unable to support government spending. The “War on Terror” is obviously the great implementation of the starve the … Read more Savanna River Ecology Laboratory closing, thanks to Bush Administration small-esse
Bernadine Abbott Hoduski shared this information with ALA Council today… The ALA Washington Office and ALA Council’s Committee on Legislation have started a wiki on federal libraries. The wiki says: The purpose of this wiki is to share and track information on federal library threats, re-organizations, and closings. Based on discussions with members, the main … Read more Federal Libraries Wiki
I’ve been tardy in blogging this… The Library of Congress’ Congressional Research Service has issued a report on the EPA library closures. That link goes to a PDF of the document hosted by the Federation of American Scientists. Thanks to ALA’s Don Wood for distributing this info.
As you may have noticed throughout the EPA library closure situation, the government’s big justification for closing the libraries has been that it is a digital age, meaning that physical libraries have lost their relevance. We know that that is hardly true, but aside from that, shouldn’t this argument mean that we will see EPA … Read more Reports disappearing from EPA library website
ALA Council’s Bernadine Abbott Hoduski, who has been Council’s leader on the EPA library closure issue, has sent us this article from Yubanet, which begins: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is frantically dispersing its library collections to preempt Congressional intervention, according to internal emails released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Contrary to … Read more EPA libraries dumping collections to preempt congressional action