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
These four books are in progress and coming along quickly: The Stories I Read to the Children: The Life and Writing of Pura Belpré, the Legendary Storyteller, Children’s Author, and New York Public Librarian, edited by Lisa Sánchez González. The Politics of Professionalism: A Retro-Progressive Proposal for Librarianship, by Juris Dilevko Critical Library Instruction: Theories … Read more Four books coming soon
Something to notice when Facebook, Myspace, and other social networking sites address concerns about privacy is the way they focus on users’ ability to control other users’ access to their information, but neglect to mention their own use of that information. When they enable users to set up different levels of access to parts of … Read more Privacy smoke-and-mirrors
Two recent articles in the mainstream press are telling us that paper books and physical libraries are dead (Boston Globe and CNN.com). One of the easiest things to forget about the death of the book is for how many years it has been declared. A few quotations from past decades, from authors who were responding … Read more Death of a thousand paper cuts
We’ve hopped on Livejournal, to take part in communities and reconnect with some people who post there. If you’re a Livejournaler and want to add us, you can find us at http://litwinbooks.livejournal.com …
Yes, I know I’m supposed to be user-centered and all that, but I think the great wave of populism we’re seeing now is going to lead to bad things. Some friends say it’s a time of opportunity, that maybe the blind rage of the common man can be directed toward support of progressive policies. Perhaps, … Read more “Most People”
In addition to information about the books we publish, the Library Juice Press and Litwin Books websites have some free content, including some of the content of our books and some additional readings as well. Here are links to the free content available on these sites: Michael Gorman’s Foreword to Speaking of Information: The Library … Read more Free content on the LJP / Litwin Books website
From: Franck Hurinville To: ifla-l@infoserv.inist.fr Subject: [IFLA-L] French IFLA National Committee : please visit our blog Date: Aug 18, 2009 9:54 AM dear IFLA Colleagues, the Comité Français IFLA – French IFLA National Committee is an independent umbrella association of library, information, documentation associations, institutions and professionals in France. It is committed to supporting the … Read more Le blog du CFI
There is something that people in the book world often don’t understand about copyright. When I say book world I mean librarians, booksellers, reviewers, researchers, authors, and sometimes publishers. A question that people often want to know the answer to is “Who owns the copyright” to a work, because they may want to know if … Read more Something people in the book world often misunderstand about copyright
I should have posted something about this earlier, sorry. I will be speaking at Drexel in Philadelphia tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday, 8/11/09), at the iSchool, 5pm, Rush Building, Room 014. They have posted a description to their news site. If you have a chance to go and you have found out about it here, say hello … Read more Speaking at Drexel
Just a brief note on a topic I will return to later… I find that librarians think of change in one of two ways: Change is happening to the profession; or Change is happening in the environment (social, cultural, economic, political) and the profession determines how it will change in response. These two ways of … Read more Professionalism and attitudes toward change
ALA Council Report to SRRT, Chicago, July 2009 Before reporting on the business of the meetings, let me first honor the life of E.J. Josey, who died just before Annual Meeting. EJ was a founding member of SRRT and the founding father of the Black Caucus of ALA, the first black male President of ALA … Read more SRRT Councilor’s report
I have not been posting much, because I’ve been on the road and things have been different – first the ALA Conference, which I attended as an exhibitor, putting a lot of energy into it, and then a few days in Milwaukee, where I worked on a paper and relaxed. Now I am on a … Read more Translation project
The following is the list of authors in the Author Index to Speaking of Information: The Library Juice Quotation Book. (Note that some authors listed, like me, are there because they show up in the notes.) A Achenbach, Joel Aeschylus Agre, Phil Alfino, Mark Allen, Woody Alterman, Eric American Library Association Angus, Ian Atton, Chris … Read more List of authors in Speaking of Information: the Library Juice Quotation Book
Events for your calendar this upcoming ALA Annual in Chicago: Litwin Books and Library Juice Press will be sharing a booth with the Alternative Press Center in the Exhibits Hall. The Exhibits Hall is open from Saturday, July 11 at 9am until Tuesday, July 14 at 2pm. We’ll be at booth 1637. I hope you’ll … Read more Library Juice Press and Litwin Books @ALA
So You Want To Be a Librarian Author: Lauren Pressley Price: : $15.00 Published: July 2009 ISBN: 978-0-9802004-8-5 Printed on acid-free paper. Now on sale. Librarians tend to love their work and consider librarianship a great career. This book is by a talented librarian who wants to introduce people to the profession. If you are … Read more New from LJP: So You Want To Be a Librarian
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS Greening Libraries, edited by Monika Antonelli and Mark McCullough and published by Library Juice Press, is a collection of essays, papers and articles on various aspects of the green library movement. The editors are seeking articles from a variety of perspectives on a wide range of topics related to green practices, sustainability … Read more Call for Submissions: Greening Libraries
The Baffler is coming back! The Baffler was my favorite magazine during the years it was being published. Thomas Frank has announced he is bringing it back, and is involving some really great people. This is great news, especially for smart, critical, non-trendy Gen-Xers, whom I think the magazine really spoke to.
A cultural theme in America for the past few decades has been a certain conservative populist “anti-elitism.” Barack Obama’s victory despite his vulnerability to the charge of elitism – owing to his statements about small town America “clinging to guns and religion,” his educational background, and his personal choice to assume an intelligent audience when … Read more Anti-elitism and academic libraries