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Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Being a reader is a life-long project, and we all want to do it well.
Sometimes, it’s easy to get caught up in the parts of a reader’s life
that feel insurmountable — the TBR list you’ll never complete; the
library hold list you’ll never catch up on; all the amazing books you’ll
never hear about, let alone find and own!

But there are little ways we can enrich our reading lives every day:
small changes we can make or ideas we can try to change up our reading
patterns and find new books to love. Here are forty places to start. Add
your own in the comments below, or try a couple first and then come
tell me how they go. Read more...

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Throughout the riots and looting that overtook our city during the Freddie Gray protests, several businesses stayed open despite the danger. The PNC Foundation is now recognizing one of those businesses located in the hardest hit area.

A patron stopped librarian Melanie Townsend Diggs on
Wednesday afternoon with good news: He had used a library computer to
apply for some jobs Tuesday morning, and before he even got home that
day, he had gotten a call for an interview.

A pretty typical moment for most librarians, Diggs says, except that
Tuesday morning, April 28, was no typical day. Just 12 hours before,
rioting had erupted across the street from the Pennsylvania Avenue
branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, when protests against the
high-profile death of Baltimore resident Freddie Gray turned violent. As
a CVS drugstore burned and the turmoil played out, Diggs kept her
patrons safe, quietly locking the doors and letting them out later when
the violence subsided. Read more...

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

In New York City, supporters of public libraries say that respect for — and repair of — the libraries is long, well, overdue.

A new campaign, Invest in Libraries,
puts forth that in the past 10 years, the city government has reduced funding for public libraries by nearly 20 percent and 1,000 workers or
so have been trimmed from the payroll. The campaign calls on the city to
increase its support in various ways, such as restoring $65 million in
operating funds.

The New York Times reports
that "the city's three public library systems — the New York Public
Library, the Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Library — are
seeking $1.4 billion in city funds over the next decade to bring all 217
public library branches up to modern building standards."

Libraries, guys. I love’em. They provide a community gathering space and, of course, the best-ever entertainment —
all for free. In some cities, though, public libraries are crumbling
from financial woes, overcrowding, and architectural damage. So a
few New Yorkers are starting libraries their own.

Here’s a little background on NYC’s public library system: More
people visit New York City’s libraries than all of the city’s major sports games, zoos, museums, and performing arts combined, according to the New York Times.
Despite their popularity, they are underfunded, and as a result,
structures are crumbling, demand is high, space is tight, and they don’t
have the budget to cater to all of their visitors’ needs, according to astatement from a group of NYC libraries. Here’s Vice with more: Read more....

Libraries everywhere are under threat. After all, who needs a library
today, when it is possible, without even getting out of bed, to find
and read almost any book or article that has ever been published? One is
tempted to recall the reaction by some to the recent news that Radio
Shack had gone bankrupt: “Radio Shack bankrupt? I didn’t know Radio
Shack still existed!”

I was asked to give the opening keynote at a combined meeting of the Library Leaders Summit and the Computers in Libraries
conference this week in Washington, D.C. In discussing the future of
libraries, the conference continues a long tradition of forward-looking
libraries exploring emerging technologies, hearing from bleeding edge
practitioners and sharing case studies of innovative libraries. My
thoughts on the future of libraries are equally applicable to many other
sectors that are facing the threat of extinction from massive
disruption to their businesses.

Growing up with personalised technology has made some things easy for today's young adults.

Many of these so-called digital natives are adept at communicating
via social media and texting. Apps such as Uber are customised for users
and let them complete complicated tasks (like navigating from A to B in
a strange city) by pushing a single button.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Philanthropist Andrew Carnegie donated $5.2 million to the New York
Public Library in 1901 to expand its services through branches around
the city.

Calling it a “rare privilege” to provide the funds that would build the
modern library system beloved by New Yorkers today, Carnegie wrote his
massive check without a hint of misgiving.

Last week, the NYPL opened a new free display celebrating Carnegie's vision and generosity.

“Celebrating Carnegie's Gift to New Yorkers” will run through May 10 in
the McGraw Rotunda on the third floor of NYPL’s iconic Stephen A.
Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in Manhattan. Read more..