Archive for the 'Public Libraries' Category
$4.5 million proposed in library cuts
March 3rd, 2008Arizona Republic - “Phoenix libraries are facing a $4.5 million reduction under the city’s overall $67.2 million budget cuts. An additional $3.3 million decrease is possible, which would close all branches on Mondays and further reduce funding to circulating materials.”
Libraries as ‘urban hangouts’
March 2nd, 2008Davis Brewster - “Slate’s architecture critic, Witold Rybczynski, has just put up a fascinating slide show essay on downtown libraries, including Seattle’s. To read the essay is to sense all the strain as architects try to redefine large library spaces for an Internet Age.”
Public libraries tap Web applications to open a new chapter
March 2nd, 2008GCN - “Public libraries tap Web applications to open a new chapter” (via)
Public Libraries Becoming Irrelevant? Hardly.
March 2nd, 2008The Far North - “After all, nobody really thinks the world will become all-digital and socially isolated, as some pessimistic futurists and science fiction writers have envisioned. It makes sense that we would continue to have urban centers of information where people can go, not only to research a topic or find a good read, [...]
Cook library video policy is in force, but no one using it
March 2nd, 2008Daily Herald - “Despite some heated public debates, Cook Memorial Public Library District officials say no parents have taken advantage of a new policy allowing them to restrict what videos or DVDs their kids can check out.”
Library money was spent on dog food
February 27th, 2008AP - “A selectman in Bennington says a routine annual audit shows that town-raised funds meant for the public library were spent on dog food, groceries and other inappropriate expenditures, instead.”
Rough.
Libraries Will Soon Move Into Bay Area BART Stations
February 17th, 2008KNTV - “It’s another sign of the future where computers and machines are taking the place of people. This time, we may be saying goodbye to our neighborhood librarian.”
No More ‘Puters
December 16th, 2007Futures News - “A new study from the American Library Association, scheduled for release Wednesday, finds the average number of public Internet terminals largely unchanged since 2002, yet only 1 in 5 libraries say they have enough computers to meet demand at all times.”
Why I <3 Walt Crawford
October 14th, 2007Because he blogs stuff like this: “The most damaging thing most public libraries could do is to attempt to get rid of the “places of books” core image in favor of–well, of whatever. Building on, expanding, diversifying: Great. Abandoning or trivializing that role: Suicidal.”
Two Age Groups
October 14th, 2007Allie Shah - “Suburbs are designing libraries with an eye to serving two age groups who make up 70 percent of patrons, but have different agendas.”
I think we sometimes forget that there are many age groups that frequent public libraries. It’s not just about the kids.
Quiet Room Anyone?
October 8th, 2007Letter to Heloise - “The libraries should restore standards and insist on polite behavior from children, their parents and adults. Yes, libraries have changed in their offerings, but rudeness is never part of any positive environment.”
I <3 Nancy Peal
September 18th, 2007One more reason to attend PLA 2008. I won’t be there, but I hope you tell me all about it.
Library a refuge for homeless
August 30th, 2007Arthur Gregg Sulzberger - “With this procession, another day starts at the city’s biggest daytime shelter for homeless people, drug addicts and the mentally ill: the Multnomah County Central Library.”
Head Start and PLs
August 29th, 2007Debra Lau Whelan - ‘Wouldn’t it be great if Head Start was required to collaborate with public libraries? If the House and Senate can agree on the same language, it could very well happen.”
Background Checks on Volunteers
August 26th, 2007AP - “Some volunteers at Fargo’s public library will be subjected to background checks. The library already conducts background checks on new employees.
Good libraries create a sense of community
August 26th, 2007Mike Klocke - “I still remember sitting on Grandpa’s lap as we read books from the shelves of the downtown public library he so proudly had designed in the late 1950s.”
N.H. libraries, museums worth investment
August 26th, 2007Robert Finlay - “An extraordinary national resource, those diverse libraries and museums serve as invaluable repositories for the collective ideas, wisdom and creativity of the world — one of civilization’s noblest heritages derived from history, art, science, religion, philosophy and much more. They represent the sum of recorded human knowledge, innovation and achievement. And, in [...]