Library Stuff

“In recent years, four newly built but mothballed branch libraries stood as stark evidence of San Jose’s budget mess, built with bond proceeds voters approved more than a decade ago by a city that could no longer afford to staff them. On Saturday, the first of those four new branch libraries, Seven Trees, is set to finally celebrate its grand opening.

“People have been waiting a long time for it to open,” said Anne Cain, San Jose’s interim library director. “It will make a huge difference in this community.” The city’s original Seven Trees library opened in 1967. It was closed in 2008 and demolished to make way for the new version, which occupies the upper floor of a new Seven Trees Community Center that opened in September 2011.”

via Contra Costa Times

“For those who love to read, there is no such thing as having access to too many books. Bexar County commissioners’ plan to launch the first bookless public library system in the nation is commendable. It will expand the availability of books, albeit electronically, to sectors of our community that have long had to do without adequate access to libraries. For bibliophiles, nothing can replace the feel of holding a bound book and being able to physically turn the pages. But technology is changing the way we do many things.”

via San Antonio Express-News

“IN THE dark rooftop viewing space of the Khalil Al Sakakini Cultural Centre in Ramallah, the air was heavy with sighs. Occasionally the faint sound of a whimper could be heard. The screen flickered with images of Palestinians forced out of their homes in the 1948 war. On camera, refugees recounted their ordeals and lamented the loss of something precious: their books. This was the Ramallah debut of “The Great Book Robbery”, a 2012 documentary about the looting of some 70,000 books from private Palestinian libraries during the 1948 war. It vividly chronicles the large-scale cultural pillage and dispossession of Palestinian literary archives. Directed by Benny Brunner, a Dutch-Israeli immigrant and self-described former Zionist, the film left the 40 or so attendees in awe. Adding to the poignance, the audience was gathered in a centre named for a famous Palestinian poet and scholar whose own book collection had been looted.”

via The Economist

“The internet has already had a major impact on how people find and access information, and now the rising popularity of e-books is helping transform Americans’ reading habits. In this changing landscape, public libraries are trying to adjust their services to these new realities while still serving the needs of patrons who rely on more traditional resources. In a new survey of Americans’ attitudes and expectations for public libraries, the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project finds that many library patrons are eager to see libraries’ digital services expand, yet also feel that print books remain important in the digital age.”

via Pew

“Walk into any public library and, of course, you see books, reference materials, newspapers, magazines, and all types of the printed word. We might also see comic books, manga, and less traditional “literature.” These days, we encounter film, television, music, internet-connected computers, and other digital media. But video games? Libraries lend video games, and they have been for some time. Some folks might think video games have no place in public institutions. Some articles on the web assume that readers will cringe when they hear that this is happening.  Libraries and librarians, however, seem to overwhelmingly support the practice.”

via VentureBeat

“For the eighth year in a row a measure sponsored by Del. Mamye BaCote, R-Newport News, to ban guns in Newport News public libraries failed Thursday. A House of Delegates subcommittee used a procedural maneuver to stop an initiative given to Bacote by the Newport News City Council designed to make the city’s libraries a gun free zone. Because Virginia is a “Dillon’s Rule” state local ordinances must be approved by the General Assembly and signed into law by the governor in order to take effect.”

via Daily Press

“While I was researching some of our reader-nominations for Book Riot’s 2013 charitable partner, I stumbled across The Library Initiative of The Robin Hood Foundation and was, to be perfectly honest, blown away. The Robin Hood Foundation itself is a large organization dedicated to fighting poverty in New York City. One of their specific projects, though, is something I hadn’t seen before: partnering with the New York City Board of Education to rehabilitate and rejuvenate the city’s school libraries.”

via Book Riot

“Libraries and big six publishers are at war over eBooks: how much they should cost, how they can be lent and who owns them.  If you don’t use your public library and assume that this doesn’t affect you, you’re wrong. In a society where bookstores disappear every day while the number of books available to read has swelled exponentially, libraries will play an ever more crucial role.  Even more than in the past, we will depend on libraries of the future to help discover and curate great books.   Libraries are already transforming themselves around the country to create more symbiotic relationships with their communities, with book clubs and as work and meeting spaces for local citizens.”

via Forbes

“Libraries are no longer simply a holding area for books, they are community hubs. People gather at the library to share ideas and enrich their lives. Computers and internet are now standard in libraries and are often in demand. Unemployed individuals can come to the library and apply for jobs. Kids can do their homework (or play games) at the library. But did you know that libraries are now becoming much more than books, computers and internet? Libraries are becoming creation spaces, often called maker spaces (or makerspaces).”

via Between the Lines