It was during World War I, when soldiers began wanting to have some reading material around for their downtime, that the book light went on in the military. It's also when the American Library Association went to work delivering books and magazines paid for through the war bond program. They raised "a whopping $5 million in public donations, distributing more than 7 million books and magazines, erecting 36 camp libraries and providing library collections to over 500 sites, including military hospitals." The effort became "the foundation for the Defense Department’s first and longest-running morale, welfare and recreation program." Nellie Moffitt, the Navy’s general...
Libraries: Putting the Home in Homeless
Asleep at the Seattle Public Library. Image via "Librarians are the most committed community activists I know." - Caroline Kennedy at ALA Midwinter Meeting 2012 It was billed as a Day of Caring. As part of the American Library Association's Midwinter meeting in Seattle this weekend about 75 librarians from all over the country gathered on Friday to "provide aid to local homeless organizations and offer librarian volunteers the opportunity to gain insights into best practice skills in serving the homeless." The night before happened to be the 33rd annual One Night Count where social service agencies and volunteers attempt to physically count the people...
Books for Soldiers: World War I Style
During World War I the American Library Association undertook a massive campaign to get reading material in the hands of our soldiers. One of their initiatives to bolster Army libraries was to set-up camp outside the New York Public Library. These images portray the campaign's efforts and astounding success. The history of these efforts is covered in-depth in the seminal work by Theodore Wesley Koch; Books in the War: The Romance of the Library War Service that was published in 1919 by Houghton Mifflin. cover of Books in War courtesy of book patrol In the upper-left corner of the first image above...
Rachel Maddow and Seth Myers join READ campaign
The American Library Association has announced the latest additions to its Celebrity READ poster campaign.Progressive talk show host Rachel Maddow and Saturday Night Live star Seth Myers are the latest big names to be posterized.The posters, which go for $16 a piece, help fund advocacy, awareness and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide while promoting libraries, literacy, lifelong learning, and reading.Maddow and Meyers join a long list of library and reading friendly celebrities and athletes who support the READ campaign. From Yo Ming to Yoda, Bill Gates to Ice Cube, and Tony Hawk to Rachael Ray,the READ poster campaign has...
Banned Books Week Coming Soon
Banned Books Week is scheduled for September 26th- October 3rd, 2009.Every time we think that banning books in the United States is a thing of the past, we are sorely reminded that there are still many who believe that removing books from book stores and library shelves will make the social issues that the books represent go away and that the world will be a better place.The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression is fighting the good fight for retailers.“The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression is the bookseller's voice in the fight against censorship. Founded by the American Booksellers...