The Power of the Military….Library! September 10, 2013 – Posted in: Libraries

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,…

Libraries: Putting the Home in Homeless January 28, 2013 – Posted in: Content

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…

Books for Soldiers: World War I Style October 16, 2012 – Posted in: public libraries, Reading / Literacy

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…

Rachel Maddow and Seth Myers join READ campaign January 14, 2010

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…

Banned Books Week Coming Soon August 12, 2009

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…