The American Library Association (ALA) is the largest and oldest library association in the world. They pride themselves on being defenders of freedom of expression and censorship.The problem is that for years they have refused to take a stance on the brutal incarceration of Cuban librarians who were jailed "because of their courageous insistence that the people of Cuba should also have the freedom to read books the dictatorship has banned."In 2004 Nat Hentoff first wrote of the of the hypocrisy in the Village Voice.On the day in 2004 , at the ALA's mid-winter meetings, when then President Carla Hayden...
The Newest Library Technology
It is called DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) and is now available in many libraries. It is probably one of the most important technologies currently available to libraries for reaching out to the kids they serve.Here is a clip from a DDR booth at the recent ALA Mid-Winter Meetings in Seattle:Thanks to the Shifted Librarian for the lead
Now They Are Blowing the Books Up
A car bomb went off in the Mutanabi Book Market in the historic booksellers’ district in Baghdad. The market named after an Iraqi poet who lived in the 10th century was once the gathering place of the city's intellectuals.The explosion killed more than 20 people and injured at least 65. There are no estimates as to how many books were destroyed or damaged.The ongoing madness in Iraq has already severely impacted the city's library system. All you need to do is read the journal of the Saad Eskander, the head of the National Archives in Iraq who reports on the...
Southern Oregon County to Shut Down Entire Library System
In what seems like a surreal event the entire library system of Jackson County, Oregon is on the brink of closure. Their funding runs out April 7th and if nothing is done between now and then it will be the largest library closure in U.S. history. "I wish we could call FEMA; this feels like a natural disaster to me" says the county's interim library director Ted Stark.The 15 libraries that serve this rural community have lost $7 million in federal funding this year or nearly 80 percent of the system's budget and the Jackson County residents voted down a...
Public Library Issue #1
Let's hope we can figure out a better way to deal with this issue.Someone told me the other day that they went to the library to get a recent bestseller. It was checked out. They were told there were something like 200 people already on the list for the book when it comes back in! Clearly an unacceptable situation. If that many people in your community are waiting for the book then the community is not being properly served by their library system. This is where POD (print on demand) technology can do the most good.I touched on this in...