A.E. Araiza/ Arizona Daily Star "Daniel Lopez is not a librarian, but one of the nation's first library nurses."Pima County, Arizona has hired a registered nurse to peruse the stacks and assist many of homeless and downtrodden that frequent the county libraries.Building on the success of the San Francisco Public Library's hiring of a social worker in 2010, local library officials are fully committed to helping the underserved segments of their visitor pool.The problem is not an isolated one as Stephanie Inness reports in the Arizona Daily Star:Lopez is Pima County's novel answer to a common issue in public libraries across the country...
In The Stacks: The Astor Free Library at the NYPL
This is the latest installment of In the Stacks. A series dedicated to exploring the digital archives of the leading libraries, institutions and organizations of the known universe. At the prompting of his close friend, Joseph Cogswell, John Jacob Astor set aside $400,000 for the creation of a free public library. When it opened in 1854 The Astor Free Library was one of the first public libraries in the United States. It was also one of the most progressive institutions on the planet.The library was open to anyone from anywhere who was older than 14. It was one of the...
The Kids are Alright: 4th-Graders in Detroit Take Library Matters Into Their Own Hands
Rashard Baker gets some book suggestions from U-M lecturer Melanie Manos outside the closed Richard branch of the Detroit Public Library on Thursday. An outdoor library offered something interesting for him to read during spring break. / MANDI WRIGHT/Detroit Free PressBack in December The Detroit Public Library Commission voted to close four branches.One way to get books back into a library-deprived community is to take matters into your own hands. And that is exactly what a class of fourth-graders at Marcus Garvey Academy in Detroit did when they collaborated with Melanie Manos, a lecturer at University of Michigan who came...
A New Entry in the World’s Most Beautiful Libraries Category: Vennesla Library and Cultural Center
Welcome to the newly renovated Vennesla Library and Cultural Center in Vennesla, Norway.Norwegian architecture firm Helen & Hard have created a remarkable space by combining an existing community house, learning center, and public space. The result is, among other things, a sanctuary for the printed word. The clean green design and open space are as an inviting a space as a community can hope for.Nestled within this vast openness are private study spaces at the end of each aisle. As libraries continue to operate, here at home and in many places around the world, under extreme financial and political pressure it...
Murdered "Mill Girl" Memorialized At Maine Library
Illustration From: Mary Bean Or The Mysterious Murder by Miss J.A.B.,Cincinnati: H.M. Rulison, 1852.Saco, Maine 1850: The partially-clad body of a beautiful, young woman is found, bound to a board, floating in a stream. An immediate scandal ensues when the local police cannot identify the body. Newspaper reports take on an alarmist tone: Where is the girl's family? Why is she alone and far from home? Who has brought about her untimely death, and why? A new online exhibit hosted by Biddeford, Maine's McArthur Public Library reveals the history of this murder case so sensational it inspired three books in...