Now rescue N.Y.'s library branches

Advocacy | Public libraries | Budget

By Scott Sherman | New York Daily News | October 9, 2017

Necessary investment (James Keivom/New York Daily News)

 

Last month, the New York Public Library announced a remarkable $55 million gift that will enable it to finish a large-scale renovation of the Mid-Manhattan Library, at 5th Avenue and 40th Street. The Mid-Manhattan is a tarnished jewel in the NYPL system, and the gift will allow the facility, which has been decrepit for decades, to reach its full potential.

Library officials say that when it reopens in 2020, the new library will contain — in addition to books, periodicals, and computers — meeting rooms, a café, and a rooftop terrace.

From the headlines, one might have assumed that the money came from a well-heeled donor in the five boroughs. But in fact the money was bequeathed by a foundation in Athens, Greece. In 2020, NYPL officials will give the Mid-Manhattan Library a new name: the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library.

The Greek connection highlights the problematic way in which public libraries are repaired and upgraded in New York City. Read more...

Jeff Bezos Should Put His Billions Into Libraries

Advocacy | Philanthropy | Public Libraries

by Susan Crawford | Backchannel | 09 August 2017

Ira Gay Sealy/Getty Images

 

Imagine that you are Jeff Bezos. For four hours two weeks ago, you were the richest person in the world. And though Wall Street knocked you down a notch, pretty much everyone thinks it’s inevitable that you’re going to be number one again. You’re starting to be aware of the smell of the tar pits and you’re casting about for a way to put all that loot to some good. You're eying the Gates-Buffet Giving Pledge and thinking that if you donate half your fortune it should make a difference. You're comfortable with making older but meaningful institutions great again.

 

So far, you’ve concentrated on things that might benefit our distant successors—space travel, cancer treatments, AI, and a clock that will keep running for 10,000 years. But you want to do something more immediate. You say you want your philanthropic activity “to be helping people in the here and now—short term—at the intersection of urgent need and lasting impact.” You are open to suggestions–so much so that you even recently tweeted a “request for ideas.”  Read more...

 

What Donald Trump Doesn't Understand About Libraries |

Advocacy | #IMLS | Funding | Libraries | Museums

His proposed budget would eliminate all federal funding for the Institute of Museums and Library Services. 

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When you introduce yourself as a librarian at a dinner party — as I have been doing for my whole adult life — you usually receive one of two responses: either the dreaded “But wait … aren’t libraries, like … dying? Because of Google?” or the well-intentioned, but gently incorrect “You must love books, huh?” It’s not that librarians don’t typically love books — most of us do! But our (not even remotely dead) profession’s true backbone isn’t mere bookishness — it’s a near-pathological enthusiasm for helping people. And, contrary to the frequent reports of our demise at the hands of Google, Americans need the help libraries and librarians supply more than ever now. When previously, librarians were needed to answer questions as simple as “Did Jules Verne write Alice in Wonderland?”, the problems we’re needed to tackle now are much more complex, like what can we do to bridge “the word gap” between poor toddlers and their wealthy peers, or how can we bring broadband service to rural communities that otherwise lack access?  Read more...