Libraries Respond to Community Needs in Times of Crisis | American Libraries Magazine

A patron stopped librarian Melanie Townsend Diggs on
Wednesday afternoon with good news: He had used a library computer to
apply for some jobs Tuesday morning, and before he even got home that
day, he had gotten a call for an interview.

A pretty typical moment for most librarians, Diggs says, except that
Tuesday morning, April 28, was no typical day. Just 12 hours before,
rioting had erupted across the street from the Pennsylvania Avenue
branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, when protests against the
high-profile death of Baltimore resident Freddie Gray turned violent. As
a CVS drugstore burned and the turmoil played out, Diggs kept her
patrons safe, quietly locking the doors and letting them out later when
the violence subsided.   Read more...

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Denying New York Libraries the Fuel They Need - NYTimes.com

Hsia Jian Li of Queens browsed at the Bayside library branch in 2011.

Credit
Kirsten Luce for The New York Times 

 

Suppose you guess where people spend at least some of their time in the city.

For instance, what attractions draw the most visitors?

A.
Major museums, like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern
Art, American Museum of Natural History, Brooklyn Museum or Museum of
the City of New York.

B. Libraries, including the neighborhood branches and research centers.

C. Performing arts, like those at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, City Center and Snug Harbor.

D. Sports teams like the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Jets and Giants.

E. Natural-world attractions: the botanical gardens, Wave Hill, the zoos and aquariums.

 

Read more...

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ISIS burns Mosul library: Why terrorists target books - CSMonitor.com

• 
  

  By Husna Haq, Correspondent February 25, 2015

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

From the destruction of the Library of Alexandria in 391 AD, to
the burning of Kabul libraries in 2002, to the the obliteration of the
Library of Baghdad in 2003, oppressive regimes have historically
targeted libraries.



In the latest example, on Sunday, in northern Iraq, Islamic State militants burned the Mosul public library, which housed more than 8,000 rare old books and manuscripts.



According
to reports, ISIS militants rigged the entire building with explosives
and carried out multiple detonations to raze the historical landmark and
its contents. Among its lost collections, according to the Fiscal Times,
were manuscripts from the 18th century, Syriac books printed in Iraq's
first printing house in the 19th century, books from the Ottoman era,
Iraqi newspapers from the early 20th century, and treasured antiques
like an astrolabe and sand glass used by ancient Arabs. Read more...

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• ISIS Nazis Burn THOUSANDS of Ancient and Priceless Books (shoebat.com)
• Islamic State Nazis Bomb Mosul Library, Burn 8,000 Rare Books (conservativebyte.com)
• 500 Year Old Map Was Discovered That Shatters The "Official" History Of The Planet (collective-evolution.com)
• Iraqi libraries ransacked by Islamic State group in Mosul (yakimaherald.com)
• Iraqi libraries ransacked by Islamic State group in Mosul (cnsnews.com)
• Iraqi Libraries Ransacked by Islamic State Group in Mosul (abcnews.go.com)
• Islamic State Continues Destruction of Antiquities in Iraq (therebel.website)
• Turkish operation rescues soldiers guarding tomb in Syria (scpr.org)