The Internet can’t replace libraries: Why they matter more than ever in the age of Google - Salon.com

This article originally appeared on AlterNet.

If you were airdropped, blindfolded, into a strange town and given

nothing but a bus ticket, to where would you ride that bus? You might be

surprised to learn that there’s only one good answer, and that’s the

public library. The library is the public living room, and if ever you

are stripped of everything private—money, friends and orientation—you

can go there and become a human again.

Of course, you don’t have to be homeless to use a library, but that’s the

point. You don’t have to be anyone in particular to go inside and stay

as long as you want, sit in its armchairs, read the news, write your

dissertation, charge your phone, use the bathroom, check your email,

find the address of a hotel or homeless shelter. Of all the institutions

we have, both public and private, the public library is the truest

democratic space.

The library’s value isn’t lost on us. A Gallup

survey from 2013 found that libraries are not just popular,

they’re extremely popular. Over 90 percent of Americans feel that

libraries are a vital part of their communities. Compare this to

53 percent for the police, 27 percent for public schools, and just 7

percent for Congress, and you’re looking at perhaps the greatest success

of the public sector. Read more...

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So You Want to be a Prison Librarian? : An Interview with a Corrections Librarian | INALJ

So You Want to be a Prison Librarian? : An Interview with a Corrections Librarian

by Josh Rimmer, Senior Editor


* special note the author had permission from the interviewee to publish this as long as she remained anonymous


While
I was writing my last article about librarianship and service, one of
my inspirations came from research I was conducting on prison
librarianship. How many times do you see a posting for a corrections
librarian position on INDEED, or other big job boards? I’ll be honest,
I’ve notice quite a few; however, it seems that discussions about the
line of work and its issues are not given enough of a spotlight.




I was able to locate materials for immediate consumption, e.g., an old ALA column from a prison librarian and a neat NPR piece, but I didn’t feel as if I had an “understanding” of the work. Mintern, a corrections librarian who runs the blog, So You Want to be a Prison Librarian
was kind enough to grant me an interview. We’ll call the interviewee
Mintern, and here she talks about her background, why she chose prison
librarianship and provides INALJ readers insight and perspective on the
profession. Read more...

The Future of Libraries Has Little to Do with Books

Photo from Bibliothèque publique d'information ©Vinciane Verguethen

On a Monday morning between Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Paris,
the line for modern art museum Centre Georges Pompidou winds around the
block. But the patrons waiting in the cold aren’t there to catch a
glimpse of a Magritte—they’re young locals queueing for access through
the museum’s back door to another attraction: Bibliothèque publique
d'information, or the public library.

In a digital age that has left book publishers reeling, libraries in
the world’s major cities seem poised for a comeback, though it’s one
that has very little to do with books. The Independent Library Report—published
in December by the U.K.’s Department for Culture, Media, and
Sport—found that libraries across the nation are re-inventing themselves
by increasingly becoming “vibrant and attractive community hubs,”
focusing on the “need to create digital literacy—and in an ideal world,
digital fluency.” Read article....

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Amazon Plays Rough. So What? - NYTimes.com

Is Amazon a monopoly?

That
certainly is what Franklin Foer, the editor of The New Republic,
thinks. In the magazine’s current issue, he has written a lengthy
polemic denouncing the company for all manner of sins. The headline reads: “Amazon Must Be Stopped.”

“Shopping
on Amazon,” he writes, “has so ingrained itself in modern American life
that it has become something close to our unthinking habit, and the
company has achieved a level of dominance that merits the application of
a very old label: monopoly.”

Foer’s
brief is that Amazon undercuts competitors so ruthlessly and squeezes
suppliers so brutally — “in its pursuit of bigness” — that it has become
“highly worrisome.” Its founder and chief executive, Jeff Bezos,
“borrowed his personal style from the parsimonious Sam Walton,” the
founder of (shudder) Walmart, and Foer notes that pushing suppliers has always been the key to Walmart’s low prices, just as it is for Amazon’s. Read more...

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Mapping ‘Madeline’ Creator’s New York Haunts by Allison Meier on July 30, 2014

The artist behind the beloved book series "Madeline" is in the spotlight at the New York Historical Society.

"Madeline
in New York: The Art of Ludwig Bemelmans" is an exhibit that celebrates
Madeline's 75th anniversary with more than 90 pieces of art.

Although the series is based in Paris, Bemelmans was living in New York when he wrote and illustrated the books.

"Madeline
is such a special character, she just speaks to me of bravery and
adventure and that can-do American spirit that we America girls all
aspire to," said curator Jane Bayard Curley.

The collection will be on display through mid-October.

For more information go online to NYhistory.org.

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TWC News: "Madeline" Exhibit Comes to New York Historical Society

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- See more at:
http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/news/212839/-madeline--exhibit-comes-to-new-york-historical-society/#sthash.NLjpDIR9.dpuf

The artist behind the beloved book series "Madeline" is in the spotlight at the New York Historical Society.

"Madeline
in New York: The Art of Ludwig Bemelmans" is an exhibit that celebrates
Madeline's 75th anniversary with more than 90 pieces of art.

Although the series is based in Paris, Bemelmans was living in New York when he wrote and illustrated the books.

"Madeline
is such a special character, she just speaks to me of bravery and
adventure and that can-do American spirit that we America girls all
aspire to," said curator Jane Bayard Curley.

The collection will be on display through mid-October.

For more information go online to NYhistory.org.

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• 
  Radar
  

Sponsored by

• 
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  84
  
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  morning
  
  
  
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• Today
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• Video
• Radar
• Doppler
• Traffic

Tricks Car Insurance Agents Don't Want You to KnowAutoInsuranceTips

How Penny Stocks Are Creating Millionaires Every DayHowLifeWorks

What Happens When You Take a Testosterone SupplementNugenix

• 
  Most Read

• 
  
  
  

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PICTURE OF THE DAY

Play Slideshow

View from Bayside, Queens. (Submitted by Angela)

<>

FOR MORE TWC NEWS NY1 STORIES...

TWC News: "Madeline" Exhibit Comes to New York Historical Society

Play now

.

- See more at:
http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/news/212839/-madeline--exhibit-comes-to-new-york-historical-society/#sthash.NLjpDIR9.dpuf

The artist behind the beloved book series "Madeline" is in the spotlight at the New York Historical Society.

"Madeline
in New York: The Art of Ludwig Bemelmans" is an exhibit that celebrates
Madeline's 75th anniversary with more than 90 pieces of art.

Although the series is based in Paris, Bemelmans was living in New York when he wrote and illustrated the books.

"Madeline
is such a special character, she just speaks to me of bravery and
adventure and that can-do American spirit that we America girls all
aspire to," said curator Jane Bayard Curley.

The collection will be on display through mid-October.

For more information go online to NYhistory.org.


- See more at:
http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/news/212839/-madeline--exhibit-comes-to-new-york-historical-society/#sthash.NLjpDIR9.dpuf

The artist behind the beloved book series "Madeline" is in the spotlight at the New York Historical Society.

"Madeline
in New York: The Art of Ludwig Bemelmans" is an exhibit that celebrates
Madeline's 75th anniversary with more than 90 pieces of art.

Although the series is based in Paris, Bemelmans was living in New York when he wrote and illustrated the books.

"Madeline
is such a special character, she just speaks to me of bravery and
adventure and that can-do American spirit that we America girls all
aspire to," said curator Jane Bayard Curley.

The collection will be on display through mid-October.

For more information go online to NYhistory.org.


- See more at:
http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/news/212839/-madeline--exhibit-comes-to-new-york-historical-society/#sthash.NLjpDIR9.dpuf

The artist behind the beloved book series "Madeline" is in the spotlight at the New York Historical Society.

"Madeline
in New York: The Art of Ludwig Bemelmans" is an exhibit that celebrates
Madeline's 75th anniversary with more than 90 pieces of art.

Although the series is based in Paris, Bemelmans was living in New York when he wrote and illustrated the books.

"Madeline
is such a special character, she just speaks to me of bravery and
adventure and that can-do American spirit that we America girls all
aspire to," said curator Jane Bayard Curley.

The collection will be on display through mid-October.

For more information go online to NYhistory.org.


- See more at:
http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/news/212839/-madeline--exhibit-comes-to-new-york-historical-society/#sthash.NLjpDIR9.dpuf

The artist behind the beloved book series "Madeline" is in the spotlight at the New York Historical Society.

"Madeline
in New York: The Art of Ludwig Bemelmans" is an exhibit that celebrates
Madeline's 75th anniversary with more than 90 pieces of art.

Although the series is based in Paris, Bemelmans was living in New York when he wrote and illustrated the books.

"Madeline
is such a special character, she just speaks to me of bravery and
adventure and that can-do American spirit that we America girls all
aspire to," said curator Jane Bayard Curley.

The collection will be on display through mid-October.

For more information go online to NYhistory.org.


- See more at:
http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/news/212839/-madeline--exhibit-comes-to-new-york-historical-society/#sthash.NLjpDIR9.dpuf

HyperAllergic

July 30, 2014 

To mark the centenary of the children’s book author and illustrator stepping into Gotham, the New-York Historical Society opened Madeline in New York: The Art of Ludwig Bemelmans earlier this month. In conjunction with the exhibition, illustrator Adrienne Ottenberg created a map of “Bemelmans’ New York.”

Madeline, the smallest of the “twelve little girls in two straight lines” who lived in “an old house in Paris that was covered in vines,” was born in Manhattan. In Pete’s Tavern on Irving Place in 1938, Ludwig Bemelmans scrawled those first rhyming lines that would introduce his petite heroine of the Madeline books.

Ludwig Bemelmans, “And sometimes they were very sad” from Madeline (Simon & Schuster, 1939), Watercolor and gouache (Kendra and Allan Daniel Collection,  © Ludwig Bemelmans)

Watch video

Bemelmans, born of a German mother and Belgian father, arrived in New York City in 1914, passing his first night stranded on Ellis Island after his dad forgot to meet him. To mark the centenary of the children’s book author and illustrator stepping into Gotham, the New-York Historical Society opened Madeline in New York: The Art of Ludwig Bemelmans earlier this month. In conjunction with the exhibition, illustrator Adrienne Ottenberg created a map of “Bemelmans’ New York.”

  Read more . . .

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6 Ways To Become a Power User of the Public Library - BOOK RIOT

You have a library card and you know the library is more than just a “Netflix for books.”
Maybe you know about your library’s ebook offerings and maybe you know
you can borrow audiobooks or DVDs. But how can you make the absolute
most out of your local library? Here are 6 tips for becoming a power
user of the public library.




Worth noting: not all public libraries offer the same
services, so not everything mentioned here will be available to all
users. Some libraries offer more and some may offer less. These
variations exist because of funding differences, library size, location,
and a host of other factors, most of which are out of control of the
library itself. The one common denominator among these tips, though, is
that they’re all things you can ask about at your library.




Likewise, this is geared toward the American public library system, so your mileage in other countries may vary.


1. Get to the top of the holds list for hot titles


Did you know many libraries order books well in advance of their
publication date? Librarians are knowledgable about what’s coming out,
and they often put in purchase orders for titles weeks, if not
months, before publication. This is especially true for books that are
garnering buzz or are new titles by popular authors.




Many times, those titles appear in the library catalog not long after
the order is placed. Even if the book isn’t on shelf, when the library
has ordered a title and it shows up in the catalog, chances are good you
can put a hold on it.




Say you’re reading our 5 To Watch For
feature and you see a title coming out at the end of the month that
looks great. Go to your library’s catalog and see if you can put a hold
on it. If you can’t do the hold from home, call the library and try
to do it over the phone. This’ll get you ahead of the game, and you’ll
be one of the first people to read the book, likely not long after it
releases.  Read more...

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email : Webview : Stand Up for Library Funding!

Stand Up for the Branches Thanks to our patrons’ years of hard work and advocacy, Mayor de Blasio has proposed a budget that maintains funding levels for Brooklyn Public Library (BPL)—sparing a devastating cut. However, after years of budget cuts, the city’s three library systems need $65 million more in public funding to provide more hours, more programs and more vital resources to New Yorkers. Now is the time to build the library system that Brooklyn truly deserves. We have a historic opportunity to ask the City for increased funding to allow all BPL branches to stay open six days a week, provide more collections and programs and improve our facilities. But we need your help. Here’s how you can Stand Up for the Branches: » Write to your elected officials to ask for increased funding and share what BPL means to you » Stay on top of the latest BPL news through Facebook, Twitter and eNews, and share with your friends » Make a gift to your neighborhood library through our Support the Branches campaign Thank you for standing up for BPL and making a statement that our libraries are essential to Brooklyn. Support all NYC libraries. Visit mylibraryis.org to learn about all three library systems in the City and the vital role they all play.

bklynlibrary.org

10 Grand Army Plaza | Brooklyn, NY 11238 US

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Libraries Are Failing America

Why are we subsidizing the entertainment needs of the middle class?

By David Harsanyi

March 18, 2014

A new Pew Study claims that
libraries “loom large in the public imagination,” with 90 percent of
Americans ages 16 and older saying that closing down their local
libraries would have an impact on their community. The public may imagine that
libraries are dynamic centers of learning and community, but the Pew
data seems suggest that they’re mostly places where your prosperous
neighbors borrow books and movies without having to directly pay for
them. And as Pew points out, adults with “higher levels of education and
household income are more likely to use public libraries” – and the
more you use the library the more well-off you probably are.

“Library Lovers,” those designated as having the highest levels of
engagement, only represent 10 percent of Americans. Among them, 66
percent are white, most of them college educated and living in
households earning more than $50,000. Also, deep in the Pew poll we
learn 58 percent of these highly engaged freeloaders say they borrowed
more books than they bought last year, compared to 38 percent of the
general population. Read more...

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• Pop Culture and the Public Library (citizens-news.com)
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• From Distant Admirers to Library Lovers - and beyond (pewinternet.org)

Why libraries deserve to be hip - Salon.com

Enlarge (Credit: track5 via iStock)

This
afternoon, I’m picking up my younger daughter from school and I’m taking
her someplace special. It’s a place she and I can look at works by
local artists, where we can read quietly together, where we almost
always run into friends. It’s one of best places in the world. You’ve
probably got something like it where you live too. It’s called the library.



Libraries
are not terribly fashionable. You’d think they would be. In a world in
which educated, enlightened, planet-hugging types are all up in that
composting and upcycling and no impact lifestyle, these wonderful places
where you can just borrow stuff and then bring it back so someone else
can enjoy it somehow languish. Last year was the first year in several
that New York City libraries didn’t face any budget cuts – though branches shut after Hurricane Sandy remain unrestored. Libraries in Detroit have been shuttered in the city’s economic crisis. In the U.K., libraries face closures as the number of people using them plummets. Read more....

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• Why libraries deserve to be hip (salon.com)