Public Libraries

The White House’s announcement Thursday that it is urging the FCC to overhaul E-Rate—the program that provides discounted Internet access and telecommunications services to U.S. schools and libraries—is an important and nearly unprecedented step forward in closing the digital divide, the American Library Association tells SLJ.

NYC Councilmembers and other library supporters gathered on the steps of City Hall to protest proposed cuts to library funding. Warren St. John and Jo S. Kittinger were both presented with Christopher Awards on May 23.

More than a dozen New York City Council members, the presidents of New York’s three library systems, and several hundred librarians, library staff, supporters, advocates, and children from nearby schools rallied on the steps of city hall to protest $106 million in proposed funding cuts. Council members Jimmy Van Bramer and Vincent J. Gentile also pledged to introduce legislation that would create a baseline of stable funding for the city’s public library services.

"[Our] library in Freeport is the heart of that community,” says 2013 Mover & Shaker Margaux DelGuidice, who shares duties with fellow honoree Rose Luna at the Freeport Memorial Library in Long Island, NY. These two powerhouses also hold full-time teacher librarian positions at two area high schools, and have devoted countless hours to professional advocacy. In our interview, they share their inspirations and passions, their best practices for constructive collaboration, and their goals for the future of libraries.

Three cheers for Miskatonic University! That’s the rallying cry of the La Vista Public Library (NE)’s teen advisory board—who, under the guidance of youth librarian and advisor Lindsey Tomsu, 2013 Mover & Shaker—turned its 2012 Teen Read Week into a massive celebration of the works of H. P. Lovecraft, complete with crafts, workshops, and a life-sized version of the complex, cooperative Arkham Horror board game based on the Cthulhu Mythos.

The Summer Reading Program is Loudon County Public Library's biggest event of the year, and for the first time, residents of the Gum Spring area will have the chance to experience it at our new library. We're hoping for a record turn-out for our 9-week program, In Your Backyard... and Beyond.

Anythink's dynamic director explores how children's services librarians will shape the future of libraries, libraries as places of discovery and experience, and the shift toward participatory librarianship.

Kathleen Reif, director of St. Mary’s County Library, Leonardtown, MD, is the 2013 recipient of Peggy Sullivan Award for Public Library Administrators Supporting Services to Children. The Sullivan Award, administered by the American Library Association (ALA), is presented annually to an individual in a library administrator role who has shown exceptional understanding and support of public library service to children. The award will be presented at the ALA President's Program, Sunday, June 30, at the Annual Conference in Chicago.

What better way to engage and inspire a group of fashion-conscious kids than by creating a design competition modeled after the hit reality show Project Runway? Thanks to the efforts of children’s librarian Frances Grossman-Goldberg—and a little help from The Weinstein Company, Mood Fabrics, and L’oreal.Paris—a group of teens and tweens at the Pomonok branch of the Queens Borough Public Library (NY) had the experiences of a lifetime this past winter.