The Public Library’s Contemporary Condition
A most excellent, impassioned essay by Zadie Smith:
Well-run libraries are filled with people because what a good library offers cannot be easily found elsewhere: an indoor public space in which you do not have to buy anything in order to stay.
In the modern state there are very few sites where this is possible. The only others that come readily to my mind require belief in an omnipotent creator as a condition for membership. It would seem the most obvious thing in the world to say that the reason why the market is not an efficient solution to libraries is because the market has no use for a library. But it seems we need, right now, to keep re-stating the obvious. There aren’t many institutions left that fit so precisely Keynes’s definition of things that no one else but the state is willing to take on. Nor can the experience of library life be recreated online. It’s not just a matter of free books. A library is a different kind of social reality (of the three dimensional kind), which by its very existence teaches a system of values beyond the fiscal.
Richard C. Harwood, president and founder of the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation speaking at ALA President’s Program
See also: public schools, religious organizations, government, et al.
(h/t thelibrarianontherun)
Movie Licensing USA: Programming Ideas for Public Libraries
Movie Licensing USA, is a corporate division of Swank Motion Pictures, Inc.® We provide the Public Performance Site License to K-12 schools and public libraries which satisfies the copyright protection needed when entertainment movies are shown in the buildings. Swank Motion Pictures, Inc. has long standing, exclusive licensing agreements to this and other non-theatrical markets with most of the major Hollywood movie producers.
They have a few good programming ideas for both school and public librarians who want to incorporate a movie. This link will take you to ideas for books to film; they also have ideas for banned books, teen reads, summer reads, and programming for adults. A super cool resource.
Reopening libraries, one school at a time
More volunteer-led libraries. Puts us in such a pickle, eh?
Turning the Tide on Library Porn
So, this guy maintains that public librarians are lying when they say that they cannot keep porn out of the libraries. Because of CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act) and U.S. vs ALA, it is not a violation of First Amendment rights to put internet filters on the computers in the library.
However, I see this as problematic. I understand his argument - based on the selection process that librarians use for books, then clearly we should be able to use that same selection process for Internet websites. But filters themselves can be problematic - it would be better if we could filter out site by site, but we can’t. New sites pop up every day. And by blocking one porn site, we could in effect be blocking another normal website. Something that could have useful or valuable information on it. It happens. It’s why I don’t use the safesearch option on Google, because it will block out potentially useful sites in my searches. Filters are not perfect, and I think that is why so many librarians are reluctant to employ them.
I don’t think that the library should be a place to view porn, but I don’t agree with this argument either. In accordance with US vs ALA, librarians are required to remove the filter upon the patron’s request. Also, these rules are applicable only to those libraries receiving special E-rate funding, so libraries that aren’t getting that kind of funding can do whatever they want. Not all of the libraries are eligible under CIPA. So that in itself is a problem.
And what about people who bring in their own computers or magazines??
Also, is it me or does it seem as though all these articles are making the ALA sound like a group of porn-pushers? I think the ALA can be problematic but I don’t think they want everyone to look at porn…
Geek The Library
What a great website! Support Public Libraries!
Librarians.
Are Public Libraries Obsolete?
Article in favor of libraries, albeit kind of a redundant topic.
“The Edmonton Public Library lets its card-holding members skip a lengthy search of the shelves. An offsite vending machine like the one seen here allows users to check out books, DVD, CDs, and video games, all without ever being shushed by a librarian. There’s even a return bin.”
