In my view, one of the most important documents and position statements that ALA has produced in the last few years was its June 2007 report, “Fostering Media Diversity in … Read more ALA IFC’s Fostering Media Diversity in Libraries, and ALA’s grey literature in general
Critical Pedagogy and Library Instruction: An Edited Collection Critical pedagogy seeks to identify, critique, and disrupt the inequalities of the dominant culture, thus equipping learners to transform oppressive social, cultural, … Read more Call for papers on critical pedagogy and library instruction
A book of interest: Mark Bauerlein’s The Dumbest Generation. What it says is that the under-30 generation is so removed from books and reading that it is shockingly ignorant, and … Read more Book: The Dumbest Generation
Carol Kreck, a librarian, was arrested and removed from a public campaign event for John McCain in Denver yesterday. She was in front of the Denver Center for Performing Arts, … Read more Librarian ejected from ostensibly public McCain rally for holding a sign
ALA Councilor James Casey writes an excellent report on Council business after each conference. His report on the conference that just happened in Anaheim has been posted to the ALA … Read more Jim Casey’s report on ALA Council meetings, Annual 2008
Obituary for Sherrill Cheda, Canadian activist, librarian, and publisher. I wish I had known about her while she was alive…
I’d like to share news about a few forthcoming books. There are others, but these are the ones I’m ready to announce: From Library Juice Press: Information and Liberation: Writings … Read more Forthcoming books
ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom is engaged in a research project about privacy and libraries. There is a survey to fill out at privacyrevolution.org. I’m not sure where they’re going … Read more OIF’s Privacy Revolution
Just some scattered thoughts post-Anaheim, potential essays that will for the moment remain seeds…. It is surprising that ALA, being what it is, doesn’t have better control of its own … Read more Scattered thoughts post-conference
John Miedema of Slow Reading has posted a brief review of Questioning Library Neutrality. Thanks, John!
I’m bringing this double-sided flyer with me to ALA tomorrow to hand out to people who visit my reception on Saturday night, and to guests at the Alternative Press Reception … Read more Flyer
Open letter from Saad Eskander, Director of the Iraq National Library and Archives, June 21, 2008 An Open Letter to the Director of Hoover Institute I have read Mr. Sousa’s … Read more Saad Eskander’s open letter to the Hoover Institution
John Ronald sent me a link to a review of a British pamphlet titled Rethinking Public Service Reform: The Public Value Alternative, from the Trade Union Congress (UK). The review … Read more Democratizing Public Services
You (or your library) can now place a standing order for books published by Library Juice Press or Litwin Books. Standing orders will get a 25% discount from the cover … Read more LJP Standing Orders
INFORMATION FOR SOCIAL CHANGE (ISC) ISSN 1364-694X (print) ISSN 1756-901X (online) CALL FOR PAPERS — The Summer 2009 issue of the journal Information for Social Change (ISC) will focus on … Read more ISC Call for Papers
The ALA International Relations Committee has just released a very nice, detailed history of the “independent library” movement, Friends of Cuban Libraries, and ALA and IFLA’s activities in relation to … Read more Cuba Update from the International Relations Committee
Jeff Lilburn has reviewed Questioning Library Neutrality for the blog LibrarianActivist. His review is careful not to be overly excited by the book, but is much appreciated as the first … Read more Review of Questioning Library Neutrality
It is still not dead. A resolution has just been sent to the ALA Council list for discussion, calling on ALA to recognize the dissident “independent librarians” as members of … Read more The Cuba Debate – Why the “middle” is not the middle
Thank you The Onion, for this: “Area Eccentric Reads Entire Book.”
Nicholas Carr writes in the Atlantic Monthly that “Google is Making Us Stupid,” focusing on the way a decade of web browsing has altered the way his mind works to … Read more Is Google Making Us Stupid?