One of the great embarrassments of New York, the richest city in America, is how money can’t be found to keep public libraries open every single day.It is, truly, a matter of priorities. Other far-reaching, progressive policy proposals can come with enormous upfront costs — municipal or statewide single-payer healthcare comes to mind — but there’s really no reason why the city can’t pay to keep libraries open every Saturday and Sunday.Mayor Eric Adams, in his executive budget, has proposed to keep the cuts to the library system that he ordered starting last year. If he has his way — and given his deteriorating relationship with the City Council, he might not — the library system will lose $58.3 million. If the cuts go through, library service citywide would be curtailed to five days a week, according to the presidents of the Brooklyn, Queens, and New York Public Libraries.Since 2015, when Bill de Blasio boosted funding to the library system, six-day service has been the norm. This is not ideal, but it is better than five, which would see crucial weekend service evaporate entirely. Most library branches in the city are already closed on Sunday. Thanks to midyear budget cuts in November, seven-day service — available sparingly before then — is gone. The cuts would also mean delaying the renovations of certain branches.Democrats in the City Council might successfully oppose Adams. This dynamic recalls the “budget dance” that was common during Michael Bloomberg’s mayoralty.... Continue reading at 'Crains New York'
[ Crains New York | 2024-04-29 15:50:14 UTC ]
Historically, public libraries have been targets for fascists, and today's libraries are inherently against what fascism stands for. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-07-31 10:30:00 UTC ]
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Data collected as part of a Department of Energy survey found that some states have relatively low penetration when it comes to AC-equipped households. This weekend much of America was again blanketed in a heat wave. As Reuters noted, over 175 million Americans were under excessive heat... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2023-07-31 09:15:00 UTC ]
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The rising costs university libraries are paying to access journals have implications far beyond the ivory tower. From new cancer treatments to debates about foreign policy, new information enters the public domain through academic studies. Now... Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2023-07-31 08:00:00 UTC ]
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For anyone with an eye on video game news, it’s been hard to ignore the recent rise of names like Annapurna Interactive, Devolver Digital, Private Division, Humble, Epic Games and Netflix tied to independent projects. The distribution process for indie developers has shifted over the past few... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-07-28 17:06:39 UTC ]
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NASA is launching its very own streaming platform called NASA+ sometime this summer. While the space agency already livestreams launches and other events on its website, NASA+ will feature not just live broadcasts, but also collections of original video series. A handful of the first shows on... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-07-28 06:30:42 UTC ]
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Among the week's headlines: a coalition of booksellers and publishing industry groups sue Texas over the state's new book rating law; a judge in Arkansas is set to rule on a motion to block that state's 'harmful to minors' law from taking effect; and a Houston school district's plan to replace... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-07-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
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It isn’t unusual for libraries to feature prominently in novels; novelists, after all, are merely adult versions of the little people who fell in love with books at public libraries. But what of librarians? The keepers of the books, the ones who know you prefer romance, science fiction, or... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-07-20 11:00:00 UTC ]
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In the past two weeks, three separate bills addressing book bans in schools and libraries have been proposed in Massachusetts. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-07-13 13:58:56 UTC ]
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For colleges and libraries seeking a big name for a guest lecturer, few come bigger than Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court justice who rose from poverty in the Bronx to the nation’s highest court Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2023-07-11 14:02:45 UTC ]
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As part of recent challenges, multiple services have removed TV and film from their libraries – in many cases, meaning they are gone forever, inaccessible to any fan. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2023-07-10 20:08:39 UTC ]
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Sarah Silverman is suing OpenAI. On Friday, the comedian and author, alongside novelists Christopher Golden and Richard Kadrey, filed a pair of complaints against OpenAI and Meta (via Gizmodo). The group alleges the firms trained their large language models on copyrighted materials, including... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-07-10 17:53:22 UTC ]
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A look at the destruction of Pride displays, cancelation of Drag storytimes, and other June LGBTQ+ events in U.S. libraries in 2023. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-07-10 10:36:00 UTC ]
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As more Quebecers come to libraries for services not found on the shelf, some librarians are calling for Montreal to follow the lead of other Canadian cities and hire social workers. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2023-07-10 08:00:00 UTC ]
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Public libraries in Mississippi have cut off access to digital platforms like Overdrive and Hoopla to those under 18. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-07-07 15:33:07 UTC ]
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The kids are more prepared than most adults to understand and expect acceptance for all in school libraries (and beyond!). Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-06-30 10:35:00 UTC ]
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Among the week's headlines: a resurgent ALA Annual Conference closes in Chicago; a Georgia teacher is fired for reading an inclusive book to her students; how libraries are catering to remote workers; and New York City libraries are spared from budget cuts. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The deal reverses proposed cuts to libraries despite financial strains on the city Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2023-06-29 16:45:41 UTC ]
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Make an impact this month by supporting these classrooms asking for LGBTQ+ books for their students via DonorsChoose. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-06-21 10:40:00 UTC ]
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Steam is the world’s most popular platform for PC games and a bedrock of the industry. But if you compare the Steam of today with, say, the Steam of ten years ago, surprisingly little has changed. Or surprisingly little had changed, because Steam just released one of its biggest updates in... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2023-06-15 14:35:55 UTC ]
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Texas's Governor signs a bill into law that gives him power over what books can be in libraries *and* forces ratings on books. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-06-15 10:40:00 UTC ]
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