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 ]
Short of becoming a time machine for well-meaning Gen X slackers, I cannot imagine a grander afterlife for the humble phone booth than to be reincarnated as a cosy wee library. One day you’re a rusted urinal, all-but invisible to the cellphone-clasping masses trundling past, and the next you’ve... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-25 17:54:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A school librarian talks about how he teaches students to think critically about fake news on the internet. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-01-25 11:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Throughout our history, we've see that when we come together in civil, honest conversations based on facts and science, history and truth, we find commonality. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-22 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Arts Council England (ACE) is awarding £152,000 to help public libraries buy e-books and digital audio products after demand soared during the pandemic. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-21 11:35:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The free provision of e-books for children by Oak National Academy has been branded a "wake up call" for a sector still awaiting its long-discussed shared website for all public libraries. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-21 04:54:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this
BookLife Elite will offer public libraries access to a curated collection of unlimited, simultaneous-use indie e-books, meaning library readers can access the books instantly—no holds lists. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-13 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
It’s been a bad year for libraries and those who love them. Despite some interesting tech innovations (we could have been cleaning our books with UV rays this whole time!), many temporarily reopened libraries are closing again due to surging COVID numbers and COVID exposures, and many other... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-11 18:26:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Explore libraries that have unusual collections, exist in strange places, or use novel modes of transportation to deliver books to readers. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-01-11 11:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
You can still borrow books for free even when public libraries are closed, though each personal collection has its own character. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-01-08 17:38:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this
If you, like me, could really use some nice library-oriented news right about now, you’re in luck. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the impossibility of going to physical libraries for much of the year, readers borrowed record numbers of ebooks, audiobooks, and digital magazines from public... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-07 15:34:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Readers worldwide borrowed some 430 million e-books, audiobooks and digital magazines in the past 12 months, a hefty 33% increase over 2019, OverDrive officials reported, based on data drawn from some 65,000 libraries and schools worldwide. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-07 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
In a free 50-page report released this week, three veteran publishing and digital media consultants offer a postmortem on 2020 and a glimpse at what the future holds for publishers, booksellers, libraries and readers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-07 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
New indie publisher Cipher Press has announced its #newqueervoices submissions for UK writers identifying as trans, gender non-conforming, queer, working class and as writers of colour. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-06 21:07:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Take a book, give a book. Learn more about Little Free Libraries and how they're making appearances across all seven continents. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-01-04 11:37:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The results of the AIE's fifth annual #IoLeggoPerché book donation program for schools and libraries surprised organizers with 300,000 books. The post Italy’s Fifth ‘Why I Read’ Campaign Generates Broad-Based Response appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-01-04 09:46:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this
In a year dominated by a global pandemic and American politics, some might find it fitting that the library book most likely to be checked out across Ontario was a hopeful memoir written by the former first lady of the United States. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2020-12-31 09:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A reader on saying goodbye not only to the books she can't bring on the next phase of her journey, but to her roomie, her sister. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-12-30 11:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
WHEN I WAS growing up in San Francisco in the 1960s and ’70s, I read every baseball book on the shelves of the libraries of my grammar school, junior high, and high school and the local branches of the public library. I absorbed them the way a nine-year-old immigrant might take in a new... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-12-27 13:30:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Want a Little Free Library or lending library for your home? Here are 17 awesome Little Free Libraries to buy right now. - Kelly Jensen Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-12-23 11:32:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Six libraries through history which have been destroyed and the history behind them. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-12-21 11:33:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this