Last year on Mastodon we featured this story from the BBC about Gladstone's Library, the U.K.'s only residential library. Fediverse folk were so enthusiastic that when we discovered the library is offering scholarships to be taken in 2024, we had to share the information (see the second link in this post for all the details).
What's next in America's book ban battle? The book ban ban. Minnesota's Gov. Tim Walz has signed into law a measure prohibiting the removal of “a book or other material based solely on its viewpoint or the messages, ideas, or opinions it conveys.” The law allows books to be challenged, but mandates that trained and licensed librarians be part of the review. Minnesota's librarians and educators told CNN they welcome legal criteria for how to address book challenges, since some are worried about losing their jobs if they order books that prove controversial.
The Seattle Public Library was hit with a ransomware attack. A library that has offered youth across the country access to its digital holdings with a special library card. Curious. Sickening. It's still open for physical books, using paper forms for borrowing. Bring your library cards or at least the number! @bookstodon @books #books#libraries#ransomware https://shelftalkblog.wordpress.com/today/
My heart aches for the children who will no longer have access to their local library because some arrogant assholes decided to be offended by books with new ideas and different perspectives.
It may not feel like it, but spring is here and with it comes the flourishing of new life in our oceans. Spring is also a great time to visit the coast and discover what lives beneath the waves. In this way we follow the footsteps of pioneering phycologist Dr Mary Parke. She studied the planktonic algae and seaweeds of the UK, especially those of the south-west of England.
COMMUNITIES AND MUSEUMS IN THE 21st CENTURY. Shared Histories and Climate Action.
Edited by Karen Brown, Alissandra Cummins, Ana S. González Rueda. #ICOM#Routledge#OpenAccess#Book 2023
"Communities and Museums in the 21st Century brings together innovative, multidisciplinary perspectives on contemporary museology and participatory museum practice that contribute to wider debates on museum communities, heritage, and sustainability."
"Communities and Museums in the 21st Century proposes creative and sustainable strategies relevant to a globalised future. With its focus on global societal challenges, this book will appeal to museologists and museum practitioners, as well as those working in heritage studies, cultural studies, memory studies, art history, gender studies, and sustainable development."
Librarians in several states can now be jailed for years for making “pornography” available. Let’s be clear about intent here - it is to limit descriptions of the lives of LGBTQ people, where possible down to the level that we even exist. @bookstodon#bookstodon#lgbtq#books#censorship#libraries#librarians
Sure, we've all had to pay a late fine for an overdue library book, but one Colorado reader took things to extremes. The Poudre River Public Library (formerly the Fort Collins Public Library and Free Reading Room) just received a return that was 105 years late. A reader took out "Ivanhoe" by Sir Walter Scott on Feb. 13, 1919, at which time the fine was two cents per day. Adjusted for inflation, the fine would now be around $14,000, but luckily for the unknown borrower, the library stopped enforcing fines in Nov. 2020. Here's more from Smithsonian, including details on the world's most overdue library book.
THE ROUTLEDGE INTERNATIONAL HANDBOOK OF HERITAGE AND POLITICS by Bozoğlu, Gönül; Campbell, Gary; Smith, Laurajane; Whitehead, Christopher (editors) #Routledge#Books
I am reading this book. Very interesting, but very expensive (cheaper ebook version).
"The Routledge International Handbook of Heritage and Politics surveys the intersection of heritage and politics today and helps elucidate the political implications of heritage practices. It explicitly addresses the political and analyses tensions and struggles over the distribution of power."
The American Library Association announced last month that book-banning attempts have reached record highs, and yesterday, it released a report detailing the most challenged books in the country. "Gender Queer: A Memoir" by Maia Kobabe tops the list, which is dominated by books about LGBTQ folk and people of color. “More and more, we’re seeing challenges that say, simply, ‘This book has a gay character,’ or, ‘This book deals with LGBTQ themes,’ even if it has no sexuality in it,” Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the director of the ALA’s office for intellectual freedom, says. “We’re seeing those naked attacks on simply the visibility of and knowledge about LGBTQ lives and experiences.” Here's more from Smithsonian Magazine.
“The most challenged books in the United States in 2023 continued to focus on the experiences of L.G.B.T.Q. people or explore themes of race…”
Time to buy these books, and/or request your public library purchase if they don’t have them. #bookstodon#books#libraries#censorship#race#lgbtq@bookstodon
If you care about books, about libraries, and about your own freedom to read (and write) whatever the hell you want, it behooves you to pay attention. Currently, Kelly Jensen is the only journalist devoted to this beat, 24/7, for several years now.
Here's her call to action: pay attention and show up locally; don't hope for someone else to stand up for your rights.
Double the #BookBans in half the time, via BookRiot:
"PEN’s report confirms that book bans are happening nationwide. The state’s political leanings don’t matter: 42 states, both red and blue, reported book bans in public schools over the three years of PEN’s record keeping."
Public libraries must remain public cultura infrastructure if they're to fulfill their mission at all, let alone survive.
Worth noting how little it costs to keep them functioning compared to what cities everywhere pay cops--who, lest we forget, have no constitutional obligation to save, serve, or protect the public; to know the laws they're "applying", or not to commit crimes themselves.
Via @tuphlos, I just found out that Oklahoma's Supreme Court bocked the right wing state from banning books from public schools and penalizing schools who refused to comply with the fascists.