American Libraries

Thirty-four members have been elected to Council for three-year terms (34 for 2008-11 and one for 2008-09) in results announced May 2. Elected councilors and vote totals are: * Nancy H. Allen, dean and director, Penrose Library, University of Denver,...

For almost 10 years, Friends of Cuban Libraries has advocated tirelessly on behalf of what have become known as Cuba's "independent libraries." Led by a New York Public Library librarian named Robert Kent, the group has used blogs, e-mails, letters,...

Camila Alire, dean emerita at the University of New Mexico and Colorado State University in Fort Collins, has been elected 2009-10 ALA president. Alire received 8,956 of the total 16,058 votes cast for president and will serve one year as vice-president/president-elect...

* Lydia Acosta, director of East Baton Rouge (La.) Public Library, has resigned to become vice president of information services and university librarian at Nova South-eastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Floridia * Marjorie Baker has been promoted...

The Library of Congress has launched an immersive "Library of Congress Experience" that offers visitors unique historical and cultural treasures brought to life through cutting-edge interactive technology and a companion website. The LC Experience...

Almost three years after Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf of Mexico, a determined group of architectural preservationists in Gulfport, Mississippi, is fighting to save Harrison County (Miss.) Public Library's devastated Gulfport Public Library...

"[Eric Clapton] used to look so cool and sexy and I can't see that in him now. He looks as if he spends his time in a library boning up on all kinds of wonderful information. It's very odd, he's a bit of a chameleon but he's changed radically now."...

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my libraries? I'm a very proud and satisfied holder of library cards from three great systems: the University of Washington, Seattle Public Library, and King County Library System. Each gives me great service...

The judge hearing British author J.K. Rowling's copyright-infringement lawsuit against an unauthorized Harry Potter encyclopedia urged both sides to settle the case April 17. On the final day of the three-day trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan,...

The Mesa (Ariz.) Public School District is on the verge of eliminating all 87 of its school library media specialist positions over the next three years and replacing them with support staff. Faced with an estimated $20-million reduction in its 2008-09...

American Libraries: What is the Livestrong Survivorship Notebook? LANCE ARMSTRONG: The foundation created the Livestrong Survivorship Notebook to give access to cancer information to everyone, despite their economic or social status. We also wanted...

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon and the American Library Association's Freedom to Read Foundation have joined 13 other plaintiffs in challenging two state laws that criminalize the provision of "sexually explicit" materials to minors....

Anew town has been founded in Baltimore County, Maryland. Unobservant drivers might pass right by. No one actually lives there, but once they see it, visitors don't ever want to leave. It's called Storyville, the colorful, child-sized village specially...

While attending a professor's retirement party, I met a new librarian who told of an interesting discovery. She had struggled with deciding whether to become a high school librarian or find work in an academic setting. Then she discovered a position...

Ham says she grew up in a household full of smokers. "Both parents and every adult I knew were smokers; "even my older siblings started smoking by the time they started high school. I never did take up smoking myself, but I was definitely a chain second-hand...