Free Republic

Madison - Alicia Rheal is an artist who lives on a quiet street within sight of the Capitol. She's also a librarian. Instead of rows and rows of bookshelves filled with Dewey Decimal System-categorized tomes, Rheal's library is decidedly low-tech and charming. No library cards are required. There are no fines. In fact, library users are encouraged to take any book they want and keep it. Rheal is one of many caretakers of the growing phenomenon of Little Free Libraries - tiny boxes designed to promote literacy and the love of reading through free book exchanges. Each Little Free Library...

LAST year, Christmas was the biggest single day for e-book sales by HarperCollins. And indications are that this year’s Christmas Day total will be even higher, given the extremely strong sales of e-readers like the Kindle and the Nook. Amazon announced on Dec. 15 that it had sold one million of its Kindles in each of the three previous weeks. But we can also guess that the number of visitors to the e-book sections of public libraries’ Web sites is about to set a record, too. And that is a source of great worry for publishers. In their eyes, borrowing...

Penguin's security issue was not specified, although it likely refers to piracy concerns. But analyst Avi Greengart said he wondered how much of Penguin's objections have to do with security and how much with the business model of lending titles, especially new titles, through libraries. The growing availability of e-book titles for borrowing through public libraries has hit a bump. On Tuesday, Penguin Group USA announced it would no longer allow digital editions in any e-format of new titles to become available for library lending -- and it is disabling availability of all titles for lending in Amazon's Kindle format....

Seattle-area libraries on Tuesday began testing the long-awaited Kindle feature that lets patrons transfer borrowed library books to the electronic device. This morning (Wednesday), Amazon.com announced that the program is now available across the country, at more than 11,000 libraries.Amazon agreed in April to work with OverDrive, a Cleveland company that provides electronic book lending services for numerous libraries, but the companies didn't provide many details of what to expect. Amazon's website had promised the service was coming to 11,000 libraries.

A second employee of Birmingham's downtown library has filed a lawsuit against her employer, claiming library patrons are looking at pornography on the Internet and management is doing nothing about it. Jackson says in her lawsuit that patrons are routinely allowed to view pornography on library computers, often in the presence of children and that management has failed to address the matter.

Despite strong opposition from Republicans, the Assembly narrowly passed a union-backed bill to make cities and counties blow through a series of roadblocks before they can privatize their libraries. Under Assembly Bill 438, library systems would have to: • pick a contract after a competitive bidding process. • give four straight weeks of public notice before enacting a change, doubling the current requirement. • prove through a broad analysis that a switch away from the free public library system saves the city or county money. • show that the cost savings are not simply a factor of lower pay for...

The teachers’ union in Bridgewater and Raynham has filed a labor grievance that could block volunteers from keeping the school district’s libraries open. And as word of the work action spreads, it is stirring up outrage in the two towns. Librarian positions were cut from the middle schools in both towns this year and their salaries channeled into hiring teachers to address bulging class sizes. Volunteer organizations stepped in to pick up the slack — only to be surprised and disappointed by threats of a labor complaint.

Everyone's opinion, what would be three books that every adult should read? How about three books every kid should read? (besides the Bible, since that's a given for most)

So I went to my local library today, which is in a not-very-large city, and there were at least three times as many homeless people as there were legitimate library users. The homeless were "using" the library in that they were playing games on the computers, sitting on the furniture, and one was reading the free newspaper. They were occupying spaces/tables/computers that someone doing research or actual library work might want to use. My question is: Since the homeless are not paying taxes, except occasional sales tax (?), why is their unlimited use of the library permitted? Or another way...

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — A private company in Maryland has taken over public libraries in ailing cities in California, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas, growing into the country’s fifth-largest library system. The basic pitch that the company Library Systems & Services makes to cities is that it fixes broken libraries — often by cleaning house. Now the company, Library Systems & Services, has been hired for the first time to run a system in a relatively healthy city, setting off an intense and often acrimonious debate about the role of outsourcing in a ravaged economy. A $4 million deal to run...

Banned Book Weeks celebrates the freedom to read, the freedom to choose and the freedom to express one's opinion, even if it is unorthodox. Sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) since 1982, it has become an annual event reminding Americans not to take this democratic freedom for granted.

BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) -- Students who wished their school librarians a nice summer on the last day of school may be surprised this fall when they're no longer around to recommend a good book or help with homework. As the school budget crisis deepens, administrators across the nation have started to view school libraries as luxuries that can be axed rather than places where kids learn to love reading and do research.....

A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit filed by a former Ohio State University librarian who said he was forced out of his job because of his conservative Christian beliefs. U.S. District Court Judge William Bertelsman ruled that the university’s Mansfield campus did not violate Scott Savage’s civil rights by being hostile to his beliefs. In 2006, Savage was asked to serve on a committee to develop a required reading list for incoming freshmen. He noticed that every book was either liberal or promoted what he called a gay agenda. So Savage recommended four conservative books – and that’s...

A Japanese serial graphic novel genre popular with young teens has raised the ire of a Crestview mother whose teenage son got hold of an adult version of the genre from the Crestview Public Library. “Manga” depicts highly stylized adventure and, occasionally, violence in fantasy settings. Margaret Barbaree, founder of a citizens’ group called Protect Our Children, presented examples from a manga book to the Crestview City Council last week that she described as “graphic” and “shocking,” taken from material she said is “available to children” at the Crestview Public Library. “My son lost his mind when he found this,”...

Liana Lupas, curator of the Rare Bible Collection at the Museum of Biblical Art in New York, with one of the first Bibles translated into the language used by American Indians. (CNS/Bob Roller) By Beth GriffinCatholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) -- Liana Lupas stands out in New York, even by the standards of a city that defines itself with superlatives and seems to have world-class specialists in every conceivable discipline. She calls herself "the only librarian in the world who takes care of one book." Of course, that book is "the" Book, the Bible. And in two decades...

The great Library of Alexandria, established by Ptolemy II (circa 280 BC), has come to symbolize the receptacle of knowledge of Classical civilization. This great repository was barbarously razed in the Middle Ages. At its height, the Library contained an estimated forty thousand volumes on a wide variety of topics. It held works on astronomy, mathematics, physics, medicine, and philosophy -- many of which were copied from the hieroglyphic and cuneiform texts of the Egyptians and Babylonians. It also stored histories of all the countries of the known world: histories of Egypt, of Babylonia, of Persia, of the lands of...

Though the Glenn Beck clips are classic examples of the nonsense this nitwit pushes out all day on his radio and TV shows, the interview with Samantha Bee from the CPAC future is the funniest thing I ever did see. Gunfloss... All independent voters should be rounded up, hog tied, have their eyelids stapled open like Alex and forced to watch this 3 minute video. One viewing would be enough for these 40% of the voters to end of all this crazy right-wing crap once and for all.

... One year ago, a new library designed by world-class architect William Rawn opened on Mattapan’s Blue Hill Avenue, a street rarely associated with first-class anything. [...] But the highlight of the new library was its young adult room. [...] In reality, some of the young people are throwing punches, hurling insults, and tossing furniture in the space that Rawn designed as an “oasis of safety.’’ It doesn’t happen often, but often enough to draw negative publicity and discourage some adults from patronizing the library. The good kids who easily outnumber the thugs know what comes next. “People will say...

Fort Worth Public Library officials have told Parker County Republican Congressional candidate Mike Brasovan to find another site for a "grassroots voter training" campaign event Saturday originally scheduled for the East Regional Library. City policy restricts library meeting rooms to nonpartisan events that are not connected to a specific candidate, assistant director Sheila Scullock said.

A federal law banning lead and other toxic substances in products for children 12 and under has raised new concerns. Some libraries have pulled children's books that were printed before 1986 because lead was used in printer's ink before then. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the chances of those books containing lead harmful to children is low. At least two libraries didn't want to take any chances and removed the books from their shelves. The Consumer Product Safety Commission interprets the new federal law to include books but hasn't weighed in on whether older books could cause...

Lincoln police nabbed a man at a public library where they say he'd been approaching teenage girls. On Friday, police were listening at the 14-year-old girl's end of a phone conversation in which Mohammed Nadeem allegedly arranged to meet her at the library for sex. And, they waited there to arrest him when he arrived. They booked Nadeem, 4800 N. 15th St., Apt. 111, on suspicion of attempted sexual assault in the first-degree. Prosecutors have not yet charged him. In the affidavit for his arrest, police said Nadeem, 22, sat next to the 14-year-old at Eiseley Library Thursday and asked...

This just in: Those demented fascists at the Miami-Dade School Board are banning books again. A careful check of school libraries shows there is not a single copy to be had of Babbette Cole's Mommy Laid An Egg, Or Where Do Babies Come From? You can take that title very literally, by the way; the book includes several colorful illustrations of Mommy and Daddy performing the act that leads to babies -- on skateboards, in a bouncy Space Hopper, in balloons in mid-air. Oh, and because Mommy Laid An Egg is a product of modern, nonsexist pedagogy, equal time...

School Libraries May Soon Be Historyby Paul C. Clark Staff Writer January 22, 2009 Some local educators are imagining a future in which schools have no libraries. Quick, thoroughly unscientific visual surveys of the libraries – called "media centers" in eduspeak – of Guilford County high schools of late give the impression that they're hardly beehives of activity, at least as far as books are concerned. The percentage of space dedicated to books instead of computers seems to have shrunk over the years, and a scan of the shelves turns up relatively few newly acquired books. The use of the...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to consider attempts to revive a 1998 law intended to protect children from Internet pornography, ending a legal conflict dating to the administration of President Bill Clinton. Without comment, the court handed down an order declining to take the case of Mukasey v. A.C.L.U., No. 08-565. The administration of former President George W. Bush, through Attorney General Michael Mukasey, had asked the justices to review the law. The American Civil Liberties Union has been a leading foe of the statute. The Child Online Protection Act has been the subject of court battles...

Mayor Nutter said yesterday that five of the 11 library branches once scheduled to close permanently on Thursday are instead on track to be taken over by private foundations, wealthy individuals, companies, and community development corporations. ( ... ) "Libraries are much more than repositories for books. We know this," said Nutter, who ordered 11 of 54 branches closed as part of a larger plan to address a $1 billion five-year budget gap. "They are the absolute complete nexus of community life." Nutter made his remarks at a City Hall news conference where he was loudly heckled by dozens of...

Like the Willie Horton case in the 1988 campaign only worse. It goes to the heart of who and what all-too-many among the left-wing of the Democratic Party really are. I was hoping that this would become a major issue in this campaign. Perhaps it's not too late - if enough people will join in to make it one - though email, websites, letters to the editor and calls to family and friends.   Excerpt: "If You want to know who they really are - i.e. all-too-many on the left-wing of the Democratic Party, the "Progressives" who idolize Barak Obama...

As part of the microscopic scrutiny applied to Sarah Palin’s record, the public has been told that as the incoming Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska in 1996, Palin dared to ask the town librarian what would happen if anyone objected to an inappropriate book. She merely inquired, but "anti-censorship" activists, perpetually filled with visions of a trash can full of burning books, exploded. At the time, the Anchorage Daily News captured the librarian, one Mary Ellen Emmons, putting up her First Amendment dukes. “I told her clearly, I will fight anyone who tries to dictate what books can go on the...

There's a childhood epidemic sweeping Minnesota and the nation. Its warning signs aren't fever or skin rashes. The symptoms are behavioral -- and unmistakable. Consider a recent, particularly virulent outbreak of the affliction in Maplewood, N.J., as reported by the New York Times. In the last few years, out-of-control kids from the middle school have overrun the town's library after school. They routinely mouth off to librarians, disrupt common areas, leave restrooms a shambles and race about, sometimes almost knocking over elderly patrons

Much of the substance of this election comes down to this question: "do we want people with values like those held by the leadership of the American Library Association - in general - and Judith Flint and Amy Grasmick - in particular - to be in control of this country and guiding its children?

...the nature and extent of Sen Obama's left-wing agenda doesn't seem to have penetrated into the awareness of the American public...They just don't associate him, the "Progressive" movement and the Democratic party with the kinds of infringements...that have come to be seem as "normal" in everyday life...things such as...parents being threatened for spanking their kids...public libraries that let paedophiles in - while keeping Christians at bay...kids being punished in school for drawing pictures of their soldier relatives...

ALA to Libraries: Keep Alms for Jihad, Pulped in the UK Andrew Albanese & Jennifer Pinkowski -- Library Journal At the urging of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), a scholarly book pulped by its British publisher is maintaining a safe haven in U.S. libraries. Alms for Jihad was the target of a potential libel suit in England by Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz, whose charitable activities have reportedly been linked to terrorist activities, as conveyed in the book. In response, publisher Cambridge University Press (CUP) pulped its unsold copies of the book, put it out of...

Many in the Central Valley farm town of Lindsay were shocked when a man was arrested after allegedly viewing photos of nude boys on a computer in the local library. But even more shocking was the dismissal two days later of the library branch's lone employee, who said she alerted police over the objections of her supervisor. The firing of aide Brenda Biesterfeld has prompted a prayer vigil outside the library, a stinging letter from the City Council to Tulare County officials, rumblings about the town of 11,000 breaking off from the county library system and a wave of anger...

Story title: Child Porn Suspect Ordered to Stand Trial; Man Accused of Accessing Images on Unfiltered Library Computer A computer glitch actually prevents the library from protecting a criminal from arrest! Story excerpt: ROYAL OAK - When James Mullaney got timed out of his computer session at Royal Oak Public Library, James Boothe said he logged on to the same terminal and was appalled at the screen that appeared. "It was child pornography," Boothe told 44th District Court Judge Terrence Brennan. "...I was taken aback by the images and I got up immediately and notified the desk." The computer screen...

Public libraries are stocking hundreds of Islamic books by advocates of "holy war", with many glorifying acts of terrorism, a new report claims. Council taxpayers' money has been spent on the books, with one library stocking works by the convicted preachers Abu Hamza and Abdullah al-Faisal. An investigation by a leading think-tank found extremist literature at six libraries, three in the London area, two in the Midlands and one in the North. It raises fears that public libraries could inadvertently fuel the radicalisation of young Muslims. The recent case of Dhiren Barot, who was jailed for 30 years for plotting...

The unassuming international champion of universal health care, Michael Moore, was asked (New York Sun, June 29) whether, while filming "Sicko," he inquired about the condition of Cuban journalist Normando Gonzalez, a political prisoner since 2003. He has contracted severe chronic illnesses while in a Castro gulag. Moore answered that he asked only about Cuba's health care system while he was there. Among other suffering prisoners in Cuban cells who would have added further dimension to "Sicko" are independent librarians, put away for more than 20-year sentences for the crime of giving Cubans access to books and other publications forbidden...

Sacramento Officials Refuse to Ban Online Porn in Libraries City: Sacramento, CA Officials who oversee the Sacramento public library system rejected pleas from parents and students late last week to prohibit the viewing of online pornography in libraries. At a public hearing late Thursday, parents and students pled with the Sacramento Public Library Authority Board (SPLA Board) to protect kids from the dangers of allowing pedophiles and other sex addicts to view online porn in libraries. One student related a personal experience of trying to conduct research while sitting next to someone viewing online porn. A number of library systems in...

Mary Kay Feltes will get a present Wednesday as part of an unusual foreign aid package from Mexico. "I can't wait to open the box and see what's inside," said Feltes, assistant director of the Owatonna Public Library -- one of 82 organizations around the state that will receive a box of 55 Mexican textbooks. The books will be given to school districts, libraries, community centers, universities and penitentiaries throughout Minnesota and northern Wisconsin. The books, all in Spanish, are similar to those used in Mexico, covering everything from social sciences to mathematics. However, these books were produced by the...

(AP) RACINE, Wis. -- A registered sex offender is headed back to prison after a woman at the Racine Public Library saw him using a computer to view child pornography and reported him to the staff. William C. Norris, 58, of Racine, sentenced this week to five years in prison, previously served a sentence for second-degree sexual assault of a child and was out on bond after being accused in 2005 of violating the state's sex offender registry. The library incident happened a year ago and resulted in four counts against Norris of possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty...

My mother never had the opportunity to attend college. Yet, on her nightstand, next to her bed, could always be found books by the likes of a Evelyn Waugh, C.S. Lewis, or Robert Louis Stevenson. The product of parochial schools and an America that still treasured high-quality literature, my mother breathed the healthy air of culture not yet polluted by the corrosive effects of the radicalism of the 1960s, rampant egalitarianism, consumerism, or postmodernism. My mother's literary tastes, an inheritance, really, of the society into which she was born and raised, came to mind as I read of the purging...

SAF Sues Library System Over Internet Censorship of Gun Websites The Second Amendment Foundation and three Washington State residents have filed a federal lawsuit against a north-central Washington regional library system for denying them access to websites that include information on firearms and publications dealing with guns. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington in Spokane. Joining SAF in the lawsuit are Sarah Bradburn of Republic, Ferry County; Pearl Cherrington of Twisp and Charles Heinlen of Okanogan, both towns in Okanogan County. They are represented by the Seattle firm of Rafel Manville, and...

WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) - Federal authorities are seeking information about the effectiveness of entertainment industry efforts to keep adult products out of kids' hands as customers migrate to the Internet and mobile services from brick-and-mortar stores, according to showbiz executives. The data will form part of the Federal Trade Commission's congressionally mandated biennial report on the way the entertainment industry markets adult fare. FTC spokeswoman Jackie Disdul said the commission has yet to set a schedule for the report's release. "The last time they did the report, online content was barely a glimmer in anyone's eye," said one industry executive....

KIDS, PORN AND POLITICS Sunday, September 10, 2006 David Reinhard, Assoc. Ed. The Oregonian Editorial Rob Brading had a chance to stand up for children and blew it -- twice. The Democratic challenger to House Speaker Karen Minnis had a chance to champion the common-sense notion that children are different than adults and said nothing -- twice. Brading had a chance to protect kids from pornography when they're in Multnomah County public libraries and did nothing -- twice. First, as a member of the Multnomah County Library Advisory Board, he voted for the county to join with the American Civil...

The dean of library services at the University of the Incarnate Word has canceled the library's subscription to the New York Times to protest articles exposing a secret government program that monitors international financial transactions in the hunt for terrorists. "Since no one elected the New York Times to determine national security policy, the only action I know to register protest for their irresponsible action (treason?) is to withdraw support of their operations by canceling our subscription as many others are doing," Mendell D. Morgan Jr. wrote Wednesday in an e-mail to library staffers. "If enough do, perhaps they will...

NORFOLK - A judge ordered that a grand jury should consider a felony charge against a man accused of propositioning a 14-year-old girl at a shopping mall. The man, Charles A. Speller, was charged in March with producing sexually explicit material after the girl said Speller offered her $200 to be in his "porno." The girl and her father testified on Tuesday during a preliminary hearing. The Virginian-Pilot is withholding their names to protect the girl's privacy. The girl's father said he saw the man approach his daughter twice as they walked through The Gallery at Military Circle. He lagged...

After fighting for nearly a year to keep details of a counterterrorism investigation secret, the federal government has abandoned efforts to obtain library records in Connecticut, concluding that the implied threat had no merit. The decision was hailed yesterday as a victory by the four Connecticut librarians who mounted one of the few known challenges to the nation's strengthened antiterrorism law when they filed a lawsuit last summer objecting to the government's request for patron records and its insistence on absolute secrecy. Government officials, in seeking to explain why something that was once a matter of national security was no...

HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, NJ -- Library Director Michele Reutty is under fire for refusing to give police library circulation records without a subpoena. Reutty says she was only doing her job and maintaining the privacy of library patrons. But the mayor called it "a blatant disregard for the Police Department," which needed her help to identify a man who allegedly threatened a child. Reutty, the director for 17 years, now faces possible discipline by the library board. Members of the Borough Council have suggested she receive punishment ranging from a letter of reprimand in her personnel file to a 30-day unpaid...

First Lady Laura Bush, who served as a public school teacher and librarian in the Houston, Dallas and Austin school systems, is scheduled to speak to the American Library Association's (ALA) annual conference in New Orleans next week. The First Lady isn't planning to speak about anything political. The non-controversial topic of her panel: "School Libraries Work: Rebuilding for Learning" in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Nevertheless, her mere scheduled presence has moonbat activists within the ALA steaming. On a library e-mail list publicized on the SHUSH blog ( http://www.SHUSH.ws ) this week, ALA councilor-at-large Mark Rosenzweig's rant must be...

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is a division of the American Library Association that likes to offer sexual advice for teens (check: Healthy Relationships for Teens). One of the web sites they recommend (under Resources for Teens: Sexuality and Sexual Behavior) is the Coalition for Positive Sexuality. The organization can be also found at Wikipedia. Parents of teens, meet the CPS. It was designed for “teens who are sexually active now or just thinking about having sex.” So, next time you talk to your teen about sex, tell him to “Just Say Yes”: Just Say Yes is about...

By Steve Crampton AgapePress June 13, 2006 (AgapePress) -- Laurie Taylor is the mother of two school age children. She lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Like most parents, she cares about her kids' education. So, when she discovered the school library had a sexually explicit book, It's Perfectly Normal, aimed at elementary age students, she did what any concerned parent would do: she went to the administration and asked that it be removed, along with two other books with similar themes. At first, school system leaders seemed to agree with Taylor, and placed the books in a "parent library" section with...

With the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act by Congress this past March, local libraries find themselves again confronted with having to balance the public’s privacy rights with the potential practice by federal authorities of section 215 of the anti-terrorism bill. Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, allows the FBI to obtain any tangible things such as records or books, and other relevant material, from any entity without having to show probable cause that the person whose records it seeks is engaged in criminal activity. Additionally, those served with Section 215 orders to turn over any relevant material are...