Free Republic

Obama Presidential Library in Hawaii ? No way ! OK - it will fit right in Put it in Nairobi you've got to be kidding ? Vote for Chicago ! Other

Fleeing Islamist insurgents burnt two buildings containing priceless books as French-led troops approached al-Qaida-allied fighters on Saturday torched two buildings that held the manuscripts, some of which dated back to the 13th century. They also burned down the town hall, the governor's office and an MP's residence, and shot dead a man who was celebrating the arrival of the French military. French troops and the Malian army reached the gates of Timbuktu on Saturday and secured the town's airport. But they appear to have got there too late to rescue the leather-bound manuscripts that were a unique record of sub-Saharan...

The London accountant who accompanied Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan to Timbuktu on three occasions in 1998, 1999 and 2000 says the 'father' of the Pakistani bomb witnessed the digging of a well, toured an ancient Islamic library and enjoyed the views of the desert. A remote outpost in the middle of the West African desert, Timbuktu usually attracts explorers associated in the popular mind with the adventures of the comic character Tin Tin. And Pakistani dissidents told rediff.com the reason for Khan's visit to Timbuktu, part of landlocked West African state of Mali, was to prospect for uranium. They say...

Last month, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals declared Illinois’s ban on carrying a weapon in public unconstitutional, leaving the District of Columbia as the only place in the country that does not allow the concealed carry of firearms by civilians (and D.C. is being sued to allow this). The morally purblind pro-gun lobbyists have been so successful in saturating our society with firearms—from national parks to Amtrak trains—that public libraries across the country are also finding themselves having to grapple with Second Amendment radicals. For example, the Boulder Public Library, until November, had a policy that read: “No...

Chicago library custodians laid offTim Sallinger WGN News 7:24 a.m. CST, December 1, 2012 CHICAGO— 54 custodians who clean Chicago libraries turned in their city ID's Friday. The city gave them pink slips earlier this month. Leaders of SEIU, which represents the workers, say they knew for a long time that the custodians would be laid off -- but they expected 90 days advance notice, and only found out this past week.

Just before 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, FBI agents walked out of the Detroit Public Library's Main Branch on Woodward Avenue carrying boxes of evidence. Sources confirmed to Fox 2 the focus of the federal investigation centers around financial records and Tim Cromer, the library's chief administrative officer. "We have not yet to determine any criminal intent. We'll see where the investigation goes," said LaMar Lemmons. He and other members of the library's Board of Commission have raised red flags in the past about how Cromer was handling millions of dollars in no-bid contracts with companies like Cubemation and called for an...

VALPARAISO, Ill. -- There's quite a tale that goes with a book donated to the Valparaiso branch of the Porter County Public Library this week, and it's got nothing to do with fiction. An employee cracking open a copy of Robert Stone's "Outbridge Reach" found the book hollowed out with a historic-looking handgun inside, Valparaiso police said. The weapon was described by police as a gold, wooden handle, A.S.M. brand, .31-caliber, single shot, black powder gun. Due to the volume of donations received by the library, officials said there's no way to know from whom the book came. Police said,...

Tuesday Night Hoosier Team Volunteer Training Session! (Meeting) The Volunteer Team trainings that were announced last week are upon us!!! We held the first training session last night and we have three more this week! The trainings will be held: Tuesday August 12th, Wednesday August 13th, and Thursday August 14th at The Hussey-Mayfield Library from 7:00pm – 8:25pm in T

Please look over this inaugural list of Books That Shaped America, as determined by the Library of Congress. These books were written in America by Americans, and had a profound impact on our nation. Which THREE of these books do you think shaped America the most profoundly?

Milton Wolf, M.D., Barack Obama's conservative cousin, has come up with a hilarious "what if" for contributions to the Obama Presidential Library (which will be here sooner rather than later, hopefully). Check out the rest of his "entries" here. This really got me going, with all the entries I could come up with, I may have gone overboard though...

LOS ANGELES—Illegal immigrants in California's largest city could use library cards to open bank accounts and access an array of city services under a plan being considered by city officials. Under the plan, anyone with proof of Los Angeles residency could get a library card, the Los Angeles Times reported (lat.ms/P967MO). The idea is to provide a form of ID to those who cannot get a driver's license because of their immigration status.

The U.S. Justice Department says it has reached a settlement with the Sacramento (California) Public Library over a trial program the library was conducting that let patrons borrow Barnes and Noble NOOK e-book readers. DOJ and the National Federation of the Blind objected to the program on grounds that blind people could not use the NOOK e-readers for technological reasons. The Justice Department said the settlement is aimed at stopping discrimination: “Emerging technologies like e-readers are changing the way we interact with the world around us and we need to ensure that people with disabilities are not

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - The Richmond Public Library was inundated with guests carrying guns Wednesday evening. You could call it a silent protest (in a library, it'd have to be). The read-in protest was against one of the rules recently changed on the library's website. The rule reads, "Carrying concealed weapons is prohibited, except as permitted by law." In the Richmond Public Library, it is legal to openly carry a gun without a permit, or to carry one concealed with a permit. Gun supporters say that the wording of the rule is confusing and discourages people from exercising their 2nd...

The San Francisco Public Library has installed 18 privacy screens on its public computers so patrons continuing looking at online porn in the library without disturbing the people around them. The library refuses to install internet filters, but families have begun complaining that children can see sexually explicit content when they use public computers. At least one group is outraged that the library continues to allow people to use public facilities to look at hardcore pornography and has accommodated them -- instead of driving them out.

The gun ban at West Bend's public library has been shelved. I can see it now. Somebody steps up to the circulation desk and the librarian asks, "Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just ecstatic to have found 'Fifty Shades of Grey'?" Patrons of the West Bend Community Memorial Library can now pack heat - whether they're into the steamy "Shades" trilogy or not. Last November, the Library Board voted to keep the building a gun-free zone in the wake of the new state law allowing people with permits to carry concealed weapons. But that was...

FREEPORT, Pa. - An Armstrong County library had to get police involved to get four overdue books returned from a 4-year-old girl. Freeport Area Library Board President Donna Michael said the books had been out since Oct. 19, or 240 days and $81.60 in fines. Michael said she had no choice but to get police involved after two phone calls, a postcard and three letters failed to get the books returned.

Concealed carrying of weapons is permitted, for now, at the Kilbourn Public Library after the library board reversed a decision to post signs prohibiting the weapons. At a meeting Thursday, library board members said they wanted to persuade legislators to change the law to list libraries in the Wisconsin Statutes as buildings where weapons are prohibited. The board voted 3-2 to rescind a December vote to post signs prohibiting concealed carry. Members Dianne Effinger and Bill Pettit voted against rescinding. Members Jo Ann Luke and Kathleen Helland were absent. Wisconsin Dells Mayor Brian Landers came to talk to the board...

When the right-wing Second Amendment Foundation teamed up with the left-wing First Amendment foundation to sue the Eastern Washington library system for filtering out gun websites, it serves as a case study as to why the Seattle Public Library was right last week when it said it wasn't going to do anything about Internet porn. There's not much titillating about Women & Guns magazine. About as racy as it gets is a recent photo spread on "practical leather" — gun holsters and casual carry handbags for the lady who packs heat. With articles like "Taming Shotgun Recoil" and "Ammunition on...

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...

RICHLAND — Central Washington’s library system will head back to federal court Oct. 25 to further argue its filtering of public Internet access. The hearing in Richland before U.S. District Court Judge Edward F. Shea will consider motions left dangling after the Washington Supreme Court last year upheld the North Central Regional Library district practice of narrowly filtering Internet pages related to pornography and gambling. The state court’s 6-3 decision sided with the NCRL and its 28 branch libraries in a 2006 suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, representing three North Central Washington residents — Sarah Bradburn of...