Free Republic

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.

COLUMBUS, Ga. -- A 16-year-old who officials said continued to evangelize outside a library after officials warned him to stop has been banned from the Chattahoochee Valley Regional Library System for six months. Kirsten Edwards, acting manager of the North Columbus Public Library, said in a letter that Caleb Hanson repeatedly asked patrons about their religious faith and offered biblical advice. The teen said library employees had warned him to stop. "Then they took me into an office and told me not to do it," he said.

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)

Former President Bush to speak at Reagan Library in NovemberBy Michele Willer-Allred Ventura County Star Posted September 8, 2010 at 10:22 a.m. Former President George W. Bush will be speaking at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum on Nov. 18. As part of the library’s “Perspective on Leadership Forum,” Bush will be discussing his memoir “Decision Points,” which brings readers inside the Texas governor’s mansion on the night of the hotly contested 2000 election, and aboard Air Force One on 9/11 in the hours after the attack on the World Trade Center Towers. The book also goes into detail...

<p>Other Obama supporters want the library located in Chicago.</p> <p>Hawaii state lawmakers supported a proposal this past legislative session.</p> <p>And now University of Hawaii officials are pressing ahead with creating working groups to study such issues as where a suitable site would be located.</p>

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.justice.gov/usao/mow/news2010/harrison.ind.htm JULY 9, 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BLACK MARKET TRAVEL AGENTS 38 DEFENDANTS INDICTED IN MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR FRAUD LOCAL INVESTIGATION EXPOSES NATIONWIDE NETWORK THAT USED STOLEN IDENTITIES, CREDIT CARDS TO PURCHASE AIRLINE TICKETS KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that 38 defendants from across the United States have been charged in a series of indictments that allege an extensive network of black market travel agents who used the stolen identities of thousands of victims as part of a multi-million dollar fraud scheme...

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.....

ABC News' Ariane de Vogue reports: Officials at National Archives (in charge of Kagan papers at the Clinton Library) are very worried about the release of documents. In large part because of email -- the amount of paper is unprecedented: 160,000. The Roberts papers (which seemed like the mother of all dumps) was a mere 70,000.

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...

"A Burlington County school board voted Tuesday night to pull a book depicting teenage homosexuality from its high school library shelves after protests from a local conservative group."

Everyone knows that George Washington couldn't tell a lie. What you probably didn't know is that he couldn't return a library book on time. From the article: "New York City's oldest library says one of its ledgers shows that the president has racked up 220 years' worth of late fees on two books he borrowed, but never returned. One of the books was the 'Law of Nations,' which deals with international relations. The other was a volume of debates from Britain's House of Commons. Both books were due on Nov. 2, 1789."

NEW YORK, - A 1992 survey of 5,000 U.S. librarians, long withheld by a professional journal, found one in five respondents had engaged in sexual trysts among the stacks. Will Manly, who said the New York-based Wilson Library Bulletin withheld the results of his survey in 1992, published results recently on his Web site indicating 51 percent of librarians in the early 90s were willing to pose nude for money and 61 percent of respondents admitting to renting an X-rated film, the New York Daily News reported Monday. Manly said the survey questions were printed in the now-defunct journal, but...

GEORGE Washington racked up a $300,000 fee at the New York Library with two books he borrowed 220 years ago. America's first president never returned the books, on international law and parliamentary debates. "We're not actively pursuing the overdue fines. But we would be very happy if we were able to get the books back," librarian Mark Bartlett said. Washington's late fee went unnoticed for almost 150 years. But in 1934 a dusty ledger was discovered in a rubbish heap in the library's basement, revealing the names of all the people who had borrowed books from the city's oldest library...

I have an open argument with a liberal acquaintance over whether liberals or conservatives value public libraries more and which group is more likely to pull the plug on public funding. Most public libraries are supported with tax dollars with some additional support from grants and private donations. Since freepers are a conservative crowd, I am seeking some feedback on which group is more appreciative of public libraries and which is more likely to close your local library.

MOUNT VERNON, VA. — There were no presidential libraries in the days of George Washington, so his papers and writings are scattered around the world. Some are lost forever — Martha Washington, for instance, burned nearly all of her personal letters from her husband shortly before she died. But an unprecedented $38 million donation will allow George Washington's Mount Vernon estate to establish a library dedicated to scholarship on the nation's first president, in many ways filling the role of the modern presidential library. The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington is expected to open...

With the crippled economy forcing more Bay Staters to dust off library cards, local lending institutions are throwing the book at overdue scofflaws, turning them over to the cops and courts in a hard-nosed bid to collect fines and recover costly tomes and DVDs. “The value of the materials is fairly high. We need to replace them,” said Martha Holden, director of the Peabody Institute Library, which has sent the law after a trio of overdue culprits. The Peabody library filed criminal complaints against 19-year-old Alyssa Toste and 23-year-old Jeramie Crane on Dec. 15. Despite repeated notices, both Toste and...

Some Boulder library employees and supporters are up in arms this week about plans to shut down all four branches on Friday for a mandatory, all-staff training session that includes yoga lessons, a catered lunch and extra paid hours for some workers. But Library Director Tony Tallent defended the get-together, saying it’s a chance for the library system’s 80 employees to bond, relax and learn.

Teen Sex Magazine to Stay on Shelves at Iowa Library Sunday, November 22, 2009 AMES, Iowa — A teen sex magazine will stay on the shelves at the Ames Public Library despite a petition signed by more than 100 parents objecting to the publication. The Ames Library Board voted 6-1 to support library Director Art Weeks' recommendation to keep the magazine Sex, Ect., in the teen section. The magazine is written by and for teens under the oversight of Answer, a national sexuality organization at Rutgers University. It addresses teen sexuality issues, substance abuse and eating disorders.

Former Velvet Underground members Lou Reed, Maureen Tucker and Doug Yule will make an extremely rare joint public appearance on December 8 at the New York Public Library. The three will discuss the Velvet Underground's music and legacy with rock journalist David Fricke as part of the "LIVE from the NYPL" series. The reunion of the legendary New York band comes on the heels of the publication of "The Velvet Underground: New York Art," a compendium of previously unseen photographs, poster and cover designs by Andy Warhol, Lou Reed's handwritten music and lyrics, underground press clippings and other reviews, flyers,...

KIRKUK, Iraq, Nov. 13, 2009 – The public library here is receiving a facelift that highlights the building’s 72-year heritage while hiding modern amenities. The 72-year-old public library in Kirkuk, Iraq, is undergoing a $453,000 renovation designed to highlight the building’s classic look. U.S. Army photo by Rizgar Jan  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The $453,000 project, funded through the Commander’s Emergency Relief Fund, calls for complete renovation of the library’s electrical system, plumbing and heating plant, as well as installation of an air conditioning system and renovation of interior spaces. "For centuries, Iraq's libraries and universities were renowned...