July 2016

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is suing the US government over ‘unconstitutional’ use of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act

From America’s broken digital copyright law is about to be challenged in court | Technology | The Guardian

Today is Bloomsday, a folk holiday adopted to celebrate the life and work of the Irish writer James Joyce, in particular his 1922 novel Ulysses. The name derives from the book’s protagonist, Leopold Bloom, one of the Dubliners the book follows through the day of June 16, 1904. First celebrated mere years after the novel’s publication, Bloomsday festivities have been enjoyed for decades. Today, Bloomsday is marked globally in various ways, but especially in Dublin, where it has taken on the character of a citywide festival and as a pilgrimage for aspiring high modernists worldwide.

From Ulysses and the Lie of Technological Progress – The Atlantic

Story here from FCW.

The Library of Congress was the target of a denial-of-service attack that has knocked out Congress.gov and the U.S. Copyright Office website, and caused outages at other sites hosted by the library.

Library spokesperson Gayle Osterberg told FCW that the DNS attack was launched July 17 and continues to affect library operations, including internal websites and employee email. “The Library is working to maintain access to its online services while ensuring security,” Osterberg said.

There was no information on the source of the attack, which comes just a few days after Carla Hayden was confirmed by the Senate as the Librarian of Congress.

Here’s the full petition: Congratulate Carla Hayden Today!

Please join EveryLibrary in sending congratulations to Dr. Carla Hayden, our new Librarian of Congress, by signing below with your personal comment or reflection of congratulations along with your name. We will take all the signatures and comments made by midnight on Tuesday, July 20th and create a commemorative book for Dr. Hayden. We’ll send the book, along with a nice bouquet from all of us, to her this week.

Therein lies the beauty of libraries, past and present. Often referred to as cathedrals of knowledge—and free ones, at that—libraries remain civic and cultural icons within their communities where visitors can do everything from read international publications and learn computer skills to launch a business idea. In an age when information is ubiquitous and universally accessible at the click of a button, libraries are adapting to an increasingly digital society while remaining true to their heritage as a welcoming gathering place, with their alluring stacks of books, striking architecture and knowledgable staffs.

https://blueprint.cbre.com/the-enduring-appeal-of-libraries-around-the-world/

The new branch does indeed provide the perfect haven for checking stock prices and Twitter. Patrons can tap and scroll in tranquility, unmolested by the odor of caffeine, the need for a password, the feel of greasy tables, or a barista’s stare. As a place to research a school project or browse for esoteric bedtime reading, on the other hand, it offers dismaying advice: Try elsewhere. Order a book from the website. Download an e-book. Walk ten blocks to the perpetually derelict, perpetually to-be-renovated Mid-Manhattan branch for the Russian-language edition of Anna Karenina that used to be in the Donnell’s World Languages collection. “We didn’t take those books and cast them aside,” says NYPL vice-president Christopher Platt. “They were strategically moved and aligned to other collections.”

From The 53rd Street Library: Okay, If You Hate Books — NYMag

Five feet of flood water destroyed the Rainelle Public library’s entire print and digital collections. According to a press release from the West Virginia Library Commission, the Clendenin Public Library was declared a catastrophe. Flood waters forced out windows and left 8 inches of mud throughout the building. All books were destroyed, and the structural integrity of the facility is in doubt.

From Public Libraries Sustain Damage in Flooding | West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Hayden’s confirmation unanimously passed a rules committee vote in June. However, the vote by the full body was held up for five weeks as a result of a Republican-led hold-up, The Washington Post reports. No reason was given for the delay, but some conservatives have reportedly taken issue with positions she took as the leader of the American Library Association, as well as her lack of academic organizations.

From Carla Hayden Confirmed To Head Library Of Co | WBAL Radio 1090 AM

Strand communications director Whitney Hu told PR Week she wasn’t worried about the increased traffic caused by players hoping to get their virtual hands on a Bulbasaur. “[T]here is so much room to run around and find corners that we haven’t had that conversation yet,” she said. “Most of our employees know more about it than our managers do, anyway.”

Libraries are also seeing an uptick of visitors because of the game. Some, like Cincinnati are posting pictures of the creatures on their Instagram feeds. 

From Pokemon Go sends swarms of players to bookstores and libraries. But will they remember the books? – LA Times

To create a national picture of “book deserts,” the new study, funded by JetBlue, examined access to children’s books in six urban neighborhoods across the United States, representing the Northeast (Washington, D.C.), Midwest (Detroit), and West (Los Angeles). In each of the three cities, the researchers analyzed two neighborhoods: a high-poverty area (with a poverty rate of 40 percent and above) and a borderline community (with a roughly 18 to 40 percent poverty rate).

Going street by street in each neighborhood, the researchers counted and categorized what kinds of print resources—including books, magazines, and newspapers—were available to purchase in stores. (While online book sales have grown in recent years, three out of four children’s books are still bought in brick and mortar stores.)

From Steinhardt Study Identifies “Book Deserts” – Poor Neighborhoods Lacking Children’s Books – Across the Country | At a Glance