August 2017

Clovis Library Shooting: Teen Planned To Shoot Up High School

The father of a troubled 16-year-old boy charged with gunning down two library workers in Clovis, New Mexico said he knew something was amiss when he noticed two handguns were were missing from his home safe.

He reported that information to police, along with the fact that his son — serving a suspension from his high school — was not at home. But by then, the deadly shooting had already happened.

Nathaniel Jouett initially planned to shoot up his high school but went instead to the Clovis-Carver Public Library in the rural community Monday afternoon, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

Full article — Clovis Library Shooting: Teen Planned To Shoot Up High School

Reproducing Racism

Reproducing Racism: How Everyday Choices Lock In White Advantage

This book is designed to change the way we think about racial inequality. Long after the passage of civil rights laws and now the inauguration of our first black president, blacks and Latinos possess barely a nickel of wealth for every dollar that whites have. Why have we made so little progress?

Legal scholar Daria Roithmayr provocatively argues that racial inequality lives on because white advantage functions as a powerful self-reinforcing monopoly, reproducing itself automatically from generation to generation even in the absence of intentional discrimination. Drawing on work in antitrust law and a range of other disciplines, Roithmayr brilliantly compares the dynamics of white advantage to the unfair tactics of giants like AT&T and Microsoft.

With penetrating insight, Roithmayr locates the engine of white monopoly in positive feedback loops that connect the dramatic disparity of Jim Crow to modern racial gaps in jobs, housing and education. Wealthy white neighborhoods fund public schools that then turn out wealthy white neighbors. Whites with lucrative jobs informally refer their friends, who refer their friends, and so on. Roithmayr concludes that racial inequality might now be locked in place, unless policymakers immediately take drastic steps to dismantle this oppressive system.

Phoenix Central Library Closed Until June 2018

After suffering major damage during a monsoon storm, Burton Barr Library, the main library of the Phoenix Public Library will remain closed until June 2018. On July 15, 2017, high winds lifted the roof of the library causing the rupture of a fire-sprinkler pipe on the top floor. Torrents of water flooded the building before the system was shut off.

Earlier today, AZCentral released new information that city employees knew about the condition of the pipe for at least three years, but nothing was done to fix it.

Photos and more at AZCentral.

UW Librarian’s Book Reveals Business Icon’s Impact on Rural America

A University of Wyoming faculty member’s new book about James Cash Penney explores how the department store icon and his company shaped rural America throughout the 20th century.

“I wanted to wrap my mind around the scope of Penney’s extensive involvement in agriculture and rural America and, ultimately, understand why a successful department store icon would choose to pursue such activities while living and working in New York City,” says David Kruger, UW’s agricultural research librarian.

“J.C. Penney: The Man, the Store, and American Agriculture” provides a biographical account of the business mogul and a historical view of his company and rural America.

Full article

What Books Are on the Librarian of Congress’ Nightstand?

From the New YorkTimes Books , LOC’s Dr. Carla Hayden finds she needs more space than just a nightstand to keep up with her reading.

“I do have books on my night stand, but I have recently had to add three bookcases in my room because it was getting too crowded. Those are organized in three categories — fun and mysteries, because I love mysteries; books that relate somehow to what I’m doing professionally, like “The Revenge of Analog” or “The Innovators”; and aspirational — those are mostly about health and exercise.”

I was pleased to see the answer to this question, “The last book that made you furious?”, as I really enjoyed the same book.

  • “That is a sign of a good book — when it makes you feel an emotion so deeply. I remember reading “The Language of Flowers” and at one point being so mad at the main character I had to remind myself, “Carla, this is fiction.” But when that happens, you know a story has you hooked. I have given that book to many people.”