January 2019

Florida school uses vending machine to dispense books instead of snacks

A Florida elementary school is using its vending machine to drop knowledge on its students.

The vending machine at Umatilla Elementary School started dispensing books to students on Monday as part of the state’s literacy week.

Umatilla Elementary Principal Dianne Dwyer said most of the children are more excited for the books than they would be for candy. The machine gave out more than 100 books Wednesday.

“We do need to restock the machine,” Dwyer said.

From Florida school uses vending machine to dispense books instead of snacks

Stanford Libraries’ transformative gift creates hub highlighting Silicon Valley history

Stanford Libraries has received a $25 million gift from the Harold C. and Marilyn A. Hohbach Foundation to create a vibrant collections-centered research hub and endow the Silicon Valley Archives program.

The first floor of the East Wing of the Cecil H. Green Library will be renovated and re-named Hohbach Hall. (Image credit: L.A. Cicero)

The newly renovated space in the East Wing of the Cecil H. Green Library will be named Hohbach Hall and will include a new Special Collections classroom, as well as spaces for group study, seminars, events and exhibitions.

From Stanford Libraries’ transformative gift creates hub highlighting Silicon Valley history | Stanford News

Librarian Transforms 110-Year-Old Tree into Jaw-Dropping Little Free Library

Talk about a “giving tree”! When a 110-year-old cottonwood tree in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, needed to be removed, Sharalee Armitage Howard—a librarian, artist, and bookbinder—transformed it into an amazing Little Free Library. Now, instead of providing shade, the tree will share books.

From Librarian Transforms 110-Year-Old Tree into Jaw-Dropping Little Free Library | Little Free Library

We Need Diverse Books, But Wattpad’s Machines Aren’t The Way

With a community of over 65 million users, Wattpad is bursting with creative potential. From the paranormal to Shrek slash fiction, Wattpad Books will be able to choose from a pool of diverse and innovative material. However, the key to finding these stories is not through data analysis of popular trends, but ensuring that the editors that decide the merit of recommended works do not come from the same homogeneous background the company has so often criticized. It’s only by ensuring that there is a diversity of backgrounds and opinions at the editorial level to find the groundbreaking books, that Wattpad can meet its objective of truly transforming the literature we read.

From We Need Diverse Books, But Wattpad’s Machines Aren’t The Way

Grow with Google is heading to libraries in all 50 states, starting today

We’re kicking that work off today in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania—where Benjamin Franklin established America’s first free public library—by hosting in-person workshops for job seekers, small businesses, librarians and nonprofit leaders. Later this week, we’ll be continuing the Pennsylvania workshops in York and Erie, then heading to more states like Connecticut and Maryland. We’re looking forward to people across the country joining us at their local library to learn digital skills, from online marketing tips to how to use a spreadsheet.  We’ll have plenty of Googlers available for one-on-one training and to answer your questions. Follow our events page to see when we’ll be visiting your state.

From Grow with Google is heading to libraries in all 50 states, starting today

‘Keep the Damned Women Out’ – Fifty years of coeducation at American colleges

Coeducation was a means to shore up a first-rate student body. It was not the result of a high-minded moral commitment to educate women. It was about what women could do for previously all-male colleges — how women could help elite universities renew their hold on the “best boys.” Women, in short, were there to improve the experience of men.

From ‘Keep the Damned Women Out’ – The Chronicle of Higher Education

Library Acquisition Patterns Report From Ithaka S+R

The findings of this report consist of two distinct areas: 1) an analysis of library book acquisitions within the specified sample for fiscal year 2017 at 124 US academic institutions, and 2) a trend line analysis of print and e-books acquired within the specified sample, the university press presence in these libraries, and the leading vendors of books at 51 US academic institutions for fiscal years 2014 through 2017. While these samples are not representative, they afford a broader overview of the acquisitions patterns and practices of US academic libraries than we believe has ever been conducted to date.

From Library Acquisition Patterns | Ithaka S+R