Protests lead to discussion of police presence in libraries

OverDrive offers anti-racism books free to libraries | Libraries remain focused on patrons during pandemic | Grills to go: Finnish libraries turn a new page

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June 25, 2020

In The News

OverDrive offers anti-racism books free to libraries

OverDrive is making anti-racism and social justice books available to libraries at no charge and with simultaneous use as part of a program called Black Lives Matter: Community Read. "The titles included ... are focused on #ownvoices and are intended to help patrons read, listen, learn and grow as they expand their knowledge of race relations," the company notes, with titles including "The Hate U Give," "Me and White Supremacy" and "The New Jim Crow" available in audiobook and/or e-book format now and "So You Want to Talk About Race" expected to be available in the future as an audiobook.

Full Story: OverDrive (6/22)

Libraries remain focused on patrons during pandemic

(Andreas Gebert/Getty Images)

Libraries coping with pandemic-related restrictions are quarantining books, moving events online, ensuring that their Wi-Fi reaches their parking lot-situated patrons and looking at when they can reopen fully. Inside, they're setting up computer workstations with social distancing in mind and planning to clean those workstations after each use.

Full Story: The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (6/11)

Grills to go: Finnish libraries turn a new page

Libraries in Finland were already supplying patrons with sewing machines, athletic equipment and board games, but now those communities can also grill a little more easily thanks to Scandinavian company Atria, which has donated barbecue grills to libraries to help patrons enjoy summer amid pandemic-related travel slowdowns. The program started June 8.

Full Story: Fast Company online (5/27)

Library Systems

Oakland library staffers become disaster service workers

(Pixabay)

Residents of Oakland, Calif., have long been accustomed to visiting their libraries for internet services, events, books and more, but the coronavirus pandemic changed all that. Sidewalk pickup restarted recently, but meanwhile, library staff -- designated as disaster service workers during times of local disaster -- have distributed more than 10,000 meals at two branches, delivered almost 7,000 meals to seniors and distributed more than 200 bags of produce.

Full Story: The Oaklandside (Oakland, Calif.) (6/16)

No audiobook? No problem for Ipswich librarians

Long ago, Doris Bugg's "wonderful father" read "Portrait of Clare" to her, and librarians in Ipswich, England, are doing the same now. Bugg is 102 years old and used to visit the library in person, and although she regularly borrows audiobooks, the 1927 tome in question wasn't available in that format, so librarians are stepping in to rectify the situation.

Full Story: BBC (6/20)

Calif. library's digital events draw online crowds

Staff members in the Santa Clarita, Calif., Arts Department and Public Library have innovated to provide educational and engaging programs for local residents during the pandemic and deserve praise for their efforts, writes City Manager Ken Striplin. Online entertainment provided by city staff drew an average audience of 1,300 a month, compared to the usual in-person attendance of 81 people, Striplin notes, and thousands of families have watched virtual story times on the library's Facebook page.

Full Story: SCVTV (Santa Clarita, Calif.) (6/1)

Emerging Technology

Drones deliver books for summer reading

With kids struggling to gather summer reading materials due to school and library closures, drones are flying to the rescue. Wing, a subsidiary of Google's parent company, Alphabet, has partnered with a library in Virginia to deliver books to kids.

Full Story: Engadget (6/12)

Policy and Research

Protests lead to discussion of police presence in libraries

(Pixabay)

The recent protests over police brutality have opened discussions about the presence of police in libraries, with Boston librarian Stacy Collins noting that greater resources and training can help staffers de-escalate situations before the police have to be called. "And so when we call for things like Black Lives Matter, defund the police, we are also talking about a divestment that should lead to a reinvestment in those community organizations and departments so that we have choices other than the police and, ideally, we never have to call them," she says.

Full Story: National Public Radio (6/13)

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