The PLA Blog | Official Blog of the Public Library Association
DLF Presentation Monday: What a National Digital Library means for Public Libraries
On Monday I’ll be giving a brief talk and moderating a panel discussion at the Digital Library Federation Forum in Baltimore. I’ll be speaking on “What A National Digital Library Means For Public Libraries”, and our panel will be answering questions on related topics. Panelists include Michael Lascarides (NYPL), Toby Greenwalt (Skokie PL), and Jefferson [...]
PLA preconference, Top Ten Benefits of Tough Economic Times
The PLA preconference, Top Ten Benefits of Tough Economic Times, was presented by Cathy Hakala-Ausperk and Kim Bolan Cullin. Cathy and Kim started the session by talking about the importance of the CASE philosophy. If you’re unfamiliar with the CASE it stands for Copy and Steal Everything. In that vein, I am going to present [...]
ALL STAR LINEUP FOR PLA 2010
Acclaimed authors including Nicholas D. Kristof, Scott Turow, Sue Grafton, and Sarah Vowell are among the speakers who will keynote author events and luncheons during the PLA 2010 national conference, held March 23 -27, 2010 in Portland Oregon. Tickets for these events can be purchased at www.placonference.org. Nancy Pearl presents “Book Buzz” Wednesday, March 24, [...]
Teton County Library hooked us up
When I set out for this cross-country trip, my plan was to visit a bunch of libraries along the way (tag: road trip), admire and promote their unique community-centered practices, and share photos as I go. It has been interesting. I haven’t blogged about even a third of the libraries I’ve dropped by, mostly because [...]
Deadwood Public Library, SD
Let me ask you a question. Wild Bill Hickok was killed in Nuttal & Mann’s Saloon after a card game in 1876. The Deadwood Public Library was established in 1895. Had the Deadwood Public Library been open in 1876, do you think that Wild Bill’s assasin, Jack McCall, would have been hanging around reading a [...]
Visit the Skokie Public Library, IL
I am writing right now from my laptop by a sunny window in the Albert Lea Public Library in southern Minnesota, but for now I want to share some images and thoughts from my visit to the Skokie Public Library back in Illinois. I’ve been following the great work of Toby Greenwalt, Richard Kong and [...]
Visit the Oak Park Library, Illinois
Today I visited the Main Library in Oak Park, Illinois. Thanks to @ebattaglia from the IT department for the tour, and thanks to @showsomemoxie for setting it up. The Oak Park Main Library is a huge new building: 104,000 square feet and 3 floors. There are two other branch libraries that I didn’t get to, [...]
The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
Hello from Chicago! The ALA 2009 Annual Conference begins tomorrow in this fine city. It is going to be a blast, and we’ve got a whole crew of bloggers bringing you the action here on the PLA Blog, so pay attention! But… Before I get all caught up in conference mayhem tomorrow, I’d like to [...]
Baxter Village Library, Fort Mill, South Carolina
Check out the Baxter Village Library, aka the Fort Mill Public Library of the York County Library System (South Carolina). View Larger Map I think this is a pretty interesting situation. As I understand it, the original Fort Mill Library was in a building downtown. Roughly 10 years ago, when Baxter Village was built, the [...]
Roanoke Library – Virginia
Yesterday, we pulled off of I81 in Virginia to check out the city of Roanoke and the library there. This section of 81 that we were following is actually a very old road called the Great Wagon Road which connected Pennsylvania to North Carolina. It was via this road in the 18th century that German, [...]
