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Thoughts tagged "libraries"

Short thoughts, notes, links, and musings by Molly White. RSS

nothing like the panic when your hold on an audiobook with a two week waitlist becomes available when you’re 12% into another one

quite relieved to discover that the library cloud lending error i was getting yesterday was due to an app outage and not my librarians deciding i needed to be cut off

If Keith Sonderling truly wanted to “ensure we preserve our country’s core values”, he would not be placing libraries “in lockstep with this Administration” and ordering them to “focus on patriotism” or “promote American exceptionalism”.

Ministry of Truth shit.

(press release)

March 20, 2025
WASHINGTON – Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith E. Sonderling was sworn in as Acting Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) today, after being appointed to the role by President Donald J. Trump. IMLS, an independent government agency, is the primary source of federal support for the nation's museums and libraries.

“It is an honor to be appointed by President Trump to lead this important organization in its mission to advance, support, and empower America’s museums and libraries, which stand as cornerstones of learning and culture in our society. I am committed to steering this organization in lockstep with this Administration to enhance efficiency and foster innovation. We will revitalize IMLS and restore focus on patriotism, ensuring we preserve our country’s core values, promote American exceptionalism and cultivate love of country in future generations,” said Acting Director Sonderling.

Sonderling was recently confirmed as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Labor, where he previously served as Acting and Deputy Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division. Most recently, he served as the Commissioner of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity from 2020-2024.

every damn time

Tweet by Molly White @molly0xFFF
it's always fascinating to watch grown adults discover the concept of public libraries for the first time

Quoted tweet by Ken Herman @kherman
Ponderable?

And do free people expect to read every book they want to read for free (at public expense)?

After all, many people who write and produce the books do expect a return on their effort and investment.

Just a thought.

Tweet thread: Molly White @molly0xFFF 37m
and when you decide to defund libraries because "people who can afford it can just buy the books", you restrict access to those who can't afford it

Ken Herman @kherman 21m
How about if we use those tax dollars to buy the books for those who can't afford them?

Molly White @molly0xFFF
congratulations! you have just invented libraries

Support your library

get library cards and use them often (online e-book and audiobook rentals count!). sign up to volunteer at your local library. donate money to your library’s general fund. run for a spot on the library board.

A sparkly vinyl sticker reading “vigilante librarian” in blackletter font

join and participate in your local “friends of the library” group. donate books (if your library accepts book donations). set up your own little free library. vote for library funding when it’s on your local ballot.

fill out comment cards to leave positive comments. request new materials that you’d like to see added to the stacks. like and share your library’s social media content.

A scan of a linocut print, which has the text “Free people read freely” in block capitals above a person in a dress reaching to take a book from a large bookshelf

The Trump administration is explicitly targeting libraries, museums, and the press in the latest executive order.

Also going after services for the homeless, minority businesses, and community development.

The cruelty is the point.

i) the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service;
(ii) the United States Agency for Global Media;
(iii) the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution;
(iv) the Institute of Museum and Library Services;
(v) the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness;
(vi) the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund; and
(vii) the Minority Business Development Agency.

few emails i am so excited to receive

Notification from CloudLibrary that a book I’d placed on hold has become available

“We just launched a 16TB archive of every dataset that has been available on data.gov since November. This will be updated day by day as new datasets appear. It can be freely copied, and we're sharing the code behind it to help others make their own archives of data they depend on.” Harvard Library Innovation Lab (via BlueSky)

update: the library director was in today and showed me his secret space opera hoard. new additions to the list:

August Kitko and the Mechas from Space, Alex White
You Sexy Thing, Cat Rambo

(haven’t read either yet, but he highly recommends)

he also had two of the books i’d been wanting to include in the display!

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, Becky Chambers
Ninefox Gambit, Yoon Ha Lee

Two paperback books on a carpet: Cat Rambo’s You Sexy Thing and Alex White’s August Kitko and the Mechas from Space

(original post)

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