Beverly Goldberg's blog

The following is a summary of the meetings ALA President Molly Raphael and an ALA delegation held in New York City January 30–February 1 with members of the publishing industry:

Here’s a first take on the talks held this week between American Library Association leaders and the senior management of several New York–based publishers:

Dear Colleagues:

Here is a brief report on our meeting with publishers in New York on January 30–February 1. Others participating in these talks besides myself were:

Congratulations, Libraryland! School library boosters hit the 25,000-signature threshold this morning on the White House petition urging that every child in America have access to an effective school library program. (To be exact, there were 25,594 signatures as of 1:49 p.m.

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit against the Salem (Mo.) Public Library for allegedly blocking websites related to the modern Pagan religion Wicca.

All around us, the rapid shift from print to digital content is transforming libraries of all types. E-content offers rich and extraordinary opportunities for libraries to provide expanded access to information and to revolutionize, in positive ways, the relationship between libraries and library users. At the same time, these new forms of digital content pose profound challenges.

School librarians have regained a bit of ground at the federal level as the push continues to get school libraries restored to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which is due for reauthorization.

I was honored to be an invited speaker at the three-day library conference within a conference, “Information in the Building of Society and Citizenship,” which was held November 28–30 during the 2011 Guadalajara Book Fair.

A committee assigned to review a graphic story collection about the travails of life in middle school recommended that the book stay on the shelves of Buckfield (Maine) Junior-Senior High School, but that parental permission be required for students to borrow it.

“For those who are worried about the future of print books, I encourage you to go to the Guadalajara Book Fair!” recommends ALA President Molly Raphael, who attended FIL (La Feria Internacional del Libro) for the first time this year. “The print book was so dominant that it was hard to find exhibitors who were even featuring ebooks as an option.”

The URL had barely expired November 27 on a bold online petition demanding the restoration of strong school libraries in every American school when another campaign got off the ground to gather 25,000 signatures within 30 days in favor of mandating quality education for America’s