Most recently, Amazon crowed that it is selling more ebooks than hardcovers. Interestingly, the most recent figures from the Association of American Publishers indicate that new adult hardcover sales in both April and May rose by more than 40 percent over the same months last year, a rebound from last year's shopping paralysis brought on by the…

The author has been thinking about the kind of freedoms embodied in the idea of the library and the plight of the book that cannot find its reader. What can librarians do to help readers and books find one another in a world where money is going toward temporary access to corporate-controlled intellectual property? How can one liberate knowledge…

This article profiles Rebecca Knuth, winner of the LJ Teaching Award for 2009. The way she plans a class she's teaching illustrates why she was nominated by her students and won the award. The award, which comes with a $5000 honorarium and a celebration at the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting, is sponsored by ProQuest. For…

Discusses steps taken by the Idaho Library Association to defeat an antigay ballot initiative by means of a coordinated, statewide public relations campaign. The ballot, known as Proposition One, would have violated First Amendment rights and caused library materials to be censored to determine whether they addressed homosexuality. (Author/JKP)

Reports on the American Library Association's 2002 annual conference in Atlanta. Topics include incoming president Mitch Freedman's initiative to improve librarian salaries; author presentations; new technology, especially Amazon.com, and the library's role; ALA politics; intellectual freedom issues; salaries and recruiting; interoperability; and…

This article was sent into a column of "Library Journal" entitled "How Do You Manage?" Submissions to this column, are based on actual events in libraries across the United States and Canada. This particular piece describes a conversation between two library employees, where one, following a recovery from a devastating auto accident found…

Reviews major library issues and events of 1988, including: (1) the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Library Awareness Program; (2) cooperation with USSR libraries; (3) library finance; (4) preservation; and (5) special programing. News about a number of prominent library professionals is included in a sidebar. (MES)

As a profession, Librarians rightly pride themselves on valuing freedom of expression. The immediate and convenient nature of online discussion, though, hinders professionals from putting the same thought into internet conversations as into other professional communications. NextGens who have grown up with online communication are particularly…

This article details the work of Jeffrey Gegner o the Hennepin County Library in Minnetonka, Minnesota. For Jeffrey Gegner, his day job as Adult Materials Selection Specialist for the Hennepin County Library is not that different from his evening job as a country and western nightclub DJ. Gegner is opposed to a literary snobbery he believes is…

This article summarizes the 1986 Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association (ALA) held in Chicago, Illinois, January 18-23. Discussion covers debate over Lacy Report, censorship, ALA's financial situation, divestiture and the ALA endowment, debate among ALA candidates, federal matters, continuing education, service to members, and…

Discusses information overload and society's and libraries' responses to technology. Considers eight values that libraries should focus on and how they relate to technology in libraries: democracy, stewardship, service, intellectual freedom, privacy, rationalism, equity of access, and building harmony and balance. (LRW)

Offers an overview of Soviet and Eastern European publishing practices. The history of communist publishing practices and the dramatic effect which Glasnost has had upon these practices are summarized. It is observed that highly unstable conditions in the USSR have severely jeopardized bibliographic control and hindered collection development in…

The public library has become the locus for public anxiety about children's access to objectionable material on the Internet. Discusses Judith Krug's (Director of the American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom) defense of unrestricted access, acceptable use, and filtering software. Highlights six filtering programs (client and…

Discusses how to, or whether to, limit access to objectionable material available through the Internet in public and school libraries. Topics include the American Library Association's position; intellectual freedom; filters; personal responsibility; parental responsibility; censorship; creating choices; and policies and staff training to help…

Previews the agenda for the American Library Association's 2002 Midwinter Meeting. Topics include the incompatibility of Bush administration national security initiatives with traditional rights of intellectual freedom; budget cuts; government funding; new roles for libraries in times of crisis; Internet access and control; and librarians'…