osarome ogbebor

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF NIGERIA PLOT 274 SANUSI DANTATA HOUSE, CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT, ABUJA. INVITATION TO TENDER FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF 2017 CAPITAL PROJECTS 1.0   INTRODUCTION The National Library of Nigeria in compliance with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007, wishes to invite seasoned and qualified contractors to submit bids for the under listed Capital and Constituency projects as appropriated in the 2017 Appropriation Act. 2.0 SCOPE OF WORK CATEGORY A: WORKS LOT 1A: CONSTRUCTION OF PROTOTYPE STATE BRANCH BUILDING IN JALINGO, TARABA STATE. LOT 1B: FENCING AND PROVISION OF EXTERNAL WORKS AT GOMBE STATE BRANCH   (FENCING, LANDSCAPING, INTERLOCKING, ETC) LOT 1C: FENCING AND PROVISION OF EXTERNAL WORKS AT KATSINA STATE BRANCH   (FENCING, LANDSCAPING, INTERLOCKING, ETC) LOT 1D: RENOVATION AND FURNISHING OF EXISTING COMMUNITY LIBRARY AT EBUNWANA AFIKPO SOUTH LGA. EBONYI STATE (CONSTITUENCY PROJECT) CATEGORY B: GOODS LOT 2A: P...

The Future Looks Bright for Librarianship Empirical data paint a far different future of career prospects in librarianship. According to a recently published report on “The Future of Skills” by Pearson, a publishing and educational company, who conducted research with Nesta and Oxford University, “Librarians, curators, and archivists” will be the ninth most in demand occupation group in coming years. Librarians will be more in demand in 2030 than media and communication workers, construction trade workers, and others, according to the report. http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2017/12/the-future-looks-bright-for-librarianship /

RISING TO THE CHALLENGE: RE-ENVISIONING PUBLIC LIBRARIES “The library is first and foremost a place…a place that promotes development in society. It is the family room of a community. That’s the vision, that’s the future.” The Dialogue on Public Libraries was created to help advance the work that public libraries are doing to address community challenges and to support the transformation of public libraries for the digital age. http://csreports.aspeninstitute.org/m/dialogue-on-public-libraries/2014/report

https://youtu.be/J12jqU8TKRY

https://youtu.be/iubSdvqC_K8

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/story/167324.htmlin

The Decay in the National Library of Nigeria... https://youtu.be/-1G0tTjpuyc

THE LIBRARY ADVOCACY WALK (LAW) Concerned and bothered by not only the Dilapidating state of the rented Sanusi Dantata House but also its gross inadequacy to house Millions of the National Library of Nigeria collections, and the attendant consequences of this development on our security and effective service delivery, THE ACADEMIC STAFF UNION OF RESEARCH AND ALLIED INSTITUTIONS (ASURI), NLN CHAPTER is organising a Library Advocacy Walk (LAW). LAW is a clarion call to all Nigerians to demand the completion of the National Library of Nigeria's Headquarter Building as a National Intellectual Storehouse and the country's giant memory. ASURI therefore invite all Library professionals and stakeholders to join in the walk planned to hold as follows: Date: Tuesday 17th October, 2017 Time: 9:00AM Convergence Point: Uncompleted NLN building, beside National Mosque, Abuja. The LAW will match to the Federal Ministry of Education to deliver an Appeal lette...

October 2017 issue of IFLA Journal ​​IFLA JournalIFLA Journal is an international journal publishing peer reviewed articles on library and information services and the social, political and economic issues that impact access to information through libraries. The Journal publishes research, case studies and essays that reflect the broad spectrum of the profession internationally. Volume 43, No.3 (October 2017) https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/hq/publications/ifla-journal/ifla-journal-43-3_2017.pdf

WLIC 2017: A Summary More than 500 speakers and 3100 delegates from 122 countries, not to mention 247 sessions covering all aspects of our profession, makes IFLA’s World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) a unique experience of professional development and networking. The beautiful city of Wroclaw provided the perfect setting, steeped in its own rich cultural heritage that every visitor enjoyed. https://www.ifla.org/node/11814

Could Libraries Become The Fifth Branch Of Power? : The role of libraries in connection to the fake news phenomenon has been intensely debated in the last year as libraries are gaining more confidence than most media outlets. Fake news has always existed but given the recent outburst of unverified and in some cases untrue news in the press, libraries have started positioning themselves as

Transforming library services – Global, connected, rich and accessible : Librarians and the local governments need to think about what could ensure their relevance for the future. For this, library representatives from around the world have gathered in United Kingdom for the Global Excellence Tour 2017 to discuss the future of libraries and we’ve got the insights. We talked with Liz McGettigan, one of the organizers

5 other services users wish to find in a library (and how libraries offer them) Part Two We’ve presented the four basic services each library should offer nowadays and now we will continue with five other examples of services users wish to find in a library. https://princh.com/services-users-wish-to-find-in-a-library-how-libraries-offer-them/#.Wa6ZJrKGPIV

4 important things users want from a library (and how to offer them) Part One.. . Sometimes, there is a big imbalance between what the users wish to have in a library and what they really get. As Mick Fortune mentions in our previous post, for many years libraries measured their success primarily by footfall and they only focused on that. Only in the last few years, libraries have really started focusing on getting to know their users better. Even so, all the studies, such as those made by The Pew Internet, Carnegie UK Trust, Museums Libraries & Archives UK, etc. end up showing the same results. https://princh.com/4-important-things-users-want-from-a-library-and-how-to-offer-them/#.Wa6YUrKGPIU

Community Centered: 23 Reasons Why Your Library Is the Most Important Place in Town by Julie Biando Edwards, Melissa S. Rauseo, & Kelley Rae Unger As librarians, we know the value of our community services, and our patrons appreciate their importance as well. But in an increasingly digital world, we see the role of libraries as community and cultural centers at times undervalued, and occasionally under fire. More than just books and banks of computers, libraries are still places where individuals gather to explore, interact, and imagine. We decided to take a look at some of the specific ways in which libraries add value to our communities and serve as cultural centers for our patrons. We separated library services into five very broad categories: (1) libraries as community builders, (2) libraries as community centers for diverse populations, (3) libraries as centers for the arts, (4) libraries as universities, and (5) libraries as champions of youth. Under each of these w...

8 Innovative technologies to implement at the library of the future... Librarians should lead the way in technology use among fellow residents and gain more time for the most important activity: helping patrons. Since the main mission of most libraries is to offer equality of access to information for every citizen, then why not be a trendsetter in digital use and implement innovative technologies? This article presents a range of relevant and useful innovative technologies to implement at the library. We focus on the technology’s applicability for the library and not on the potential budgetary impacts of said technologies. https://princh.com/8-technologies-to-implement-at-the-library-of-the-future/#iLightbox[gallery3149]/0

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF NIGERIA: INVITATION TO TENDER AND EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF 2017 CAPITAL PROJECTS The National Library of Nigeria (herein also referred to as ‘The Agency”) in compliance with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007, wishes to invite seasoned and qualified contractors to submit bids for the under listed Capital Projects as appropriated in the 2017 Appropriation Act. 2.0 SCOPE OF WORK CATEGORY A: WORKS LOT 1A: CONSTRUCTION OF PROTOTYPE STATE BRANCH BUILDING IN JALINGO, TARABA STATE. LOT 1B: CONSTRUCTION OF PROTOTYPE STATE BRANCH BUILDING IN IBADAN, OYO STATE. LOT 1C: FENCING AND PROVISION OF EXTERNAL WORKS AT GOMBE STATE BRANCH (FENCING, LANDSCAPING, INTERLOCKING ETC) LOT 1D: FENCING AND PROVISION OF EXTERNAL WORKS AT KATSINA STATE BRANCH (FENCING, LANDSCAPING, INTERLOCKING ETC) CATEGORY B: GOODS LOT 2A: PROCUREMENT & INSTALLATION OF SOUND PROOF GENERATING SETS (ABUJA ZONE; HEADQURTERS & AREA 2) LOT 2B: P...

CiteSeerX: CiteSeerX is a digital library search engine that provides access to more than 5 million scholarly documents with nearly a million users and millions of hits per day. CiteSeerx is an evolving scientific literature digital library and search engine that has focused primarily on the literature in computer and information science. CiteSeerx aims to improve the dissemination of scientific literature and to provide improvements in functionality, usability, availability, cost, comprehensiveness, efficiency, and timeliness in the access of scientific and scholarly knowledge. Rather than creating just another digital library, CiteSeerx attempts to provide resources such as algorithms, data, metadata, services, techniques, and software that can be used to promote other digital libraries. CiteSeerx has developed new methods and algorithms to index PostScript and PDF research articles on the Web.  http:citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/index

Library Systems Report 2017 : Competing visions for technology, openness, and workflow.. By Marshall Breeding  The library technology industry has entered a new phase: business consolidation and technology innovation. Development of products and services to support the increasingly complex work of libraries remains in an ever-decreasing number of hands. Not only have technology-focused companies consolidated themselves, they have become subsumed within higher-level organizations with broad portfolios of diverse business activities. The survivors of this transformed industry now bear responsibility to deliver innovation from their amassed capacity. Modern web-based systems delivering traditional library automation and discovery capabilities are now merely table stakes. Real progress depends on building out these platforms to support the new areas of service emerging within each type of library. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2017/05/01/library-systems-report-2017/...

Transforming Our Libraries from Analog to Digital: A 2020 Vision...by Brewster Kahle Today, people get their information online — often filtered through for-profit platforms. If a book isn’t online, it’s as if it doesn’t exist. Yet much of modern knowledge still exists only on the printed page, stored in libraries. Libraries haven’t met this digital demand, stymied by costs, e-book restrictions, policy risks, and missing infrastructure. We now have the technology and legal frameworks to transform our library system by 2020 By 2020, we can build a collaborative digital library collection and circulation system in which thousands of libraries unlock their analog collections for a new generation of learners, enabling free, long-term, public access to knowledge. http://er.educause.edu/articles/2017/3/transforming-our-libraries-from-analog-to-digital-a-2020-vision

TWEET CHAT, LIBRARIES:  INDISPENSABLE INSTITUTIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL ACCOMPLISHMENT OF SDGs IN NIGERIA National Library of Nigeria in collaboration with Library and You has embarked on a Social Media Library Awareness and Sensitization Program.  The Social Media Library Awareness and Sensitization Program has been circumspectly designed by National Library of Nigeria and Library and You to educate Nigerians on the indispensable roles of libraries and librarians to our national development. The maiden edition of SM-LASP has been scheduled to hold on 22nd April 2017 by 7pm on Twitter. Topic: LIBRARIES: INDISPENSABLE INSTITUTIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL ACCOMPLISHMENT OF SDGs IN NIGERIA.  Featuring: - Prof. Lenrie O. Aina (National Librarian/ CEO, National Library of Nigeria) @lenrieaina - Dr. Nkem Osuigwe (Director, Nigerian Book Foundation) @librarian_nkem - Mr. Wale Micaiah (SDGs Advocate) @walemicaiah @SDGsNGA @Librarygovng #Nation...

IFLA’s Global Vision takes off! The challenges facing the library field from ever-increasing globalisation can only be met and overcome by an inclusive, global response from a united library field. IFLA’s Global Vision discussion, officially launched in Athens, is bringing together thousands of representatives of the library field worldwide to explore how a connected library field can meet the challenges of the future. https://www.ifla.org/node/11317

Catalogue and Index: Periodical of the Cataloguing and Indexing Group, a Special Interest Group of CILIP, the Library and Information Association.....March 2017, Issue 186.... Issue 186 has two interrelated themes. The first theme continues our coverage of the 2016 CILIP CIG conference, with the inclusion of more conference papers. Amy Staniforth begins by outlining her work designing and delivering “beginners’ cataloguing training”, and argues why such training in sorely needed within the library and information sector. Suzanne Barbalet and Nathan Cunningham write about using classification for new and novel forms of data, and outline their pilot study which utilises UDC at the UK Data Archive. Ahava Cohen discusses multilingual, multiscript authority control, and the project to set up a multilingual and multiscript authority database in Israel. Anne Welsh discusses FRBR, BIBFRAME and relationships in cataloguing, with particular focus on the cataloguing of items as objects. ...

The United Nations World Water Development Report 2017.... WASTEWATER: THE UNTAPPED RESOURCE The 2017 World Water Development Report shows that improved wastewater management is as much about reducing pollution at the source, as removing contaminants from wastewater flows, reusing reclaimed water and recovering useful by-products. Together, these four actions generate social, environmental and economic benefits for all society, contributing to overall well-being and health, water and food security, and sustainable development. The cross-cutting importance of wastewater is highlighted in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, through Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water and sanitation, and especially Target 6.3 on halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling, and safe reuse globally. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002471/247153e.pdf

INTERNATIONAL DAYS... The United Nations General Assembly designates a number of "International Days" to mark important aspects of human life and history (the comprehensive list of all days celebrated by the United Nations and its Specialized Agencies is available here: International Days). United Nations Specialized Agencies, including UNESCO, can also proclaim World Days. In this case, the proclamation of international days depends on their governing bodies and internal regulations only. UNESCO thus celebrates UN International Days related to its fields of competence, in addition to the other World Days, proclaimed by the Organization's governing bodies or other institutions. The list of official messages by Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of International Days with which UNESCO is associated is available here.  http://en.unesco.org/celebrations/international-days JANUARY 27 January International Day of Commemoration in Memory...

Build joy into your library’s website....Cathy King It is not enough that we build products that function, that are understandable and usable, we also need to build products that bring joy and excitement, pleasure and fun, and, yes, beauty to people’s lives. So, libraries’ physical spaces already bring joy and beauty to people’s lives. I think our goal should be to make our online presences as amazing and as joyful as the in-person experiences. Web analytics can help. Web analytics will help you spot trends and behaviors about your users so that you can make adjustments that improve their experiences. Without web analytics, on the web, these lost souls are invisible. Analytics gives us the opportunity to intercept the poor, confused people wandering around your website. To build them an experience that they find intuitive and engaging. And get them to the beautiful, joyful materials and services they need.

Goodreads is the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations. Their mission is to help people find and share books they love. It is a place where you can see what your friends are reading and vice versa. You can create "bookshelves" to organize what you've read (or want to read). You can comment on each other's reviews. You can find your next favorite book. And on this journey with your friends you can explore new territory, gather information, and expand your mind. https://www.goodreads.com/

NLN to Drive Global Rating of Nigerian Journals.... NLN Official News Bulletin Prof. Aina (M) chatting with the Benue State University Librarian, Prof. John Agada while Mrs. B.F. Shuaibu looks on. The National Library of Nigeria is to partner academic institutions in Nigeria in promoting and enhancing the global rating of research and academic journals in the country. The National Librarian and Chief Executive Officer of the apex library, Prof. Lenrie O. Aina stated this when he received in audience, the University Librarian of the Benue State University, Makurdi, Prof. John Agada. According to the National Librarian, there are so many journals emanating from the country which are not captured in the world research output. According to Prof. Aina, only five out of 217 journals published in Nigeria, are captured by “Web of Science” while “Scopus” which seem to be magnanimous, only captures 27 out of this lot”. He further informed his guest that on assumption of duty, ...

Make Yourself Smarter With These 10 Hottest Learning Sites.....Chloe Chong The average person spends nearly two hours every day on social media.[1] Think about it, what will we achieve when we spend these two hours on something else? Let’s say, study a new language? Or pick up a skill? Below are 10 best websites other than social media that can make you smarter and largely improve your life. http://www.lifehack.org/564852/websites-that-will-make-you-smarter-and-smarter

How flexible is your future collection? ....Katie Birch You can’t predict the future. But together we can prepare for it. What attribute of your library is most valuable to your community? For a long time, the answer to that question might have been “our collection.” For generations, libraries have spent much of their budgets on acquiring and managing local materials, but that is shifting. These days, what the library owns isn’t as important as how it supports its users and community. Access to materials must keep up with needs that are changing faster than any one institution can manage. It is nearly impossible for any one library to hit the moving target of comprehensive access to relevant content. Working together, however, libraries can take advantage of a characteristic that may be the most important for collection access going forward: flexibility. http://www.oclc.org/blog/main/how-flexible-is-your-future-collection/

National Librarian, Prof. L.O Aina Courtesy call to Ebonyi State Governor.. National Librarian in a group photo with the Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State, Dr. Kelechi Igwe (in red cap) and other members of the State's Executive Council  The National Librarian and his team paid a courtesy visit on the Governor of Ebonyi State, Mr. Dave Nweze Umahi. The National Librarian intimated the Governor, who was represented by the Deputy Governor of the state, Dr. Kelechi Igwe that he was in the State to solicit with the state government to ensure that all their publications have the ISSN and ISBN and that they are also legally deposited with the National Library of Nigeria. He also made a request to the Governor to provide land for siting National Library of Nigeria in Ebonyi State in accordance with the National Library of Nigeria Act. In his response, the Governor thanked the National Librarian for his focus and assured him that the State was willing to comply with all necessary...

National Library of Nigeria Donates Books, Computers to University of Jos Library..... The National Library of Nigeria on Thurs¬day 23rd February 2017 donated 159 titles and sets of computers to the University of Jos, in the University’s Council Chamber in Jos, Plateau State. The donations were made by the National Librarian, Professor Lenrie Olatokunbo Aina, who paid a visit to the management of the University, to commiserate with them over the inferno that swept the University’s Library in 2016. Presenting the books and computers to the University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Seddi Sebastian Maimako, the National Librarian expressed his heartfelt sympathies with the University over the colossal loss of library collections that were consumed by the inferno. According to him, ‘I was deeply saddened and troubled when I heard of the unfortunate fire incident. Your university library ranks among the top five university libraries in our country.’I felt a sense of personal loss as y...

EBSCO Information Services to Fund the EBSCO FOLIO Innovation Challenge.... In June 2016, libraries and service providers came together to reshape the future of libraries and develop new technologies with a new initiative called FOLIO ( www.folio.org ). This community-based project provides a platform for libraries, service providers, and other organizations to team up to redefine library automation via open source projects. The FOLIO project sets out to develop new applications that extend the library into new areas. To further innovation, EBSCO will fund FOLIO grants totaling $100,000 to libraries looking to develop solutions that advance technology for libraries. Grants will be awarded to project teams that leverage the FOLIO codebase and address current opportunities in library technology. https://www.ebsco.com/folio-innovation-challenge

EBSCO Information Services Open EBSCO Solar Grant for 2017.....by choff. IPSWICH, Mass. — January 20, 2017 — EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) has renewed its commitment to helping libraries “go green” by bringing back an expanded version of its EBSCO Solar grant program for 2017. As part of the EBSCO Solar initiative, EBSCO is currently soliciting grant applications to help libraries fund solar installations. EBSCO is making two $100,000 grants available to bidders that will allow the winning libraries to reduce their utilities expenditures and install a solar array at their institution. In August 2007, EBSCO installed a photovoltaic array on the roof of one of the buildings of its Ipswich, Massachusetts campus. At the time, the 192 solar panels made up one of the largest installations on the North Shore of Boston. Two more arrays were added to buildings on campus, and EBSCO now has more than 500 solar panels offsetting the amount of “brown power” the company buys from the ...

IFLA invites you to submit examples of how libraries contribute to the United Nations 2030 Agenda.... Libraries make an important contribution to development. They help people get the information they need to access economic opportunity, gender equality, quality education, improve their health or develop their communities. In 2015, IFLA launched a survey to gather examples of how libraries contribute with the UN 2030 agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Many contributions were received from all over the world and with this information IFLA published in June 2016 the booklet and handout “Access and Opportunity for all”. This publication is a useful advocacy and awareness-raising tool to show how libraries drive progress across the entire UN 2030 Agenda. Today, IFLA launches a second call for examples, to support the advocacy work done by the library community at national, regional and global levels. Data and examples are key to show policy makers how libraries are...

Happy International Women’s Day! ...Giulia Pelosi, Worldreader's Gender Specialist This International Women’s Day we want to pause and celebrate how you’re supporting women and girls when you support Worldreader.  You've helped us reach over  2.5 million women and girls  with life-changing books since 2010. That includes the 4,500 girls at 25 schools across Tanzania that read from Worldreader e-readers through our partnership with Camfed. It includes the girls at the Kibera School for Girls who are setting the bar for Kenyan primary education with the help of a library of 12,500 e-books provided by Worldreader. It includes thousands of mothers and aunties who are empowered to read to the children in their lives through our  Read to Kids  program in India. Women  are some of our most avid readers  and we’re convinced that literacy and access to reading are key tools for promoting gender equality. That’s why we launched o...

How youth navigate the news landscape..Mary Madden, Amanda Lenhart and Claire Fontaine Today’s young news consumers face a dizzying array of options for getting their news. While their parents’ generation relied on print media, television and radio, teens and young adults now have an ever-expanding suite of platforms to supplement those traditional formats; news and magazine websites, blogs, social media, messaging apps, text alerts, online video, GIFs, emojis and even virtual reality experiences may play a role in how today’s youth engage with the news. Less than a decade ago, simply getting any kind of news on a mobile device was considered a leading-edge activity.  https://kf-site-production.s3.amazonaws.com/publications/pdfs/000/000/230/original/Youth_News.pdf

AfLIA -Public &Community Libraries......Nkemdilim Osigwe Ph.d African Libraries are on the rise! The Public and Community Libraries Section of AfLIA (African Library and Information Associations and Institutions) hereby invites all Public and Community Libraries in Africa to participate in a Continental Display Fiesta with the theme – ‘My Africa Your Africa Our Africa’ from 24th April to 13th May 2017. Rules - What to do 1.   Do a display of books and other information resources, textiles, pictures, paintings, sculptures,       musical instruments, farm implements, cooking utensils or any other materials that depict the culture of the Library’s community and which identifies them as a people. a.   To do this effectively – gather information on the history of your community b.   Consult, engage and collaborate with the community Elders, Groups, Town Unions etc. 2.   Open a FaceBook Account for your Library, search for AfLIA Page and...

Why public libraries are finally eliminating the late-return fine.... Ruth Graham In 1906, a reporter for the Detroit Free Press described a scene that had become all too common at the city’s public libraries. A child hands an overdue book to a stern librarian perched behind a desk, and with a “sinister expression,” the librarian demands payment of a late fine. In some cases, the child grumbles and pays the penny or two. But in others—often at the city’s smaller, poorer library branches—the offender cannot pay, and his borrowing privileges are revoked. “Scarcely a day passes but it does not leave its record of tears and sighs and vain regrets in little hearts,” the reporter lamented. More than a century later, similar dramas are still enacted in libraries across the country every day. In some districts, up to 35 percent of patrons have had their borrowing privileges revoked because of unpaid fines. Only these days, it’s librarians themselves who often lament what the Detroi...

OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY, ILE-IFE, NIGERIA VACANCY UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN Hezekiah Oluwasanmi Library Obafemi Awolowo University Hezekiah Oluwasanmi Library established in 1962, is the major repository of all academic resources (books, journals, theses, government documents etc) which serve the needs of both staff and students of the University as well as other interested users in the Community.  The Library holds over 700,000 volumes of books and print materials.  It also has two units providing electronic services.  These facilities provide access to learning and research in soft contacts that are available globally for the use of staff and students of the University. Wireless facilities are available for users to connect to the internet within the Library building. The Library operates an Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) which is a database of all resources in the library.  The Library also has access to the Telepresence Cloud Computing Facilities available...

Rethinking the What and How of the ILS...Tania Fersenheim Are we spending money wisely? Librarians and administrators ask themselves this question in many ways, both big and small, every day. Sometimes it keeps us up at night. It’s inherent in the choices we make between different brands of dry erase marker, different resources covering the same subject area, and in decisions to implement or replace software that helps us do our jobs. Libraries are asked more and more to justify the dollars we spend, and many of us are investing time and money in analyzing usage data, assessing the effectiveness of instruction programs, and otherwise attempting to quantify the return on our investment of the institution’s money. The ILS is a behemoth in many ways, and while it’s a must-have for us to run our libraries, we can ask ourselves if we are in fact spending an outsized amount of money for “commodity” functions, and for functions that could be or are already performed better elsew...

How To Spot Fake News...IFLA Critical thinking is a key skill in media and information literacy, and the mission of libraries is to educate and advocate its importance. Discussions about fake news has led to a new focus on media literacy more broadly, and the role of libraries and other education institutions in providing this. When Oxford Dictionaries announce post-truth is Word of the Year 2016, we as librarians realise action is needed to educate and advocate for critical thinking – a crucial skill when navigating the information society. IFLA has made this infographic with eight simple steps (based on FactCheck.org’s 2016 article How to Spot Fake News)  to discover the verifiability of a given news-piece in front of you. Download, print, translate, and share – at home, at your library, in your local community, and on social media networks. The more we crowdsource our wisdom, the wiser the world becomes. http://www.ifla.org/publications/node/11174 Fake news i...

Ukrainian librarian under Russian house arrest takes case to court of human rights.... Natalya Sharina, a Ukrainian librarian held under house arrest in Russia since October 2015, has taken her case to the European court of human rights in Strasbourg. Since her arrest in 2015, the Russian authorities have extended the order for Sharina, director of the Ukrainian Literature Library in Moscow, to be detained at home repeatedly, despite calls for her release. In a move roundly condemned by human rights groups, Sharina went on trial in November 2016 for incitement by stocking books banned in Russia and labelled extremist and “anti-Russian propaganda”. Three weeks after the trial began, embezzlement was added to the list of charges. If found guilty, she faces up to 10 years in prison. Speaking to the Russian website Interfax, her lawyer Ivan Pavlov said the appeal to the ECHR had been launched because of her continued incarceration, which he described as absurd. https://www.theguard...

After a night at the library, stuffed animals help kids read... Robert Jimison, CNN A baby seal, a giraffe and a teddy bear walk into a library ...No, this isn't the start of another corny dad joke. It's the latest way to encourage kids to read. You can't help but "awww" at the images: An adorable stuffed puppy peruses the picture book section while a much-loved, understuffed bunny hops through the chapter books. They're the actual loveys of young children who left them at the library for a "sleepover." Library workers snap photos of them choosing books, reading together, bonding over "The Rainbow Fish." When kids pick them up the next day, they can see how much fun their little friends had with books -- and the hope is that it will encourage more children to explore reading. West Orange Library in New Jersey has been hosting the parties for more than four years. Its "stuffed animal sleepover" draws in kids through second...

Mostafa el-Abbadi, Champion of Alexandria’s Resurrected Library, Dies at 88....JONATHAN GUYER CAIRO — Mostafa A. H. el-Abbadi, a Cambridge-educated historian of Greco-Roman antiquity and the soft-spoken visionary behind the revival of the Great Library of Alexandria in Egypt, died on Feb. 13 in Alexandria. He was 88. His daughter, Dr. Mohga el-Abbadi, said the cause was heart failure. Professor Abbadi’s dream of a new library — a modern version of the magnificent center of learning of ancient times — could be traced to 1972, when, as a scholar at the University of Alexandria, he concluded a lecture with an impassioned challenge. “At the end, I said, ‘It is sad to see the new University of Alexandria without a library, without a proper library,’” he recalled in 2010. “‘And if we want to justify our claim to be connected spiritually with the ancient tradition, we must follow the ancient example by starting a great universal library.’” It was President Richard M. Nixo...

Library Advocacy Group #Publiclibrarylove Tweets February 10th & 11th 2017 Dr.Nkem Osuigwe Retweeted Nelson People that are willing to learn have open minds & this helps in innovations & start-ups. #publiclibrarylove Dr.Nkem Osuigwe added,Nelson @nedewor @librarian_nkem public libraries can present classes and discussion programs & even provide online continuing education courses  Nelson ‏@nedewor  Public libraries in Nigeria have rarely been well funded. #publiclibrarylove.Budgetary allocations are clear pointers of govt policy thrusts  Dr.Nkem Osuigwe ‏@librarian_nkem Dr.Nkem Osuigwe Retweeted Connect4Better 👇👇Here's why we need functional #PublicLibraries in all communities in Nigeria- for #Lifelonglearning & #selfdevelopment #publiclibrarylove Dr.Nkem Osuigwe added, Connect4Better @Cee4Beeuk Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune. Jim Rohn Public Libs Nigeria ‏@publiclibsng ...