Category Archives: Libraries

Libraries

Books & Reading, Libraries, San Diego

No. 1 challenge facing San Diego city libraries: inequity, consultants say – The San Diego Union-Tribune

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New library master plan will likely recommend prioritizing larger branches in south San Diego to boost community use

By David Garrick, June 4, 2021 5 AM PT

(James Gregg /U-T)

SAN DIEGO — Library branches in the southern and southeastern parts of San Diego are typically smaller and lack space for events and meetings, compared to branches in the north and west parts of the city, creating long-term challenges for the city’s library system.

Because of the disparities, branches in the north and west have higher circulation and a greater numbers of visits, while branches in the less affluent south lead the 36-branch system in the use of public computers.

Source: No. 1 challenge facing San Diego city libraries: inequity, consultants say – The San Diego Union-Tribune

Libraries, Memories & History, Science & Health

New book documents Scripps Oceanography’s founding, ‘golden age’ and present day research – La Jolla Light

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By Ashley Mackin-Solomon, June 1, 2021 12 PM PT

“Images of America: Scripps Institution of Oceanography” will be available for purchase through Arcadia Publishing.
(Courtesy of Arcadia Publishing)

When the Scripps Institution of Oceanography was founded more than a century ago, the term “oceanography” as we know it barely existed.

Since then, the institution has gone on to also redefine what was possible in the realm of military operations and the concept of climate change research — all under the auspices of UC San Diego.

To document its storied past, the latest in the “Images of America” books series will focus on La Jolla’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, with release set for Monday, June 7. The paperback, 128-page tome tells the story of the institution that thrust the budding field of oceanography into the forefront of science in the early 20th century.

Source: New book documents Scripps Oceanography’s founding, ‘golden age’ and present day research – La Jolla Light

Arts & Humanities, Books & Reading, Libraries, Memories & History

Now Online! Presidential Papers – Love and Heartbreak, War and Politics | Library of Congress Blog

June 1, 2021 by Wendi Maloney

This story first appeared in the Library of Congress Magazine.

Above image: Woodrow Wilson, a man in love. Prints and Photographs Division. 

When President Woodrow Wilson’s name comes up, romance isn’t typically the first thing that comes to mind.

Yet, late on May 7, 1915, the recently widowed president penned these words to Edith Bolling Galt, days after confessing his love for her: “I know you can give me more, if you will but think only of your own heart and me, and shut the circumstances of the world out.”

That day, the circumstances of the world were weighing heavily on Wilson’s mind. Earlier, a German U-boat had torpedoed the British-owned luxury liner RMS Lusitania, killing 1,195 people, including 128 Americans. Wilson spent his afternoon and evening receiving updates about the horrific attack that threatened U.S. neutrality in a war that had already engulfed Europe and would eventually draw in the United States.

Researchers using Wilson’s papers at the Library may be surprised to encounter the private — and passionate — Wilson behind the formal and somewhat aloof public figure they recall from history books or World War I-era film footage.

“I must do everything I can for your happiness and mine,” Wilson continued. “I am pleading for my life.”

Editor’s Note: Read more, see link below for original item…

Source: https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2021/06/now-online-presidential-papers-love-and-heartbreak-war-and-politics/?loclr=ealocb

Books & Reading, Libraries, Times They Are A-Changing, Web & Technology

Event Recap: Why Trust a Corporation to Do a Library’s Job? – Internet Archive Blogs

Posted on April 30, 2021 by Caralee Adams

Event image from blog…

Although people are increasingly turning to Google to search for information, a corporate search engine is not the same as a trusted librarian.

And while libraries are used to buying and preserving books, they are now often unable to buy and own digital materials because of publisher licensing restrictions.

The tension between the interests of business and the public was the focus of a conversation hosted by the Internet Archive and Library Futures on April 28.

Wendy Hanamura moderated the event with guest panelists Joanne McNeil, author of Lurking: How a Person Became a User; Darius Kazemi, an internet artist and cofounder of Feel Train, a creative technology cooperative in Portland, Oregon; and Jennie Rose Halperin, executive director of Library Futures.

A recording of the event is now available.

Source: Event Recap: Why Trust a Corporation to Do a Library’s Job? – Internet Archive Blogs

Current Affairs, Libraries, Love & Relationships, Memories & History

Remembering the Fallen in Photographs | Picture This: Library of Congress Prints & Photos

May 25, 2018 by Kristi Finefield

Grave decorated on Decoration Day. Photo by Arthur S. Siegel, 1943 June. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8d30357

One of the most enduring traditions of Memorial Day is the decoration of the graves of fallen service members with such items as flowers and American flags.

This annual day of commemoration was at one time referred to as Decoration Day because of this practice. My grandmother grew up in the deep South, where tradition held that you took an annual pilgrimage to your family cemetery, which in their case required a road trip to southern Arkansas, to clean and decorate the graves of all of your ancestors.

This tradition may have inspired the post Civil War movement to decorate the graves of those who died in military service. While the holiday was referred to as both Decoration Day and Memorial Day for decades, Memorial Day was declared a federal holiday in 1971 and is now celebrated on the last Monday in May.

Gestures of respect and commemoration on Memorial Day are made in acts both small and large, personal and ceremonial. Gratitude for the sacrifice and service of millions of American men and women takes place in all parts of the world, in countries where service members fell fighting as well as at memorials in the United States. Journey to the graves in Arlington National Cemetery, in small rural cemeteries and in foreign lands, and travel to battlefields and memorials where many are named and remembered through the images below.

Source: Remembering the Fallen in Photographs | Picture This: Library of Congress Prints & Photos