What Happens When Professor Decide Who Can Earn A Ph.D ?

 

Ph.D. programs admissions decisions are made without admissions professionals. Small groups of faculty members meet, department by department, to decide whom to admit. And their decisions effectively determine the future makeup of the faculty in higher education.Politicians, judges, journalists, parents and prospective students subject the admissions policies of undergraduate colleges and professional schools to considerable scrutiny, with much public debate over appropriate criteria.

A book titled Inside Graduate Admissions: Merit, Diversity and Faculty Gatekeeping, is out this month from Harvard University Press. Julie R. Posselt (right), the author and an assistant professor of higher education at the University of Michigan, obtained permission from 6 highly ranked departments at three research universities to watch their reviews of candidates, and she interviewed faculty members at four others.

The faculty members she observed did not present her with a scripted and idealistic view of admissions. They were frank about things that they are unlikely to have shared in public. For instance, those who have Ph.D programs not at the very top of the rankings often talked about not wanting to offer a spot to someone they believed would go to a higher-ranked program. They didn’t want their department to be the graduate equivalent of what high school students applying to college term a safety school. Many of these departments turned down superior candidates, some of whom might have enrolled.Posselt tracks a strong focus on ratings, a priority on GRE scores that extends beyond what most department would admit (or that creators of the test would advise), and some instances of what could be seen as discrimination. White males “dominated” the admissions committees, and Posselt writes that chairs cite diversity as a value in appointing members in only two of the 10 departments she studied. There is a huge focus on GRE scores. Prestige of undergraduate program counted for a lot. But grade point average? Not so much.Grades are increasingly a lousy signal, especially at those elite places that just hand out the A’s. Admissions committee members generally assumed applicants were getting Ph.D.s for careers like theirs and are looking for signs of research potential.

The departments Posselt observed are “misusing the GRE,” and looking at scores “without context of the applicant. She urged departments to reflect on their practices, and to try to improve them and be more open about them.

Retrieved from an article by Scott Jaschik, Editor

American Author Rick Riodan’s Character No Longer Whitewashed

Russian publisher is no longer “whitewashing” Rick Riordan’s jacket illustration character Carter, an African American boy who has been depicted as white on the covers of various foreign language editions of Riordan’s young adult series.

Carter’s skin is “dark brown”, like his Egyptologist father, he tells readers in the first pages of The Red Pyramid. His sister Sadie’s is much lighter, as she takes after their mother, who was white. “Carter, you’re getting older. You’re an African American man. People will judge you more harshly, and so you must always look impeccable,” his father tells him.

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Riordan’s foreign publishers in countries including Russia, Italy and the Netherlands have featured cover images of Carter as a white boy. “Pretty art but I’m not amused how they whitewash Carter,” wrote Riordan of the Italian jacket last year.

The Dutch publisher subsequently listened to Riordan’s concerns, the author said, and revised the covers “so that Carter Kane actually looks African American rather than whitewashed”.His Russian publisher has now followed suit, prompting Riordan to write last week: “Thank you to my Russian publisher EKSMO for listening to my concerns. They have fixed the Kane Chronicles covers so Carter is no longer whitewashed. This art will be featured on any future reprints.”

Riordan  writer for the Percy Jackson series, is one of the world’s richest authors.With the exception of the US and UK, Riordan don’t even see the covers until they are published.

Alexandra Strick, manager and co-founder of Inclusive Minds, which campaigns for diversity in children’s books, said the issue of “whitewashing” was “still a very major problem in children’s books”.

“There have been many high-profile cases of characters actually changing colour completely, so described in the story as black but then appearing Caucasian on the cover. However, very often it’s more subtle than that, with the cover of a book about a non-white character often avoiding featuring a human face at all, or with the character featured in silhouette or even with their face turned away. Sometimes it’s a case of publishers asking that a character is ‘less dark’ almost as though mixed race is acceptable but somehow black skin isn’t.”

I SPY BOOKS

Prior to digital surveillance and the government’s Snooper’s Charter, it was much harder for the state to spy on its citizens.
Without the technology we have today, the government relied on manpower, specifically from society’s most innocent members – minors. Children in the UK especially were much easier to manipulate.
I-Spy books were subsequently published by the state and given as gifts, as well as distributed to schools, youth clubs and infant terror organizations . The books transformed the act of surveillance into play, encouraging children to routinely observe and record the actions, speech and private correspondence of people who the government deemed to be enemies of society. The completed books even prompted children to spy on themselves, which many found difficult, even with the mirrors provided.
Each completed book was sent to a local government councillor whose job it was to forward the data to the relevant renditions team, and also to decide if any compensation was due to the child; for example, if the surveillance data they had submitted led to the arrest and execution of a parent.

Racial Tensions Esculating On College Campuses

Racial tensions at the University of Missouri and Yale University have escalated dramatically in the last week. At the University of Missouri, a student at the flagship campus at Columbia has been on a hunger strike to demand the resignation of President Tim Wolfe, who has not done enough, minority students charge, to deal with racist incidents on campus. The black football players announced  on Saturday that they would boycott games in the future unless Wolfe resigns. He has vowed to do more to improve race relations and he has apologized for his role in one disputed.

At Yale, the last week there was widespread condemnation of an alleged racial incident at a fraternity, and debate over whether an associate master of a residential college showed insensitivity to minority students when she sent out an email encouraging less of a focus on offensive Halloween costumes.

At Missouri at Columbia  black students reported being on the receiving end of racial slurs. Halloween parties set off racial tensions at many campuses, just about every year, with some students using blackface or racially oriented costumes in ways that offend. This year was no different; consider this controversy over white students at the University of Wisconsin at Stout dressing up in blackface as members of the Jamaican bobsled team. Yale has seen two Halloween party controversies this year. One has been over allegations that members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity barred minority women from attending a Halloween party, telling them that “white girls only” were wanted there. The Yale advice (available here) stressed the importance of not basing costumes on race or ethnicity, and the problems with using blackface or wearing clothing that reinforces stereotypes.

Elite College Courses Are Not Necessarily Better

Most people in higher education — widely assume prestigious colleges and universities provide the best quality education. That’s why employers often want to hire their graduates and why many parents want their children to attend them.

And the assumption partially explains the fascination from the media and others in recent years with massive open online courses from Harvard and Stanford and other elite universities: the courses were believed, to be of higher quality than all other online courses precisely because they came from name-brand institutions.

Researchers, Corbin M. Campbell and Marisol Jimenez of Teachers College and Christine Arlene N. Arrozal of Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, supported by a fellowship from the National Academy of Education and the Spencer Foundation believe they are developing a legitimate way to compare the educational quality of courses across institutions. Their initial analysis, they say, “raises questions about the value of higher-prestige institutions in terms of their teaching quality.”

 How do the researchers go about trying to define and measure the quality of education?

By sending actual faculty observers into nearly 600 classrooms at nine colleges and universities with various levels of prestige and having them judge the teaching quality and academic rigor of the courses they offer, using a common rubric on which the observers have been trained for about 30 hours.

George S. Kuh, the Indiana University researcher  says “There is little to no evidence that what instructors do is a precursor to what students do or learn”

Literary Rejections That Became Popular

http://www.litrejections.com/best-sellers-initially-rejected/

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http://americanwritersmuseum.org/

International Study On Technology In Schools

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development released the results of a global study looking at the effect of technology on 15-year-olds test scores.

Five results learned from their study

1. The more technology, the worse the performance on tests — This was the big conclusion. The students who spent the most time using computers or on the Internet in school did worse than expected on international tests.

The students who ranked in the middle for technology use — what the OECD called moderate use — did the best on international tests. The OECD noted that east Asian nations, such as China and Singapore, intentionally limited students use of technology. They also used more traditional techniques teaching math — and have the best-performing students on math exams. The less computers are used in mathematics lessons,the better students perform. Suggested explanation include: Reading online is a different skill than reading on paper; technology can be a distraction; and schools aren’t making the best use of technology.

2.Teachers who use technology get better results — The OECD found that nations that emphasized training teachers to use technology performed better on tests. That meant allowing teachers to connect by video conferencing, observing other teachers, sharing lessons and ideas and just chatting with other teachers.

East Asian nations that encouraged teachers to connect via technology also had the best-performing students on exams.

3. U.S. is among the most-connected, digitally literate nations — The good news in the study was that U.S. schools have among the best student-to-computer ratios in the world at about 2-to-1. And the OECD found that while low-income children were less likely to have access to the Internet than wealthier children, about 80 percent of low-income children had access to the Internet.

4.  U.S. students are among the most digitally literate in the world. The group asked students to use computers and the Internet to perform a series of tasks. U.S. students had some of the top scores in the world.

5. Digital skills are important — Presently, students aren’t getting good results from technology in schools although internet skill are important job skills.

Moreover, other research shows that most workers never use Algebra 2, Caluculus or other high-level math courses in their work — but most jobs require some digital skills. Teaching students how to use computers and the Internet is still time well-spent.

Are Students Ready Today?

walkway

studentslackresearchskills

TheRoadToCollegeCareerReadiness

RESEARCHSKILLS21CENTURY 2

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial international survey which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students. More than 70 economies have participated in the assessment.

The most recently published results are from the assessment in 2012. The next report is scheduled for December 2015.

Around 510,000 students took part in the PISA 2012 assessment of reading, mathematics and science representing about 28 million 15-year-olds globally. Of those economies, 44 took part in an assessment of creative problem solving and 18 in an assessment of financial literacy.

Key Findings United States

Education GPS

Most Popular Books To Read

Go Set a Watchman” by Harper Lee (Harper)

2. “What Pet Should I get” by Dr. Seuss (Random House)

3. “Paper Towns” by John Green (Speak)

4. “Grey” by E.L. James (Vintage)

5. “The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins (Riverhead)

6. “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee (Harper)

7. “Thrill Me” by Susan Mallery (Harlequin)

8. “Siren’s Call” by Jayne Castle (Penguin)

9. “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo (Ten Speed)

10. “Circling the Sun” by Paula McLain (Ballantine)

11. “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr (Scribner)

12. “The Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel” by Melissa de la Cruz (Disney-Hyperion)

13. “The Martian” by Andy Weir (Crown)

14. “Never Die Alone” by Lisa Jackson (Kensington/Zebra)

15. “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Spiegel & Grau)

16. “Code of Conduct” by Brad Thor (Atria/Emily Bestler Books)

17. “The Bourbon Kings” by J.R. Ward (Penguin)

18. “Badlands” by C.J. Box (Minotaur)

19. “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah (St. Martin’s Press)

20. “The English Spy” by Daniel Silva (Harper)

21. “Luckiest Girl Alive” by Jessica Knoll (Simon & Schuster)

22. “Love Letters” by Debbie Macomber (Ballantine)

23. “The Rumor” by Elin Hilderbrand (Little, Brown)

24. “Dark Places” by Gillian Flynn (Broadway Books)

25. Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book

26. Mean Streak

Cambodia To Set Up Libraries For Their Garment Workers

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia and a non- governmental agency called Sipar will provide libraries at garment factories for their workers. An investment of 640,000 has been provided by the French Development agency and Sipar. The goal is to fight illiteracy and provide access information especially for women. The aim is to establish library centers in 15 garment factories

Go Set A Watchman ——-Missing Text

Readers complained that there is missing sentences and paragraphs in the final pages of “Go Set A Watchman”. It is unknown how many of the books purchased are missing the pieces of text. The  Publisher Penguin Random House, said the misprint occurred after an error at the printers resulted in six pages towards the end of the UK edition.  Replacement copies are currently being printed to resolve the issue. Many of the misprinted books were sold through Amazon, which sent an email on Wednesday to all customers who had purchased Go Set a Watchman and offered to replace all books with missing text free of charge.

The UK edition of Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman sold more than 105,000 copies on release day but some were missing text in the final pages. Photograph: Hannah McKay/PA

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African-American students attempt to get served at a lunch counter reserved for white customers in Virginia in 1960. Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

Atticus as a fictional character that meets his daughter’s eye in Mockingbird. There he appears to be a champion of civil rights, but in the (fictional) truth revealed in Watchman, he is “really” a racist. This is typical in the North of the United States.ie: Aversive racism

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Go Set A Watchman Coming July 14, 2015

The sequel To Kill A Mocking bird , Go Set A Watchman is to be released July 14, 2015.

New details have emerged that call into question the official story of how and when the work was discovered after being stored in a safe-deposit box for many years. According to both Tonja Carter, Harper Lee’s lawyer, and the publisher HarperCollins, Carter stumbled upon the typewritten text when she was rummaging around a batch of old documents last August.

But the New York Times on Thursday provide a very different series of events. According to the newspaper, Go Set a Watchman was found almost three years earlier – by a rare books expert from the Sotheby’s auction house, who was asked to review documents held in a safe-deposit box in Lee’s hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, where she lives today in a nursing home.

At a meeting in October 2011, the paper reports, the Sotheby’s expert, Justin Caldwell, came across the manuscript of a novel that he noticed as distinct from To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee’s celebrated account of the racial fault lines of a small town in the deep south told through the eyes of a child named Scout.

Go Set a Watchman is described as a “parent” book to Kill a Mockingbird – though it is set 20 years after the famous novel, in the same fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, it was in fact written before Mockingbird, with Lee having been encouraged by her then editors to have another go.

On the night of the launch, excerpts will be read at New York’s 92nd Street Y by Mary Badham, who played Scout alongside Gregory Peck in the legendary 1962 film version of To Kill a Mockingbird.

1 In 10 Students Using New Technology To Cheat On Exams

More than 11 per cent of GCSE, A-levels and university students cheated on this year’s finals, a study claims. From invisible pens to uv light pens you name it they came claim it.Students are turning to technology to come up with creative versions to cheat in exams, a study has found. More than one in ten GCSE, A-levels and university students have admitted to cheating on their finals this year, according to a study.

And as they are not using their brainpower to study, time is spent exploring new ways of deceit, including using UV light pens, wireless headphones linked to phones and gadgets and storing formulas or facts on calculators.

New cheats: Wireless or bluetooth headphones can be used during exams to listen to information which has been pre-recorded onto phones and other gadgets

A study was conducted by The Student Room, an three million-strong online community for students aged between 14 and 24. Jack Wallington, the community director, said the effects of cheating were wider than just upping grades as they distracted and bothered those who saw them.

‘Cheating is seen as a big area of concern by a lot of students, and this can only add to the exam stress they experience, which we know from our own research is on the increase,’ he said. ‘We would like to see a wide review of the most effective ways of reducing the practice.’

The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academically rigorous, internationally recognised qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by pupils in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland over two years

There have been comments that the GCSE system is a dumbing down from the old GCE O-level system (as it took the focus away from the theoretical side of many subjects, and taught pupils about real-world implications and issues relating to ICT and citizenship). In addition, GCSE grades have been rising for many years, which critics attribute to grade inflation. By comparing pupils’ scores in the YELLIS ability test with their GCSE results within a period of approximately 20 years, Robert Coe found a general increase in results which ranges from 0.2 (Science) to 0.8 (Maths) of a GCSE grade. Only slightly more than half of pupils sitting GCSE exams achieve the 5 A* to C grades required for most forms of academic further education

Chinese Test Cheating Tools & IVs

In Sichuan province, 40 students were suspected of using a high tech pen to cheat. The pen would send test questions back to another location and answers would be sent back to the cheaters via in-ear receivers.

A wired up t-shirt was confiscated during another important state sponsored exam. The shirt is wired with a camera and plugs into a mobile phone that sends signal out.

The photos were taken at a high school in Xiaogan City, China. Seniors are getting amino acid drips so they can keep cramming for their college entrance exams, which are held in early June.

The Chinese government is apparently giving a 10-yuan amino acid subsidy to each student who takes this year’s Gaokao. And this high school, being efficient as possible, went ahead and put the IV drips in the classroom as the kids study

Summer Meals & Libraries

In California and across the nation, a growing number of public libraries are teaming up with city agencies, schools and community-based organizations to ensure that low-income youth stay healthy and engaged when school is out by serving summer meals alongside library summer reading and enrichment programs. Libraries across the nation are stepping up to address the summer nutrition gap..

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China Has Drones To Hunt down Cheaters For The Toughest Exam.

The National College Entrance Exam, commonly called “the gaokao,” determines access to higher education and is taken annually by up to 10 million students across the country.

The pressure caused by the exam can be enormous, so enormous in fact that some studies have linked the test to student suicides. On top of that, fear of failure has pushed some exam-takers into cheating, a serious issue the authorities appear to have trouble getting on top of, not least because of the increasingly sophisticated methods employed.

Some students, for example, have worn eye glasses with tiny cameras that relay images of the question paper to an accomplice outside the exam room. The answers are then fed back to the student via an earpiece.

In an effort to combat this high-tech cheating method, the authorities in Luoyan, a city about 400 miles south of Beijing, have come up with the idea of using quadcopters. The quadcopter will hover above the exam room. If it detects a signal, the information is then relayed to a teacher’s tablet. By flying the drone around the general area, that teacher can then use the system’s specially designed app to pinpoint the signal’s source.

It’s not yet known how effective the technology really is, but the authorities have made students well aware of its drone-based efforts to catch cheaters, hoping the mere sight of the remotely controlled copter will be enough to persuade students to leave their camera-equipped specs and earpieces at home

 

 

 

Couple Wants To Give Away Their Goat Farm To Whoever Writes The Best Essay

A couple in Elkmont, Alabama, wants to give their $350,000 goat farm away to whoever writes them the best essay.

There’s A Catch——-The Spells are asking each entrant to pay a $150 submission fee, and said they hope to get 2,500 entries in all, which would total $375,000. This amount will be used to pay off the rest of their mortgage, while $20,000 will be given to the contest winners, according to the Spells. What’s more, the couple said they’ll train anyone who isn’t experienced in making goat cheese.Those interested can submit an essay through the contest website.

New York Libraries Have More Visitors Than Any Other Attractions

 

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State Of America’s Libraries Released 2015

 

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Prejudice and Social Cognition

 

	Prejudice is defined as negative attitudes toward the members of specific social groups. A prejudicial attitude is linked with evaluation. Prejudice may be a blanket condemnation or rejection. “Dogs drool, cats rule.”
	Sexism is prejudice that is based on gender.
	Prejudice is at least partially an outcome of using mental shortcuts in evaluating people because of limited processing capacity, or social cognition. A schema is a type of mental organizational framework. John believes that women are bad at math tasks. He tends to notice when a woman fails at a math-oriented task, but rarely notices success. He is also good at bringing the failures to mind. He is using a prejudicial schema.
	Attitudes consists of feelings, beliefs, and behavior. The affective component of prejudice involves the negative emotions of prejudiced people in the presence of disliked groups. Most people tend to focus on the affective component of prejudice.

Tokenism

The practice of doing something (such as hiring a person who belongs to a minority group) only to prevent criticism and give the appearance that people are being treated fairly.

Tokenism

Tokenism is allowing members of a specific group to participate in an activity or event solely to satisfy requirements of diversity.

Chacko found that women who believed that they had been hired because of their gender had lower job satisfaction. Others found that persons hired for these reasons receive lower performance ratings from others. Because others tend to attribute the achievements to special hiring and not to hard work. “Perhaps they aren’t capable of the job.” This is particularly damaging because it gives an excuse for bigoted people to deny prejudice.

Researchers Warn That Tablets & Smartphones Could Impair Development Skills

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine found that use of interactive screen time under 30 months could also impair a child’s development of the skills needed for maths and science. Using a smartphone or iPad to pacify a toddler may impede their ability to learn self-regulation. The researchers warned that using a tablet or smartphone to divert a child’s attention could be detrimental to “their social-emotional development. Use of interactive screen time below three years of age could also impair a child’s development of the skills needed for maths and science, they found, although they also said some studies suggested benefits to toddlers’ use of mobile devices including in early literacy skills, or better academic engagement in students with autism. Researcher pointed out that toddlers under 30 months learn more from human interaction than videos and television. Building blocks is preferred over electronic gadgets to learn early math skills. Read More

New York City’s Libraries

 

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Been To A Library Lately? Check These Out

Libraries are not only beautiful but So Important, they’re built in all shapes and sizes

Sir Duncan Rice Library, University of Aberdeen, U.K.

Library at Admont Abbey, Austria.

Stuttgart CityLibrary, Stuttgart, Germany.

Saint-Geneviève Library, Paris.

LuckenwaldeLibrary, Luckenwalde, Germany.

TU Delft Library, Netherlands.

Philological Library, Free University of Berlin.

Library at Melk Abbey, Austria.

7 of 31

MUSASHINO ART UNIVERSITY MUSEUM & LIBRARY

Tokyo

9 of 31

CLEMENTINUM

Prague

TEPHEN A. SCHWARZMAN BUILDING

New York City

17 of 31

BODLEIAN LIBRARY

Oxford, England

23 of 31

BIBLIOTHECA ALEXANDRINA

Alexandria, Egypt

 

National Book Award Winner Responds To Daniel Handler’s Racist joke

National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson responded to Daniel Handler’s(Lemony Snicket) racist watermelon joke. Handler had made offhanded comments about Woodson being allergic to watermelon while hosting the National Book Awards on Nov. 19. Woodson was accepting an award in the young adult category for her latest book, “Brown Girl Dreaming.” Handler has since apologized and donated $110,000 to the grassroots organization We Need Diverse Books while Woodson issued an indirect statement through her publisher.

Woodson responded with a essay titled “The Pain of the Watermelon Joke.” Woodson explores her own background and the evolution of her understanding of the racially charged significance of the watermelon. Woodson said that by the time she was 11 years old, the fruit had become repulsive to her.

“By making light of that deep and troubled history, he showed that he believed we were at a point where we could laugh about it all. His historical context, unlike my own, came from a place of ignorance,” Woodson writes.

Woodson uses the essay to re-frame the situation by focusing on positive change in a time even though there is a  lack of diverse voices in literature.

One cup of watermelon will provide 17% of vitamin A, 21% of vitamin C, 2% of iron and 1% of calcium needs for the day.

Watermelon also contains thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, choline, lycopene and betaine. According to the National Watermelon Promotion Board, watermelon contains more lycopene than any other fruit or vegetable.

Despite being a great source of the above nutrients, watermelon is made up of 92% water.

You Must View This One

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Photo Math App

PhotoMath, is an  App where iOS and Windows Phone users can point their phone at a math problem, which the app will examine using the device’s camera, and spit out the answer on screen. An Android version is expected next year.

 

Othello Boss Syndrome

The Othello Boss syndrome Othello, som in love with Desdemona that subsequently leads him to a  passion of jealousy that motivates all of his actions.  In a corporation you can come across managers and business people  whose quest for professional success  that can generate a jealousy that consciously or unconsciously affects their decisions. Jealousy is the ‘suspicion that an affection or item of personal value that one has or aims to possess may be achieved by somebody else’. The phenomenon occurs in certain circumstances: one case is that of managers with an immature or somewhat unbalanced personality who are lacking in self-esteem and confidence. Insecurity can translate into fear.

Examples:

1. Heavily criticizing the performance of subordinates with a view to belittling their work. ie; engaging in arguments and making unkind gestures that are incomprehensible to others.
2. Eliminating the presence of subordinates, who are viewed as internal competitors,
3. The Othello syndrome  can spread : a boss names a subordinate for a job and when that person triumphs, the boss fears for his or her own success and prestige. Another employee then goes on to ‘open the boss’s eyes’ regarding the apparently valuable subordinate. If the boss fails to exercise caution, he or she can be swayed by the insinuations. Once the jealousy process begins, it takes a great deal of strength to retract.
4. Great people make listening a priority; petty people tend to monopolise the conversation.(Pin & Stein)
   • The most important thing in communication is hearing what has not been said.
   • Remember that it is not what you say, but what the other person hears.
   • Leadership has less to do with position and more to do with disposition.
   • People are more likely to change as a result of observation than of argumentation.
   • When we really understand the point of view of others and what they are trying to do, we see that nine out of ten times they are right.
   • The secret to getting something we want is to disregard it. Quite often, we cannot find something when we look for it and then unexpectedly come across it later on.
   • To become an exceptional person, you must begin by considering yourself unexceptional

Credits to :José Ramón Pin and Guido Stein

Community Colleges To Offer Baccalaureate Degrees

 

 

With legislation signed on Sunday by Gov. Jerry Brown, 15 California Community Colleges districts will be selected by the CCC Chancellor and CCC Board of Governors to participate in a statewide baccalaureate program. Advocates of the bill hope that the program will establish rigorous undergrad programs in order to provide higher-level training sought by the industry.These degrees is expected to help graduates transition into the workplace, which increasingly demands a higher level of education in applied fields.

 

The Georgia Institute of Technology has become the first university to integrate bitcoin for the student’s dining and shopping experience.

Campus payment cards, known as BuzzCards, can now be topped up with the digital currency at the university’s BuzzCard Centre, located inside its bookstore.

BuzzCards can be used at more than 200 locations on campus, allowing students to pay for meals, parking, recreational facilities and tickets for various sporting events using bitcoin. Georgia Tech also features 10 BuzzCard ATMs where students can withdraw hard cash.

Community College Gets Several Million From Government To Train Students

The Obama administration announced Monday, Ivy Tech Community College will be getting $2.5 million to train workers in information technology and cybersecurity. The grant will help expand and improve the community college system’s School of Computing and Informatics, which launched this fall. The funding will help pay for laboratories, data centers and professional development and will help create a career advising system.

Ivy Tech, one of the nation’s largest community college systems, is among the almost 270 community colleges sharing $450 million in competitive grants announced Monday. The schools must partner with businesses, labor groups and others to educate students in skills needed for in-demand jobs in such industries as health care, information technology, energy and advanced manufacturing.

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My Library Story Project

Gale, a division of Cengage Learning, has launched  “My Library Story” community project. This new website,  invites library advocates to share stories about what public libraries mean to them.

From now until February 28, 2015, every story submission will prompt Gale to donate $1.00 to a library advertising fund. Follow this link to watch a promotional video about this project

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Children’s Books That Were Banned In America

 

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

When: 1988
Why: banned from a public library in Colorado because it was considered “sexist.” It was also challenged by several schools because it “criminalized the foresting agency.”

Where’s Waldo? by Martin Handford

When: 1987
Why: The book was banned and then reprinted because it originally showcased a topless beachgoer (not like anyone could find her if they tried, though).

Via bannedbooks.world.edu

Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne

When: 2006
Why: Talking animals are somehow considered an “insult to god,” resulting in this book’s banning throughout random parts of the United States. Several institutions in Turkey and the UK have also banned the book, claiming that the character of Piglet is offensive to Muslims. Other institutions claim that the book revolves around Nazism.

Leon Neal / Getty Images

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

When: 1999
Why: The book was banned from an elementary School in Texas because it included the word “ass.”

Via vintagechildrensbooksmykidloves.com

5. Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

When: 1983
Why: The book was banned from several schools for being “a bad example for children.” It was also challenged for teaching “children to lie, spy, talk back, and curse.”

Via blogs.slj.com

6. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

When: 2010
Why: Forget anti-semitism; the 50th Anniversary “Definitive Edition’” was insteadbanned by a Virginia school because of its “sexual content and homosexual themes.” Additionally, the book was previously banned by several schools in the United States because it was “too depressing.” Most recently, in May of 2013, a Michigan mom tried to get the book banned due to its “pornographic tendencies.”

Via bitemybook.com

7. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

When: 1996
Why: The book was banned from several classrooms in Pennsylvania on accounts of “profanity, disrespect for adults, and an elaborate fantasy world that might lead to confusion.” The book has also been banned by other schools for its use of the phrases “Oh Lord” and “Lord.”

Via blogs.slj.com

8. Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

When: 2006
Why: Similar to Winnie-the-Pooh, this book was banned in Kansas because talking animals are considered an “insult to god.”

Via kidsmomo.com

9. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

When: 1900
Why: Apparently there are references to sexual fantasies resulting in its ban from classrooms in New Hampshire. Since this original banning, the book has been challenged by thousands of other institutions, most famously in the 1960s in fear that it would promote drug use to children.

Via gutenberg.org

10. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

When: 1963
Why: The book was primarily banned in most southern states immediately following its publication, and it has since been challenged due to the fact that it promotes “witchcraft and supernatural events.”

Via en.wikipedia.org

11. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

When: 1989
Why: A California school district banned the book and claimed that it “criminalized the foresting industry” and would thus persuade children against logging.

Via gordonandthewhale.com

12. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

When: “Until as recently as 1991”
Why: Remember that time when Sam I Am tried to seduce his friend? Me neither. But the book was banned in California on accounts of “homosexual seduction.” It was also banned in China for “early Marxism” from 1965 until Dr. Seuss’ death in 1991.

Via en.wikipedia.org

13. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

When: 1988
Why: A Colorado library banned the book because it embraced a “poor philosophy of life.” Additionally, since its publication in 1964, the book was under fire for comparing the Oompa Loompas to Africans. The characters’ descriptions were later changed in an edited version in 1988.

Via penguin.com.au

14. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

When: 1928
Why: All public libraries in Chicago banned the book because of its “ungodly” influence “for depicting women in strong leadership roles.” In 1957, the Detroit Public Library banned the book for having “no value for children of today.”

webcitation.org / Via blog.firstbook.org

15. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin, Jr.

When: 2010
Why: The Texas State Board of Education briefly banned this picture book after confusing its author, Bill Martin, Jr., with philosopher Bill Martin, author of ‘Ethical Marxism: The Categorical Imperative of Liberation.’

dallasnews.com / Via kidsentertainment.net

BONUS: The Merriam-Webster Dictionary

When: 2010
Why: The 10th edition was banned in several classrooms in California because it included a sexual definition

Via npr.org

Special thanks to http://bannedbooks.world.edu

Frequently Challenged Books In The United States

 

 

A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group.  A banning is the removal of those materials.  As a result of  the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens, most challenges are unsuccessful and most materials are retained in the school curriculum or library collection.

Many times challenges are initiated  by a desire to protect children from “inappropriate” sexual content or “offensive” language. The following were the top three reasons cited for challenging materials as reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom:

1. the material was considered to be “sexually explicit”
2. the material contained “offensive language”
3. the materials was “unsuited to any age group”

Out of 307 challenges as reported by the Office for Intellectual Freedom

1. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
   Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group, violence
2. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
   Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence
3. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
   Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
4. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James
   Reasons: Nudity, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
5. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
   Reasons: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
6. A Bad Boy Can Be Good for A Girl, by Tanya Lee Stone
   Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit
7. Looking for Alaska, by John Green
   Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
   Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
9. Bless Me Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
   Reasons: Occult/Satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
10. Bone (series), by Jeff Smith
    Reasons: Political viewpoint, racism, violence

More Frequently Challenged Books

1. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate, by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
7. Forever, by Judy Blume
8. Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
9. Heather Has Two Mommies, by Leslea Newman
10. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
11. The Giver, by Lois Lowry
12. My Brother Sam is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
14. Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
15. Goosebumps (series), by R.L. Stine
16. A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck
17. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
18. Sex, by Madonna
19. Earth’s Children (series), by Jean M. Auel
20. The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson
21. In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
22. The Witches, by Roald Dahl
23. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle
24. The New Joy of Gay Sex, by Charles Silverstein
25. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
26. The Goats, by Brock Cole
27. The Stupids (series), by Harry Allard
28. Anastasia Krupnik (series), by Lois Lowry
29. Final Exit, by Derek Humphry
30. Blubber, by Judy Blume
31. Halloween ABC, by Eve Merriam
32. Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George
33. Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane
34. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
35. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters, by Lynda Madaras
36. Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
37. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
38. The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
39. The Pigman, by Paul Zindel
40. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
41. We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier
42. Deenie, by Judy Blume
43. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
44. Annie on My Mind, by Nancy Garden
45. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
46. The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar
47. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat, by Alvin Schwartz
48. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
49. Cujo, by Stephen King
50. James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl
51. A Light in the Attic, by Shel Silverstein
52. Ordinary People, by Judith Guest
53. American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis
54. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
55. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy, by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
56. Bumps in the Night, by Harry Allard
57. Asking About Sex and Growing Up, by Joanna Cole
58. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons, by Lynda Madaras
59. The Anarchist Cookbook, by William Powell
60. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume
61. Boys and Sex, by Wardell Pomeroy
62. Crazy Lady, by Jane Conly
63. Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher
64. Killing Mr. Griffin, by Lois Duncan
65. Fade, by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What?, by Mem Fox
67. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
68. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
69. Native Son, by Richard Wright
70. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies, by Nancy Friday
71. Curses, Hexes and Spells, by Daniel Cohen
72. On My Honor, by Marion Dane Bauer
73. The House of Spirits, by Isabel Allende
74. Jack, by A.M. Homes
75. Arizona Kid, by Ron Koertge
76. Family Secrets, by Norma Klein
77. Mommy Laid an Egg, by Babette Cole
78. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo A. Anaya
79. Where Did I Come From?, by Peter Mayle
80. The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline Cooney
81. Carrie, by Stephen King
82. The Dead Zone, by Stephen King
83. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
84. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
85. Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez
86. Private Parts, by Howard Stern
87. Where’s Waldo?, by Martin Hanford
88. Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Greene
89. Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume
90. Little Black Sambo, by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose, by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education, by Jenny Davis
94. Jumper, by Steven Gould
95. Christine, by Stephen King
96. The Drowning of Stephen Jones, by Bette Greene
97. That Was Then, This is Now, by S.E. Hinton
98. Girls and Sex, by Wardell Pomeroy
99. The Wish Giver, by Bill Brittain
100. Jump Ship to Freedom, by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

Libraries-The Report

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Additional Reading 

Libraries Are Important Today and Tomorrow

HEREs WHY

 

 

When Race Makes A Person More Valuable

 

The problem starts when people think someone is less valuable than others. Such as race. A person of color can have so much talent and may go unrecognized through out his or her life. Many persons of color have resorted to bleaching their hair and skin to become more appealing to white audiences. Many persons have changed their style to please the audience so that they will be accepted and go higher. People are valued by Race, skin color or complexion, sexual preference. This is why there are so few people of color on the tube. Talented people go un noticed and/or  underpaid.

Do you measure the value of a human being?

 

New York City’s Tech Projects

 

One of the biggest tech projects in the works is the Department of Information Technology’s proposal to change 9,100 pay phone kiosks into Wi-Fi hot spots.

The city received several applications for the proposal that will give new life to the kiosks. In addition to providing free, high-speed Internet for anyone who has a smartphone, tablet or computer, the call boxes will also give access to 911 and 311 and may include other features depending on the vendor.

California-based Solatube proposed a special system that would deliver natural sunlight into buildings during a blackout. New Yorkers will have a chance to see these prototypes at a demo night on Oct. 7 at the New York Academy of Sciences.

City Councilman James Vacca, who chairs the technology committee, started a pilot program that will bring interactive “smart tables” to PS 392 in Throgs Neck, PS 175 on City Island and PS 108 in Morris Park. The desk-sized touch screen computers provide educators with a useful tool that can be implemented in countless ways. The tables in the pilot come preloaded with various educational software that is geared for early education. For example, students can learn reading and grammar by repositioning the words on the screen while a teacher explains the language rules at the same time. Students can learn in groups, teachers can teach interactively and students can get introduced to technology early.

Smart Tables were also showcased at Microsoft’s DigiGirlz Day some years back

The FDNY’s Electronic Pre-hospital Care Report, can upload the patient’s stats to an online cloud server that can easily be accessed by the city’s hospitals. Ambulance staff  can the use tablets and Wi-Fi in  the truck to transmit the anonymous data to the system. Awaiting doctors not only have more time preparing emergency rooms for the patient, they also can provide guidance to the responders to treat immediate injuries. This can save the city over a million dollars.

 

Scrabble Players Dictionary Revised

 

Te (the seventh note of a major scale), da (dad), gi (a white garment worn in martial arts), and po (a chamber pot) are among 5,000 entries to be included in an updated version of The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary. The Dictionary has been revised for the first time in a decade.

Merriam-Webster, the publisher, has yet to reveal all of the new words but has released a list of about 30 that include buzzkill (a person who has a depressing or negative effect), and chillax (to calm down). The dictionary, used by Scrabble players in all US competitions, already features more than 100,000 words. –

 

Tech Summer Camps Booming In Popularity

 

Tech summer camps are growing in popularity particularly around the Pacific Northwest.

iD Tech Camp is holding several summer tech camps at the University of Washington.Video games are very popular. At iD Tech Camps, kids ages 7-to-17 are learning how to code, program, and develop video games and apps. They also get hands-on training in Photoshop, web design and popular robotics classes.

Camp counselors are trying to get young people trained in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs. iD Tech Camp points says more than one million jobs in STEM fields are expected to go unfilled by 2020. Yet, 9-out-of-10 high schools don’t offer computer science classes. Computer Science is a field where the females are  outnumbered by males. Still at the tech camps there are more boys than girls.

Major tech companies like Twitter, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, LinkedIn released their workforce diversity figures this week after much pressure. According to USA TODAY, males outnumbered female staff by an average of 70% to 30%. The majority of workers were white followed by Asian.

 

Twitter’s Figures & Stats

 

Twitter’s diversity figures, by ethnicity. Graphic via Twitter.

More Stats Here

Google’s Stats

Facebook

Pinterest

Yahoo

 

Saved The Wolverine

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Endangered species

PHD Movie For All The Academiacs & More

 

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Libraries Lending WiFi Hotspots

 

 

The digital divide widens when you look at race, age, income and especially education level. Only 37 percent of non-high school graduates have broadband, compared to 57 percent of high school graduates, 78 percent of those with “some college” and 89 percent of those with a higher degree.

Out of 148 countries, the United States ranked 35th for Internet bandwidth capacity. Broadband Internet in the United States is, on average, slower but still more expensive than in other countries. Riga, the capital of Latvia, has an average Internet speed two-and-a-half times faster than the one in San Antonio, TX, and yet their service is only a quarter of the cost.  Two plans to begin lending portable WiFi hotspots to underserved communities were among the winning projects of the Knight News Challenge to strengthen the Internet for free expression and innovation. Although the Chicago Public Library and New York Public Library initiatives are unique, however their goal to expand internet access and promote digital literacy are the same. Since the target demographic for these projects are underserved, often poor communities, the libraries will have to be careful to not infringe on users’ privacy or digital freedoms in order to demonstrate the success of the projects.  New York Public Library and Chicago Public Library  want to see users from underserved communities become more comfortable using digital technology. Their longterm goal is to see an increase in broadband adoption rates in the communities they serve and to begin eliminating the countrywide digital divide

The digital divide in New York City is even higher than the national average, Currently, anyone with a library card can use a desktop or laptop computer at one of the 92 branches for up to 45 minutes. The NYPL website suggests making an advance reservation up to one day in advance (through, of course, an online reservation system). The Chicago Public Library,  provide a third of the free computer and Internet access in the city, and the largest provider. Anyone with a library card (or an ID proving they don’t live in Chicago) can get on a computer for up to two hour-long sessions per day, 8 hours a day, 6 days a week. (They also have an online reservation system, although the website states computers can be reserved in person as well.)

The proposed plan in Chicago would provide members of underserved communities in three locations access to both portable WiFi and laptop computers for up to three weeks. During the course of the two year pilot, 300 – 500 WiFi hotspots would be made available in several library locations in areas with less than 50 percent broadband adoption rates. In both New York and Chicago, the hotspot lending program will be accompanied by digital literacy and Internet safety classes.

The pilot programs will be judged based on exit interviews conducted with participants. The libraries want to ensure that borrowers become increasingly comfortable with digital technology and if home Internet access changes their attitudes towards technology. They will also probe whether borrowers are aware of or interested in free or low cost broadband Internet programs.

Chicago Public Library will also collect and analyze circulation data to understand demand and use. The NYPL plans they to look at the broad categories of Internet use such as social media, education, entertainment, commerce, search and utility. NYPL is in talks with other New York City library systems (Brooklyn & Queens) as well as Maine and Kansas (rural areas)

More Info 

Library of The Year

Edmonton Public Library (EPL) of Alberta, Canada has been chosen, the 2014 Library of the Year by Library Journal magazine and Gale, part of Cengage Learning. Each year, this prestigious recognition goes to a public library that most profoundly demonstrates service to community, creativity, leadership and innovation in developing community programs. EPL serves one of Canada’s fastest growing cities through its 17 branches operated by more than 600 employees who last year answered nearly 2.5 million questions and facilitated 5.2 million library visits (with another 4.7 million visits via their website). Every three seconds someone is borrowing from EPL. Their social media popularity – with 20,000 Twitter followers and 9,000 Facebook fans – leads almost all North American urban libraries.

 EPL lacks the stereotypical image of library as a book repository and serves as a center of civic engagement. Community librarians at each branch integrate deeply with local institutions such as school districts, health centers and outreach groups in order to understand needs, eliminate barriers, and inform services and policies. their  makerspace – is a location dedicated to creating with technology such as 3D printers, game development software, a sound and recording studio and more. New branches have been designed or redesigned to focus on open space, collaboration, and sustainability, and a focus on lifelong learning, including online learning, helps ensure the success of individuals as well as the community.

 Cengage Learning is a leading educational content, technology and services company, that empowers educators and driving learner engagement through personalized services and course-driven digital solutions that bridge from the library to the classroom. Gale, part of Cengage Learning, serves the world’s information and education needs through its vast and dynamic content pools, which are used by students and consumers in their libraries, schools and on the Internet.

Library Journal  was founded in 1876, Library Journal is one of the oldest and most respected publications covering the library field. Over 75,000 library directors, administrators, and staff in public, academic, and special libraries read LJ. Library Journal reviews over 8000 books, audiobooks, videos, databases, and web sites annually, and provides coverage of technology, management, policy, and other professional concerns.

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Worst Countries For Black People to Travel

 

 

Russia violence against black and dark skinned people in Russia, raised new fears about the safety of Olympic athletes, visitors and media attending the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. St. Pete is crawling with skinheads. Inform the American Embassy that you’re there. They have a special unit to deal with threats to American citizens, so you should report anything that happens immediately.

Germany Beware of Skinheads  dark-skinned visitors to Germany should consider avoiding the eastern part of the country where racism runs high. Towns such as  Brandenburg you may not make it out alive. Africans and other dark-skinned people in Berlin, Wisner and other cities know certain areas in the eastern part of Berlin, such as Marzahn and Hellersdorf, are “no-go” areas where they are certain to be attacked or killed

Greece the U.S. Embassy in Greece has warned Americans traveling to Greece to be wary of “a rise in unprovoked harassment and violent attacks against persons who, because of their complexion, are perceived as foreign migrants.”

 

Spain Many Black tourists say they experience racism during visits to Spain. More Here

Italy Black women report a rather high incidence of gawking  A dark-skinned traveler may be questioned longer at border crossings and on trains, and his baggage may be rifled through by officials more often than those of white travelers. At times hotels may tell Black tourists they are full for the night, and then give a room to the next white person who walks through the door. A Black traveler may also be a more frequent victim of ripoffs and scams, which can be true for all foreigners.

Thailand-Thais have an aversion to dark skin in general, and are prejudiced against people of African descent or anyone who has a darker skin tone, even among themselves. Black people frequently face discrimination in the workplace and are targeted for scrutiny from police. According to some travelers, it is legal there to discriminate on the basis of skin color or ethnicity.

China-Many people in China look down upon other Chinese of darker skin, and believe the whiter skin has more beauty. In China, Black people are viewed through stereotypes, and most Chinese assume Blacks are poor, uneducated, violent, play basketball, are barbaric and wild, and even eat each other. The most common Chinese slur used against Black people means “black ghost.”

South Korea- Koreans and visitors explains that racism against Black people stems from a fear of the unknown, since the country  has historically been one of the most ethnically homogeneous nations in the world. Some Koreans will go their entire lives and never see a Black person. Others say Koreans, over time, have adopted whites’ attitudes towards Black people.

 

South America -unless you’re famous

American Libraries Vintage Posters

Take A Look At The American Library Association Archives Poster Collection@ The University of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign. The vintage collection  includes printed posters, rotogravures and architectural drawings of ALA divisions, committees, projects and events. Subjects include the work of the ALA during World War I and II, the 50th Anniversary of the ALA in 1926, the Andrew Carnegie Centenary in 1935, librarianship recruitment, and general library and readership promotion.

 

American Libraries

A recent report by the Pew Research Center revealed that Americans still value their libraries. When asked whether the closing of their local public library would have an impact on their communities, 90 percent of American adults (ages 16 years and older) said yes, it would, and 63 percent said the impact would be “major.” When asked if library closures would affect them and their families personally, only 32 percent responded the way I would have—with a “no.” The survey also reported that the most important things a public library offers, besides books and media, are safe, quiet places to read and assistance from librarians

France’s Interactive media Library

 

 

The ‘Mont de Marsan Mediatheque‘ an interactive media library located in the south-west of France. The project was recently nominated for the London Design Museum‘s ‘Designs of the Year 2014 Award’ in the category of architecture.

A clean envelope of pure geometric lines, a 197 ft x 197 ft square, the building complies with the classical layout yet contrasts with its austerity by offsetting the system with a corner opening onto the city. Its facades reflect the surrounding barracks with a respectful, deferential mirror.

Authors Hating On Other Authors

Just Move Your Mouse Over The Arrows -Authors hating on Authors back in the day

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The Importance Of Libraries & Librarians World Wide

 

The people who run the  libraries need to understand the potential of books, inspire, inform and change lives. They should have the confidence to display the new and the quirky: books in translation, short fiction, graphic novels. If there’s no guaranteed market for these books, they won’t be published and we’ll all be the poorer.