While I was growing up in Colombia libraries were very scarce, the only library one ever heard mentioned was the Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango (BLAA), which I finally got to visit. While the Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango is owned by the Banco de la República de Colombia, it is very much a public library, and [...]

This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson My rating: 5 of 5 stars I picked up a galley of this book while attending ALA Midwinter, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Marilyn Johnson became interested in librarians while researching her previous book on obituaries, and running into a few [...]

I grew up with 80F/26C degree weather all year around, and while I tolerate the cold winters while I’m outside waiting for the bus, I absolutely hate being cold while indoors. I just found an article from the NYT describing how the cold is affecting workers at the NYPL. Turns out the librarians working for [...]

I’ve seen biblioburros, a camel mobile library, a traveling library in a suitcase, and now here’s a bibliomoto offering library services around the Huarmey province in Peru. The bibliomoto is part of the Biblioteca Comunal Obraje which aims at promoting literacy and increasing a general level of education among the population. The project has a [...]

I just came across a blog entry at Superpatron about how the community organization Hands on New Orleans has decided to create a tool lending library. Hands on New Orleans has managed to accumulate a good amount of tools in the process of helping rebuild New Orleans after the city was hit by Hurricane Katrina, [...]

My friend found this article and started a great conversation. The article explains the story of two women (Sharon Cook, and Beth Boisvert) who work at a public library in Jessamine County, Kentucky, who decided what material was “appropriate” for young patrons, and went so far as to remove a book from the collection so [...]

Boston’s Chinatown used to have a public library, but this library has had its ups and downs. It opened in 1896, closed in 1936, reopened in 1951, and closed again in 1956. After this there was a bookmobile that attempted to fill the void, but this didn’t last too long. For several years now there [...]

The Red de Bibliotecas will provide you with all the information you may need about the network of libraries in the Medellín area. The main page regularly posts related stories, news updates, and other relevant items. Along the left hand side you can find links that will give you a better idea of the services [...]

The Fundación Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) is a non-profit organization that works to promote a variety of projects that aim at raising awareness about the need to preserve the city’s public services and environmental resources. Some of the programs they work on are an interactive museum focused on science and technology; a series of [...]

Today both the Guardian and the New York Times had articles about the hard times public libraries are facing because of the economic downturn. The article in the Guardian explained that public libraries in the UK are facing budget cuts, on top of years of inadequate funding, and less than steller attention from local politicians. [...]