NEWS
Malcolm X’s cell is first freedom library
WHAT is believed to have been Malcolm X’s prison cell in Norfolk, Massachusetts, has become the first of 1,000 planned ‘freedom libraries.’ Poet, lawyer and former prisoner Reginald Dwayne Betts set up the project after win- ning a $625,000 MacArthur ‘Genius’ grant. Betts is aiming to set up the micro prison libraries through his charity Freedom Reads. He told the Boston Globe “One of the things Malcolm X said was that a prerequisite for changing your life is an understanding of what it means to be guilty. And what it means to want to be more than that thing. And I think books give you access to that.”
Library expands #MeToo collection
THE Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, is expanding its #MeToo Digital Media Collection. The project to save the digital footprint of the social media-driven #MeToo movement was started in 2017 after the original 2006 cam- paign became a global phenomenon following revelations about Harvey Weinstein. Jane Kamensky, Schlesinger Library Director and steering committee chair said the process has required a new approach: “this meant that we built rather than received the collection, which is a different kind of process for the library,” saying that the library must adjust to this method of data collection if it wants to accurately collect the footprint of future social movements.
Mobile library fleet wins award
KENT County Council’s new mobile library fleet has won an award from the manufacturer IVECO.
The award was given by a panel of experts to the project which involved a re-design including a rear passenger side wheelchair lift, a power door, internal librarian’s working area as solar panels, telematics, and Wi-Fi. The project was an 18-month collaboration between Haynes Trucks, IVECO, KCC and Euromotive and incorporated environmental innovations, such as solar energy and new engines.
10 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL
Slough and Dorset library services threatened
TWO public library services in England are under threat of cuts. Councils run- ning services in Slough and Dorset have each put their library provision under consultation, meaning poten- tial changes to the way libraries are run.
Dorset Council is looking to create a new 10-year strategy for its library service and have asked residents to complete a sur- vey. Results from that will be used to help shape the future of the county’s libraries, alongside evidence about use. These will then feed into the development for a new strategy. The council currently runs 23 libraries, while another eight in the large- ly-rural county are run by volunteers. It will be the first new strategy for libraries
in the county for 11 years, and a draft strat- egy should be available in the summer. There will be a second round of consultation once the draft strategy is published. There are five options open for consulta- tion for Slough libraries, including closing
two branches and reducing opening hours across the service. Slough has benchmarked its services with similar council areas, with recommendations that spending is brought into line with other areas. The benchmarking showed that Slough was spending more than other similar councils on a range of library services, so if the recommenda- tions are followed there will be funding cuts.
Earlier this year Bolton Council drew up
a cost-cutting plan for its libraries – cut- ting £364,000 in funding, implementing redundancies and reducing opening hours. That plan has now been imple- mented, and sees a total of 70 hours per week cut from operating times. Bolton Council agreed overall budget
cuts of some £37m across the board from 2021-2023. The council runs 10 libraries, and despite cutting staff and opening hours have retained services in each of the branches.
Top e-titles of 2021
OVERDRIVE, the ebook supplier to over 3,000 libraries across the UK and 73,000 libraries and schools in 88 countries, has published its top 10 most popular ebooks, audiobooks and digital magazines of 2021.
In a press release the company which created the Libby reading app said: “Nearly two years after the pandemic-in- duced surge in digital content usage, the demand for digital materials remains high. Over the past year, UK library authorities have met their communities’ needs with record issues of digital titles.”
Nick Forster, Regional Manager for OverDrive, said: “A lot of people discov- ered their libraries’ digital collections for the first time during lockdown – and we’re seeing that their use of online ser- vices is continuing to grow even as library branches have been able to reopen.” The following is the top four in each cat- egory.
For the full list visit
https://bit.ly/3ov5QvC
Top 10 Digital Magazines from UK Public Libraries in 2021: Radio Times
The Economist HELLO!
New Scientist
Top 10 Ebooks from UK Public Libraries in 2021 The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Secret, Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams
Top 10 Audiobooks from UK Public Libraries in 2021 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
Cold Mourning by Brenda Chapman A Song for the Dark Times by Ian Rankin Becoming by Michelle Obama
December 2021
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