NEWS
NAG Committee seeks reps
THE National Acquisitions Group is recruiting for its Executive Committee and is making a particular call for public librarians. It said: “Our Executive Committee is split into groups to ensure even rep- resentation of the membership and this year we will have vacancies in all groups which includes Academic libraries, Pub- lic Libraries, Commercial Members and Special Libraries. If you work in any of those sectors, we would be delighted to hear from you.”
Flagship journals sign up to S20
AIP Publishing has announced the launch of a pilot program for the Subscribe to Open (S2O) model for Physics of Plasmas and Journal of Applied Physics. It said: “It’s a bold, experimental step forward for AIP Publishing, which will be the largest STM-only publisher thus far to undertake the model.”
Subscribe to Open was launched in 2017 and according to Wikipedia, by 2023, it had been utilised by 15 publishers, offering over 150 journals under open access. S20 journals recalibrate every year. If enough subscribers renew then that year’s content for those publications is then flipped over to OA in perpetuity. But if the renewal threshold is not met new content will go behind a paywall again.
East Cheshire opening times cut
RESIDENTS’ feedback has helped scale back the extent to which library opening times will be cut by Cheshire East Council. Original Council proposals were to reduce opening hours by up to 16 hours a week in some areas but the biggest cuts are now 10 hours a week at libraries in Crewe and Macclesfield.
The new opening times are due to start from 1 November and the Council says the move will save £900,000 a year. The Coun- cil, run by a Labour-Independent coalition, said it was facing “significant financial pressure”, with a £20m funding gap.
10 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL
Former President shows support to US librarians
BARACK Obama has signalled his support for US librarians in their battle against book bans.. The former US president sent an open letter via Twitter to the librarians “on the front lines, fighting every day to make the widest possible range of view- points, opinions, and ideas available to everyone”. The letter highlights the impor- tance of the “free exchange of ideas” as “an important part of making sure that citi- zens are informed, engaged and feel like they perspectives matter”. He goes on to describe calls for book bans as “pro- foundly misguided”. New legislation has come into force in many US states giving parents more rights to call for books to be banned from school and public libraries. This has led to a particular focus on titles covering LGBTQ+ issues, and books about race and identity being targeted. The American Library Association has reported an increase in the number of requests for books to be banned, and research shows that last year 2,571 titles were subject to calls to be removed from shelves in 2022. That figure is a 38 per cent increase on 2021 levels. Former President Obama expressed his frustration at the type of books that are being targeted, saying: “… books are being challenged by people who dis- agree with certain ideas or perspectives. It’s no coincidence that these ‘banned
books’ are often written by, or feature, people of colour, indigenous people and members of the LGBTQ+ community.” He goes on to add that the issue is not just related to one political viewpoint, saying: “There have also been unfortunate instan- ces in which conservative authors or books containing ‘triggering’ words or scenes have been targets for removal. Either way, the impulse seems to be to silence, rather than engage, rebut, learn from or seek to understand views that don’t fit our own.” The letter moves on to focus on the
role of librarians in tackling censorship “fighting every day to make the widest range of viewpoints, opinions and ideas available to everyone. Your dedication and professional expertise allow us to freely read and consider information and ideas, and to decide for ourselves which ones we agree with. “That’s why I want to take a moment to thank all of you for the work you do every day – work that is helping us under- stand each other and embrace our shared humanity.
“And it’s not just about books. You also provide spaces where people can come together, share ideas, participate in com- munity programmes and access essential civic and educational resources. Together you help people become informed and active citizens.” Read the original Tweet and full letter at
https://tinyurl.com/4fevvwh2.
July-August 2023
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