Tara Blair

Tara Blair is a Digital Marketing Specialist for Gale, a Cengage Company. In her spare time, she is a total crime junkie and spends her days listening to podcasts—especially those of the unsolved.

In Other News: Thanksgiving

A look at a current news item through the lens of different titles available on GVRL.

By Michelle Eickmeyer

In fourteen-hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue… and then the guy who realized that Columbus had not, in fact, found a new route to Asia. But thus began the discovery, colonization and evolution of the United States of America. This week, Americans gather. We’ll watch football. We’ll eat too much. We’ll give thanks for everything we have. We’ll shop til we drop and kick off the holiday shopping season.

Read moreIn Other News: Thanksgiving

“Redeployment” Wins National Book Award for Fiction

The National Book Foundation has awarded former Marine, Phil Klay, a National Book Award–his debut short story collection Redeployment, took home top honors as the winner in the fiction category.

Established in 1950, the National Book Award is an American literary prize administered by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization. Their mission is to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of great writing in America.

Read more“Redeployment” Wins National Book Award for Fiction

Feature Focus: Highlights and Notes in Kids InfoBits

At one time or another, almost everyone has broken the rules and written in a textbook. When I was in school, our teachers reviewed our books at the end of the year and we had to pay a fine if they found writing in them; at the end of every school year I would frantically erase the notes and doodles that I had written on the pages of each textbook. Now, with Gale’s Highlights and Notes tool – available in Kids InfoBits, as well as many other Gale products – those days are over for students of all ages.

Read moreFeature Focus: Highlights and Notes in Kids InfoBits

Focus on Relevance: Tell Politicians Why Libraries are Vital

In this post, Rebecca Miller, editorial director of Library Journal and School Library Journal, discusses the critical need to help politicians understand that libraries remain relevant and have a critical role to play. She discusses the experience of Kim Wyman, who was elected secretary of state of Washington and shortly thereafter started a “crash course” … Read more

Libraries Add Economic Value to Local Communities

Ken Detzner, Florida’s Secretary of State supports public libraries, calling them “a place of learning, a hub for educational resources, and a community center.” According to an ROI study conducted by the Haas Center for Business Research and Economic Development, University of West Florida, libraries deliver value to the areas they serve by supporting economic … Read more

Want to Start a Garden? Now you can get Free Seeds at the Phoenix Public Library

The Phoenix Public Library has recently launched a seed library at the Harmon Library. This new program allows patrons to check out more than 100 varieties of fruit, vegetable, and perennial seeds with their library cards—three packets at a time. Patrons can “return” seeds by donating what they’ve harvested to the collection. This program joins … Read more

Myth or Reality: Younger Americans are Using the Library?

According to “Younger Americans’ Library Habits and Expectations,” a study from the Pew Research Center, younger Americans ages 16 to 29 are much more likely than older Americans to use public libraries. In fact, approximately 60 percent of younger library patrons have done so in the last year vs. 45 percent of those 30 and … Read more

Booking Bands: Newton Free Library is Compiling a Boston Music Data Base for the General Public

The Newton Free Library is building a database of Boston-area music. It already has some 250 CDs in its collection, available to its patrons and others within the 43 other libraries affiliated with the Minutemen Library Network. “The Newton Free Library is always looking for new ways to connect our patrons with the arts and … Read more