By Kim Martin
Did you miss the buzz at last week’s PLA conference surrounding this groundbreaking new program? Career Online High School allows libraries to offer adults in their community the opportunity to earn an accredited high school diploma and career certificate. Hear what all the fuss is about at our live webcast, Wednesday, March 26, 3 pm EST!
By Harmony Faust
To say I’m a fan of craft beer is accurate, but perhaps doesn’t paint the full picture. The fact is, for my husband and I, it’s “our thing.” We appreciate craft beer to the point that last month, for the fourth consecutive year, we traveled to the Annual Winter Beer Festival of the Michigan Brewers Guild. That’s right, Michigan’s Brewers Guild. This places us outdoors in the middle of February at a beer festival. The high was 24 degrees but surrounded by good beer and good friends, no one seemed to notice.
By Harmony Faust
I shared an inside secret with you in our first post and it felt liberating, so I’m going to do it again here. As a representative of a company with 60 years as a leading publisher of reference content, this secret is potentially risky to post, but no less true.
Whew. Okay. Here it goes…
I have heard several of our public libraries partners say…*gasp*…their patrons aren’t asking for reference anymore. That it’s hard to create excitement around reference. In fact, a much-esteemed leader in library land was so bold as to say, to my face, that we do ourselves a disservice by referring to our eBook platform as Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL).
By Harmony Faust
Public libraries can and do play a strong role in fostering an interest and developing skills in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)—among children, teens and adults alike. Gale’s announcements yesterday afternoon mean that libraries of all types will soon have additional support in delivering research assistance in these key disciplines.
Classes, workshops and events related to STEM concepts are already prevalent at libraries nationwide. Even with catchy names like Legopalooza, DevDev, HiTech and MakerLab, it’s clear that these programs pack some serious punch when it comes to boosting STEM skills.
By Harmony Faust
Join us for a live Twitter Chat with Valerie Gross, president & CEO of the Howard County Library System in Maryland (Library of the Year 2013) and author of the provocative new title Transforming Our Image, Building Our Brand: The Education Advantage.
Hear Valerie’s thoughts on how to keep your library essential, not optional, and chat with your colleagues about important issues like funding, branding and the perceived value of libraries today.
By Harmony Faust
I’ve volunteered to author our inaugural blog post on behalf of Gale’s public library team. You know, the one where we introduce ourselves, what problem we aim to solve and the unique voice we think we’ll contribute to the already fully-loaded blogosphere. No pressure.
I’m a sucker for a good, easy-to-read list, so here it goes:
Top 5 Reasons Why This Blog Exists
Alternatively titled: Why Gale Is Talking To and About Public Libraries
1. We are truly passionate about public libraries.
We’re not just saying that to pander to our audience. For me personally, I can honestly say that the most recent six months of my thirteen years in publishing have been the most interesting and rewarding of my career—and these are the only months I’ve been solely focused on working for and with public libraries. We have massive amounts of respect for our wonderful colleagues in higher education, academic libraries and schools, but the individuals behind this blog are all public, all the time.