50 million reasons to give thanks for school programs

In this pre-Thanksgiving post, Richard A. Carranza, president of The San Francisco Unified School District, thanks voters who recently passed the Children and Families First Initiative (Proposition C). The initiative provides $50 million in additional funding to San Francisco Schools in areas such as music and art, sports, wellness, and libraries. Proposition C supports the … Read more

A Slice of Maker Pie: Stories from Three Learner Labs

This article explores how three libraries have “navigated a more serious route toward which slice of ‘maker pie’ would be most palatable to their communities and staff.” The libraries featured include the Simla branch of the Ebert County District Library (Colorado), the Middletown Free Library (Pennsylvania), and the Billings Public Library (Montana). Each library has … Read more

How Libraries Are Advancing and Inspiring Schools and Communities

The Aspen Institute Dialogue on Public Libraries, which is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has recently released a report, Rising to the Challenge: Re-Envisioning Public Libraries, that asks us “to reconsider how the library can serve communities in the 21st century.” The report focuses on the Chattanooga and Nashville public libraries for … Read more

Self-Improvement Resources For Getting Passed Crossroads

Resources for self improvement

By Tina Creguer

Rebecca used to think that her life would be uneventful at this stage, but, boy, was she wrong. Her son recently moved out and married, and she completed a degree program—just as her position was eliminated at her long-time employer. She has identified an opportunity in a nearby community and is considering starting her own business. Some days, she feels that the possibilities are endless. Other days, she’s overwhelmed and some self-doubt is starting to creep in. She’s looking for information to help her regain her confidence so she can move forward with some assurance that she is making good decisions that will shape her future.

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19th Century Nitty-Gritty: 19th-Century Rules for Achieving Happiness this Holiday Season

By Melissa Rayner

These days it’s a difficult feat to so much as step out of your home without being hit by the ubiquity of the holiday season. Lights, decorations, crowded shopping centers, and–if you’re one of the lucky ones–heaps and heaps of snow.

Sure, Christmas is heavily commercialized these days, but don’t we still love it all the same? Whenever I find myself stuck in a mob of angry shoppers, I take a deep breath and do my best to remind myself of the many things I love about this time of year. And where’s the easiest place to find a heaping stocking full of warm fuzzies?

HINT:  With this series, the answer is always enthusiastic, and it’s always “The 19th century!”

Why, it’s the 19th century, of course! And after all the recent Black Friday hullabaloo, I think we need our favorite century more than ever. Let’s go there now…

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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.

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Getting to the Bottom of Affordable Care Act

Health Care Resources at Library

By Brigham Narins

So it’s November, kind of a busy month: On the 4th we had the mid-term elections—the Republicans came away pretty happy, the Democrats not so much. And on the 15th the second open enrollment period began for ObamaCare.

Among the happy Republicans was Mitch McConnell. Not only did he win his reelection race, he is also expected to be confirmed as the new majority leader in the Senate, a position he has reportedly coveted his entire political life.

On November 5, the day after the election, McConnell and Speaker of the House John Boehner published an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal in which the two congressional leaders renewed “our commitment to repeal ObamaCare, which is hurting the job market along with Americans’ health care.” Elaborating somewhat on that point, they wrote that “[h]ealth costs . . . continue to rise under a hopelessly flawed law that Americans have never supported.”

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“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.

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