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Animal Farm Preface Reveals Truths about George Orwell

July 11, 2016June 13, 2016

Posted on June 13, 2016

By Kelly Torpey

In my school-days, plenty of readings were required, but in all honesty, I didn’t care for most of them. However, George Orwell’s Animal Farm captured my attention. It was unique, I didn’t need a dictionary on stand-by, and I knew it had been banned from some classrooms.

Orwell may be one of the most read, well-known novelists of all time. With books like Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, his work is a constant reminder that we must continually critique the actions of leaders and the acceptance of common thought.

Recently (as in a couple days ago) I discovered details about Orwell’s roots, upbringing, and perspectives in an interview clip from Public Radio International. This clip is available on Literature Resource Center. I quickly learned that I probably wouldn’t have been exposed to these details if a young Ukrainian scholar hadn’t sent a message to George Orwell in 1947. In his note, the scholar asked for permission to translate Animal Farm into Ukrainian. Orwell not only granted permission, but also refused any royalties and penned a detailed preface that we are all incredibly lucky to read. Orwell wrote:

I have been asked to write a preface to the Ukrainian translation of Animal Farm. I am aware that I write for readers about whom I know nothing, but also that they too have probably never had the slightest opportunity to know anything about me.

Calling all Libraries to Be a Part of the Big Picture

February 26, 2018June 8, 2016

Posted on June 6, 2016

ENTER THE MY LIBRARY PIC PHOTO SWEEPSTAKES

Libraries complete our big picture vision. And over the next few weeks, we’re asking YOU to participate in helping us shape that vision. Send us a picture of how your library integrates and embraces technology!

The My Library Pic Photo sweepstakes is for all libraries, big or small, and all types of photographers (professional or amateur). Now through June 30, 2016, submit a photo to any of the 4 categories below, and your library could win big.

Understanding Community Goals Leads to Success for Libraries and Communities – A post from the 2016 Library of the Year

May 23, 2019June 7, 2016

By Leah Sewell, Communications Editor, Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library

Have you ever been on the other line of a survey call? I haven’t, personally, but I’ve often wondered if I would be a willing participant. Perhaps in the midst of a particularly juicy book, soaking up one-on-one time with my fast-growing 9-year-old or closely watching a new recipe simmer, what would compel me to answer the phone, but also to converse with a researcher for an indeterminate spell? Well, for one thing, I’d pretty much drop everything and let dinner burn to gab with any stranger, on the phone or otherwise, when the topic is libraries.

You see, in my career as the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library’s Communication Editor, I am enamored with the “public” part of the public library. How does the public feel about our services? How will they react to a minor or a major change? How can we woo them, engage them, help them feel a part the community through literacy and learning, and subsequently change their lives for the better?

My library is focused on the public and the public good. It’s asking the right questions, discovering people’s goals and needs and assisting them so they can reach them. Ultimately, it’s about making a difference in the community by working with our fellow citizens to make their lives better. That’s a good chunk of the reason why we’re the Library Journal / Gale, a part Cengage Learning 2016 Library of the Year. We have our ears to the ground.

When the 2016 Pew Research Center report, Libraries at the Crossroads, was released in September 2015, I wondered about the people on the other end of those cell phones and land lines. Those individuals that Pew cites variously as “a share of Americans” or “a majority of Americans,” or “low-income Americans” are real individuals with busy lives, loved ones and their own dinners to prepare. Yet, they all sat a spell to gab about libraries.

Why Advocacy Matters for Public Libraries

March 26, 2018May 31, 2016

Posted on May 31, 2016

By Rhonda Sewell

Long gone is the notion of public libraries lingering in the shadows and doing little to advocate their value to their communities and promote their many offerings, programs, and activities. Advocacy and unapologetic promotion of our transformative systems is now a major priority. Such ideas hold a sacred place in our discussions surrounding public service, strategic goals, funding, construction, marketing, and digital implementation for libraries. Even the Twittersphere of endless hashtags has transitioned from reading sentiments to action items and rallying statements such as #LibrariesMatter, #LibrariesTransform, and #SaveOurLibraries.

Because doing more with less is a reality for public libraries, especially as competition for funding sources and customer demands increases, advocacy matters now more than ever. “Advocacy, the process of acting on behalf of the public library to increase public funds and ensure that it has the resources needed to be up to date, is critical to the success of libraries,” states the Public Library Association (PLA)[i].

Huddle Up Your Sports Enthusiasts

May 23, 2016May 23, 2016

Posted May 23, 2016

Join the 2016 Summer Reading Program
Are you ready for the swarm of kids eager to learn about today’s most admired sports and athletes? 2016 Summer Reading Program is upon us, and learning shouldn’t stop when classes are out for the summer. Keep your library’s school-aged users engaged and on track with fun and authoritative eBooks from Gale.

From DK and Britannica Digital Learning to ABDO Publishing and more, young learners will have better access to your sports resources with the ability to save content to Google Drive for later use.

Worldmark Global Health and Medicine Issues:
a “Comprehensive” and “Informative” Resource

June 8, 2016May 20, 2016

Posted on May 20, 2016

Searching for “very useful” information on global health and medicine issues in the modern world? Worldmark Global Health and Medicine Issues, 1st Edition addresses health and medicine topics relevant to everyone’s lives across the globe. Organized alphabetically, the encyclopedia gives readers easy access to authoritative information on various topics.

This article was published in Booklist‘s May 15, 2016 issue; by Barbara Bibel. Read what she had to say!

CONTENT With the speed of modern travel and the global connections of commerce and industry, health issues quickly become international. This new encyclopedia does an excellent job of placing health and medical problems within social, political, and economic contexts. Using primary source documents, photographs, charts, and graphs to supplement the text, the book provides a brief but comprehensive overview of 90
topics affecting world health.

a “Comprehensive” and “Informative” Resource

Data-Driven Decision Making Ideally Locates New Library Construction

June 1, 2016May 9, 2016

Posted on May 9, 2016

When Dedham Public Library realized the time had come to replace both its 19th century main library and early 20th century branch, the primary question was, where is the best place to construct a new library to meet the needs of our 21st century patrons?

A professional librarian with more than four decades of experience in public and academic libraries was called upon to help answer the question. Mary Ann Tricarico, BA, MLS, MA, DA, began researching, tabulating and analyzing information to create a strategic planning document to optimally locate the new construction. “All my career I’ve been involved in answering complex questions about communities, patron populations, borrowing patterns and usage data – all hand- calculated and hand-tabulated,” she says, noting that it’s an expensive and time- consuming activity.

The Biggest Large Print Myths Busted!

July 3, 2018April 20, 2016

Spoiler Alert: The large print format offers benefits for people under the age of 60 with perfectly good eyesight.

Have you ever been so good at something you’ve found yourself pigeonholed? Being typecast can feel like a mixed blessing—your claim to fame shines bright, creating the shadow in which your other great qualities hide. If large print books were people, they would feel this acutely.

No doubt, large print books are a well-known solution for visually impaired readers, and those readers are typically seniors. Unfortunately for large print, being so good at solving this one problem for this one audience has led to a narrow, and sometimes inaccurate view of the usefulness of the format overall.

We’d love to enlist the expert MythBusters Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman to explore the issue in detail, but if you’ve ever seen the Discovery Channel show, you know their mythbusting process tends to involve blowing things up, and we’d hate to see our beloved books so abused.

So, without the pyrotechnics, here are the biggest large print myths: BUSTED!

InfoTrac: Environmental Studies and Policy: A “Solid” and “Viable” Collection

September 2, 2016April 11, 2016

Searching for a “solid” resource of “considerable substance” to answer inquiries about environmental concerns? Your search ends here with the InfoTrac: Environmental Studies and Policy Collection, featuring over 5.4 million articles and “more searching flexibility than that of most platforms.” Engage and support students with an easily searchable, mobile-responsive design and integrated Google Apps for Education tools.

Read a review from Library Journal, April, 2016

Help Yourself! Self-Help Books on GVRL

April 16, 2019March 31, 2016

Posted on March 31, 2016

Originally posted in February 2016 by Library Journal

It can be hard to maintain a positive outlook and self image in a world that places so much emphasis on material wealth and physical beauty rather than how we feel and think. We underestimate the importance of learning to love ourselves as we are rather than the way society tells us we should be. The right self-help books can and do provide a wealth of information to help you on your journey to understanding and improving yourself on your own terms. Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) provides a collection of insightful guides to help you meet your goals and reach your full potential.