Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: libraries

libraries stories: 17 news summaries

 Recession's Victims 
 Overwhelm Libraries 

Surge in jobseekers, homeless, and crime stresses out library staff

Apr 2, 09 7:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - Libraries that once worried about staying relevant are finding themselves on the front line of the recession, the New York Times reports. Attendance has surged as the newly unemployed—some of whom can't read or write or navigate the Internet—use facilities to write resumés and search for jobs,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recession • homeless • unemployment • libraries • job search • library

 More Americans 
 Reading Fiction: NEA 

Study indicates literary decline might be reversing

Jan 12, 09 1:37 PM CST
(Newser) - The percentage of Americans reading fiction has increased for the first time in years, a new study by the National Endowment for the Arts indicates. The reported 50.2% of the population who picked up a book for pleasure marks a turnaround from a statistical decline in literary culture over... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Harry Potter • Internet • literature • reading • libraries • book • National Endowment for the Arts • Oprah's Book Club • Twilight

(Newser) - New York may be America's cultural capital, but Seattle and Minneapolis top the list as the nation's most literate cities, reports LiveScience.  The rankings are based on newspaper, magazine, and online news readership, library usage, book purchases, and educational levels. The two cities also topped the list last year.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
newspaper • Minneapolis • San Francisco • Atlanta • Boston • Washington DC • Denver • St. Louis • literacy • libraries • Seattle • Cincinnati • book • online newspapers • Portland, Oregon • readership • St Paul • Central Connecticut State University • Jack Miller

Philly Mayor to Lease Closing Libraries

11 buildings would be run by private or foundation centers

Dec 29, 08 5:11 PM CST
(Newser) - The mayor of Philadelphia has preliminary agreements with private foundations and nonprofits to manage at least five of the 11 libraries the city is closing out of budget concerns, the Inquirer reports. The new institutions, which Michael Nutter said he hopes will become “knowledge centers,” will retain... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Philadelphia • libraries • nonprofit • municipal services • Michael Nutter • budget gap • library • foundations

Investigators Track Nazis' Looted Books

A million plundered volumes are still on German library shelves

Oct 25, 08 11:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - A handful of determined librarians are trying to reunite books stolen by the Nazis with their owners or their families, Der Spiegel reports. Experts believe at least a million such books are still on the shelves of libraries across Germany. Many carry a 'J' inscribed by Nazi-era librarians to indicate... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Germany • Nazi • libraries • book • Nazis • library

GOP Plays
Down Book-Ban Controversy

Party says Palin's censorship questions were hypothetical

Sep 12, 08 10:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - Sarah Palin’s inquiries into book-banning were hypothetical and entirely appropriate, a McCain campaign spokesman said today, trying to clamp down on the growing online controversy. As mayor of Wasilla, Palin on three occasions asked the head of the library if she’d have a problem with banning books. The... More »

MORE ABOUT:
censorship • libraries • book • Sarah Palin • Wasilla

George W. Bush Library Finds a Home in Texas

SMU will host presidential library, think-tank

Feb 23, 08 5:46 AM CST
(Newser) - George W. Bush's presidential library will be built at Southern Methodist University, the Dallas Morning News reports. The First Lady's alma mater has had its eyes on that prize since just after Bush took office. "It took us 71 days to find a football coach, so we don't like... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Texas • think tank • libraries • Clinton Presidential Library • academics • Southern Methodist University • presidential library • George W. Bush

$500M Bush Library Deal Expected Today

Southern Methodist University trustees voting on controversial project

Feb 22, 08 2:58 AM CST
(Newser) - Southern Methodist University's trustees are expected to vote today to bring George W. Bush's presidential library to the Texas institution, reports the Dallas Morning News.  The agreement will be "a great day for SMU," said the university's president. But the road to a final agreement at Laura... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Texas • Laura Bush • libraries • clergy • Southern Methodist University • presidential library • George W. Bush

Western Towns Rebuild Library Jeffs Destroyed

Books disappeared under reign of jailed Utah polygamist

Jan 21, 08 3:42 PM CST
(Newser) - Two tiny towns on the Utah-Arizona border are pushing to restock the shelves of their library, reports the Deseret Morning News, in a first step toward healing rifts caused by imprisoned polygamist Warren Jeffs. With Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., firmly in the grip of the Mormon splinter group's... More »

MORE ABOUT:
polygamy • Utah • libraries • Mormon • Mormonism • Colorado • Warren Jeffs

Survey: Minneapolis the Most Literate US City

Researchers looked at 69 major metropolitan areas

Dec 29, 07 6:25 AM CST
(Newser) - New York may be the US city with the most literary pretensions, but the nation's most literate city it's not, a new survey finds. Minneapolis takes the honors as most literate large metropolitan area in a Central Connecticut State University survey reported in LiveScience. The nine runners-up are, in order:... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • Minneapolis • publishing • literacy • libraries

Mold Ravages Da Vinci Codex

Damage wrought for lack of restoration funding

Dec 22, 07 8:04 AM CST
(Newser) - An onslaught of red, black, and purple mold has turned the Codex Atlanticus, the largest collection of writings and drawings by Leonardo Da Vinci, into a "precious sick patient," the Times of London reports. The mold, discovered by an American scholar, is attacking 12,000 codex sheets at... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Italy • libraries • Milan • restoration • Leonardo da Vinci • mold

Best Places to Educate Children

Dec 20, 07 5:31 PM CST
(Newser) - Wondering where’s the best place to educate your children? Compiling scores from various criteria--strength of the public school system, options for private schools, library popularity, the abundance of higher-learning institutions—Forbes magazine made a list of the best educational environments. Here’s the top ten:
  1. Washington, DC-Arlington, VA
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
education • children • list • libraries • public schools • school systems • private schools

French Library Loosens Morals, Unveils Erotica

Bibliothèque Nationale showcases 2 centuries of porn for first time

Dec 4, 07 11:15 AM CST
(Newser) - Turns out the auguste Bibliothèque Nationale has one of the world's biggest official collections of pornographic books and prints, and today it's going on view—to those over 16—for the first time in 170 years. The erotic works, which have been hidden away in a section called l'enfer,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
erotica • France • pornography • libraries • Bibliotheque Nationale

Reagan Library Missing 80,000 Artifacts

Mementos and gifts
said to be stolen by insiders

Nov 8, 07 7:34 AM CST
(Newser) - As many as 80,000 artifacts that are supposed to be in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California are missing or unaccounted for, the Los Angeles Times reports. A "near universal" meltdown in security procedures apparently allowed employees to pilfer mementos from T-shirts and buttons to valuable gifts... More »

MORE ABOUT:
theft • libraries • presidential library

Net to House World's Top Library

UN unveils plan for 'intellectual cathedral'

Oct 18, 07 11:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - If the World Digital Library works out as planned, it’ll make Alexandria look like a Buck-a-Book. The UN project hopes to collect primary sources from around the world in every medium, digitize them, and offer them online, free, in seven languages. “What they are doing is building an... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Google • Internet • libraries • Library of Congress • World Digital Library

Has Wiki Replaced the College Library?

Not quite: Undergrads still turn to more
traditional sources

Aug 25, 07 3:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - Contrary to expectations, college students are not rushing online for answers to research assignments. A new survey shows only 3% of undergraduates with research tasks went to Wikipedia first and only 13% tried search engines. The largest number, 40%,  turned to course materials first and 23% sought out the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Wikipedia • research • college • university • libraries • student • college student

What CEOs Read Before They Lead

Business leaders find refuge and resource in luxury book collections

Jul 22, 07 1:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scanning the personal libraries of CEOs, tech gurus and venture geniuses reveals not only what they read but how they think, the Times reports. The well-heeled have taken to housing their exorbitant collections in luxurious, custom-built, private spaces. And if you read between the lines, the literature tends to reflect... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Steve Jobs • CEO • business • literature • reading • Michael Milken • Galileo • Machiavelli • Queen Elizabeth I • personal library • libraries • book

17 Stories


from our news partners