Libraries in the News Archive
New York City’s oldest library
Christopher Gray writes: “The oldest cultural institution in New York? It appears to be an obscure little organization on East 79th Street called the New York Society Library, established in 1754. The library claims to have been the first library of Congress, as congressmen borrowed its books when New York was the nation’s capital in [...]
200 years of shared knowledge in Salem
The Salem (Mass.) Athenaeum celebrated its 200th anniversary March 6 with a fundraising event that featured food, drink, and dances of 1810. For two centuries, Salem-area residents have paid for subscriptions to the athenaeum—one of only about 16 membership libraries left in the United States—and have welcomed nonmembers to read free of charge. A 50,000-volume [...]
Library supporters rally in Albany
Around 1,000 library advocates from around New York state filled the Capitol in Albany March 2 to lobby legislators and the governor’s staff against the fifth proposed cut in state funding to the public library system in two years. The successive cuts have totaled $18 million since April 2008, leaving libraries to operate with the [...]
Rally against cuts to Massachusetts regional library services
Hundreds of librarians and supporters waved signs and listened to speakers outside the State House in Boston March 9 in a protest of Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposed cuts to public libraries. D. Lynn Kleindiest of Granby, a retired librarian from Springfield Technical Community College, said it makes no sense to cut regional library services. “It’s [...]
Quake shatters Chile’s public library services
Carol Erickson writes: “Nearly two weeks after a devastating 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Chile, library officials in the Department of Public Libraries are still trying to determine the extent of the damage to the nation’s nearly 400 public libraries. Much of the effort to assess the damage to the country’s public library system comprehensively has been hindered [...]