Libraries in the News Archive
Luis Soriano’s Biblioburro: CNN’s hero of the week
To the unaccustomed eye, a man toting 120 books while riding a stubborn donkey would seem nothing short of a circus spectacle. But for hundreds of children in the rural villages of Colombia, Luis Soriano, 38, is far from a clown. Soriano is a primary school teacher who spends his free time operating a “biblioburro,” [...]
Restored Tamil library in Sri Lanka signals hope
The most potent symbol of the Sri Lankan Civil War, and the uneasy peace since fighting ended in May 2009, is Jaffna’s public library, which was torched in 1981 by an anti-Tamil mob. Nearly 100,000 books and manuscripts, including irreplaceable palm-leaf Tamil texts, went up in smoke. The library reopened in 2003, but restoring its [...]
Collecting aerospace history
The National Science Foundation has awarded the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, a two-year grant of $367,000 to archive the history of the aerospace industry in Southern California. University of Southern California historian Peter Westwick, director of the project, said most of the region’s rich history was lost after the corporate consolidation of aerospace [...]
National Library, museums damaged in Chilean earthquake
The National Library of Chile in Santiago has closed to the public after suffering damage in the February 27 earthquake. A crack in the dome, cracks in the walls that run from the first to the fourth floors, and cracks in the ceilings in several sections are being assessed by structural engineers. Other damaged buildings [...]
Save the library, urge Los Angeles Public Library workers
The union that represents Los Angeles Public Library workers has mounted a campaign to stave off an anticipated reduction in LAPL’s workforce over five years. As of early March, the FY2010 plan to help narrow a municipal deficit of $212 million hinged on the early retirement of 145 library employees and the elimination of 110 [...]