American+Libraries

I read the March 2009 edition of “American Libraries,” (the magazine of the American Library Association) which placed a large focus on joining forces with trustees, advocates, friends of the library, and foundations to promote libraries all across the country. Many of the articles in this magazine were pertaining to the tough economic times that this country is facing and how those concerns impact America’s public library funding. What I took away from these articles were that public libraries are now reporting increases in usage of 10, 20, and even 30% (due in part to the need for people to use library resources for help in finding new jobs) and that now is the time that people in this field need to band together to keep them intact. We can no longer be passive and everyone in the community, not just the librarians, need to fight to keep our libraries open. There were also a few articles that really pertained to this class as well, including one called “Making Connections: School librarians play key role in student learning” by ALA President Jim Rettig. This article emphasized the importance of qualified professionals in school libraries and how much of an impact we can have on how well our student’s achieve in school. Rettig also explains that school librarians and public librarians have a lot more in common than we sometimes think and we both have the best interest of our patrons at heart. Another article, called “Make Way for the Net Generation,” can also be applied to what we are learning in this class because it focused on how we as librarians have to adapt to the norms of young people when it comes to technology in order to have our libraries reach their full potential. Overall, I enjoyed this magazine and was interested to learn about the state of our public libraries and how they are being affected by the economic downturn. There were quite a few articles however, and after about 3 or 4 them I was starting to get a little distracted. The articles were well written and informative though and I feel like I learned a lot from them. In the future I will most likely read this magazine again but I probably won't need to read it every month. -Christie