Ealing Council has been ordered to think again about proposals to close Pitshanger Library as we know it, after an impassioned backlash from local residents and businesses. The council agreed earlier this month not to renew the lease on the library in Pitshanger Lane and to look at moving the library to a different location, possibly to be run by community volunteers. It's just one of a large number of community centres, children's centres, libraries and schools that could be sold off, redeveloped or relocated to help the council make savings in the wake of huge government grant cuts. But residents and businesses have clubbed together to gather more than 2,000 signatures on a petition calling for the council to think again whilst Conservative councillors demanded the decision be reviewed. At the council's overview and scrutiny committee on Thursday, August 2, Conservative councillor Seema Kumar said: "This is a much-loved library in an award-winning high street. "Some 100,000 people … [Read more...] about Ealing Council ordered to think again on plan to ‘close’ library
Renew library books
Houston Public Library expands hours, reminds Houstonians of its many services (besides books)
By Craig Hlavaty Updated 4:12 pm CDT, Friday, August 3, 2018 window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-5', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 5', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-10', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 10', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-15', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 15', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-20', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 20', … [Read more...] about Houston Public Library expands hours, reminds Houstonians of its many services (besides books)
Outrage as it is revealed an Ealing library is set to close
There are concerns for the future of a popular library in Ealing after the council announced it intends to end the lease at its current home. At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (July 10) councillors confirmed they intend to close Pitshanger Library when the 16-year lease comes up for renewal in December 2018. It's just one of a large number of community centres, children's centres, libraries and schools that could be sold off, redeveloped or relocated to help the council make savings in the wake of government grant cuts. They will look to provide a less expensive "community-led" library and council leader Julian Bell suggested this could be located at nearby St Barnabas Church. But Conservative leader Greg Stafford is livid at the decision and fears it won't be anything like the current facility. "This is a well used library, it's a focal point for people and it has an extensive children's library and the fear is that all this is going to be lost," he said. "This is an utter disaster for … [Read more...] about Outrage as it is revealed an Ealing library is set to close
Friends of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) Spring Book Sale
Hundreds of new and gently used children's and young adult books for sale:Saturday, April 78 AM - 9 AM - Preview Sale for Friends members (You can join or renew at the door.)9 AM - 1 PM - Public Sale$4 hardcover picture books ($3 for Friends members)$2 hardcover novels and board books$1 paperbacksCash, check or institutional purchase order only. Credit cards cannot be accepted.All proceeds from this sale benefit the Friends of the CCBC, Inc., which supports the work of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, a library serving pre-service and practicing librarians and teachers across Wisconsin.For more information, please visit https://www.ccbcfriends.org/annual-book-sale.html … [Read more...] about Friends of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) Spring Book Sale
‘Native Son’ filmmakers will have to contend with book’s complicated legacy
Bigger Thomas, regardless of the decade and the audience, has never known much rest. As the haunted, and hunted, protagonist of Richard Wright’s classic 1940 novel “Native Son,” he is raised in poverty on the South Side, murders and rapes and finally, goes to the electric chair for his crimes, having struggled every day of his 20 years to express himself. He is, to the high school students who still read his story, a literary manifestation of hard-won compassion, or the inevitability of a racist, classist Chicago.He is also, to generations of readers and critics, a product of social conditioning, a crude stereotype of black men, or an intentional caricature, built to spur social reform.Wright intended Bigger to lead a “test-tube life,” to exist primarily as an idea. He had moved to Chicago in 1927 as part of the Great Migration, and drew from his own experiences (as well as racist coverage in the Tribune of a 1939 murder trial). “Life had made the … [Read more...] about ‘Native Son’ filmmakers will have to contend with book’s complicated legacy