James LaRue - myliblog

Librarians are generally a deliberate lot. We keep calm and gather information. But many of us are genuinely alarmed about recent actions by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Back on March 20, DOGE and Department of Homeland Security officials showed up unannounced at the headquarters of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). They appointed a new Acting Director in the lobby — Keith Sonderling, who is also the Secretary of the Department of Labor. By March 31 all the employees were placed on 90-day administrative leave, with no access to their government email. What is IMLS? IMLS was established in 1996 by a Republican-led Congress. Its mission is to “advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development.” It was actually the merger of two previous government agencies, including the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and the Institute of Museum Service...

I know you do. Everything changed in 2010. Patrons handed library staff their shiny Christmas present: Kindles. “Make them work!” Despite the many predictions of a paperless society, eBooks really hadn’t caught on. But suddenly it was possible to carry 15 or 20 or 100 books around with you in your preferred font type and size. That same year, 2010, also marked the beginning of a big shift in the publishing landscape. At that time, there were about 300,000 new titles published a year by “the Big Five” (Penguin Random House, Macmillan, HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster). There were roughly 60,000 new titles per year published by small and independent publishers who just couldn’t match the distribution system of the major publishers. There were about 10,000 so-called vanity press titles a year. Today we call them “self-published,” even though the platform usually belongs to someone else — Amazon, Apple and Barnes and Noble, probably. Almost overnight regional, small and ind...

Years ago now, (2008) the international library corporation OCLC conducted a surprising study. They interviewed some 4,000 people to find out what they really felt about libraries. The issue was a weird contradiction. The use of the library was growing sharply over the past 25 years. Many patrons enthusiastically admitted “I love my library!” But at the same time, support for libraries — measured by the ability for the library to get on the ballot, or win the election when they did — was falling. The study, which was replicated 10 years later, surfaced all kinds of interesting and non-intuitive findings. Here’s the big one: library use, all by itself, simply doesn’t have much to do with support. That is, the folks who check out 40 books a week to feed the curious minds of their toddlers were no more likely to vote for a library mill levy than people who didn’t use the library at all. There was, however, a group of super supporters. They shared some characteristics that seemed important...

I was a philosophy major in college. (Actually, I got a double major: philosophy and creative writing, with a minor in business law.) When I graduated my father asked me what I was now qualified to do. “Argue eloquently in bars,” I told him. And I have. But, in fact, philosophy is a wonderful tool to tackle almost anything. What I learned from my readings was that clear thinking comes down to three things. First, what are your premises? Can you identify them? Second, how reasonable are they? Is there evidence? How trustworthy is it? Third, can you get from those premises to a justifiable conclusion? Does the chain of your reasoning follow the rules of logic? In this, the Age of Misinformation, we see many people whose premises are not just made up but strongly contradicted by the data. Once the false problem is set up they offer a ludicrous solution. An example. Premise: “There is a burgeoning public health crisis of sexual crime and misbehavior!” Evidence: In fact, like violent crimes...

On March 12, I'll be doing a reading, Q&A and book signing (of On Censorship : A Public Librarian Examines Cancel Culture in the US ) at the Alpenglow Books, 720 Grand Ave Floor 1, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601. The schedule looks like this: 7-7:30 I read from On Censorship and talk about the book 7:30-7:45 Alpenglow will ask some questions 7:45-8 Audience Q&A 8-8:30 Book signing and socializing If you haven't been there yet, swing by. Alpenglow is a charming place with a surprisingly strong selection not only of books but of other gifts.

In 2012 the Colorado State Library (CSL) studied how to encourage parents of 0-3 year-olds to develop daily habits of early literacy. Part of that was identifying barriers to library use. Local resident Sharon Morris (MLIS, Ph.D.) worked at CSL and was involved on the team. She spoke at our Feb. 6, 2025 board meeting and described a focus group with teen mothers. One mom said she didn’t take her children to the library because she couldn’t afford it. Sometimes they couldn’t get the books back on time. Sometimes a toddler damaged a book and it had to be replaced. They opted to stay away. The second mom said she got that. But she took her kids to the library anyhow. The programs were free. They could hang out and read there. Her hack: just don’t check anything out. The third mom looked knowingly at Sharon as if to say, “I’ve got this, sister.” Not to worry, said the mom. I check out books but I put them on a high shelf at home so the children can’t get to them. That way they can’t damage...

I think I have now sat on every side of the table. I’ve been a senior staff member giving reports to a board. I was a director working with an advisory board. I’m once again a director reporting to a statutory governing body. From the other side, I’ve been a nonprofit and governmental board member, secretary, treasurer, vice president and chair. It’s work. But it’s worth it. Like any other human endeavor, serving on a board isn’t easy, particularly at the beginning. But we all have to start somewhere and there’s no shame in not knowing how to do something you’ve never tried before. Eventually, though, we can and should learn how to get better. For those of you just joining a board, here are 10 suggestions for how to do a good job. Understand the mission of the organization . At the library, we promote literacy, the right of Americans to investigate the evidence and make up their own minds. Our job is to inform citizens and communities. It is not to protect them from things they may not...