It is the 13th-largest public library system in the United States. The Free Library of Philadelphia is a non-Mayoral agency of the City of Philadelphia governed by an independent Board of Trustees as per the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation is a separate 501c3 non-profit with its own board of directors and serves to support the mission of the Free Library of Philadelphia through philanthropic dollars.
This chapter explores how modes of self-expression have the potential to transcend increasingly impenetrable boundaries and transmit knowledge across disciplines and cultures. First, the concept of infodemesnes is developed to describe the current knowledge landscape as one populated by closed-circuit information ecosystems that, by nature, inhibit communication with other such “imagined communities.” The latter half of the work performatively breaks down the binary between poetic and “objective” language, arguing that as a universal language, poetry can foster understanding across infodemesnes. It concludes with a clarion call for librarians and others in the Library and Information Science fields to legitimize and promote poetry as an effective carrier of knowledge.
Purpose Public libraries can help immigrants adjust to life in the USA, including maintaining health and well-being. The purpose of this study was to understand how immigrants use public libraries and how library staff provide health-related information and services for immigrant audiences. Design/methodology/approach This study used semistructured interviews with library staff (n = 9) and immigrant library patrons (n = 10), representing multiple first languages and countries of origin from two different library locations within a large public library system in a US mid-Atlantic city. Findings Staff reported offering many health-related programs and services, but only one of the 10 patron respondents had used them. Patrons more commonly used the library in ways indirectly related to health (e.g. learning English) than direct health-related services. Staff reported comfort interacting with immigrant patrons, but lacked consensus on navigating language barriers and determining community needs. Research limitations/implications This qualitative study provides insights from a specific geographic and cultural setting. It focused on immigrants using the library and may have excluded vulnerable populations of immigrants who encounter barriers to using the library. Future research and practice should focus on how public libraries can better meet the health information needs of immigrant populations, including navigating controversial social and political topics, as well as emerging health-related information during a pandemic. Originality/value Public health practitioners often overlook public libraries as community collaborators. This research identifies that while there is important and essential work happening in public libraries to improve immigrant health, more can be done, especially in collaboration with public health professionals.
En aquest capítol es descriuen i s’analitzen les accions i els esdeveniments més rellevants duts a terme en l’àmbit de les biblioteques públiques de Catalunya durant el bienni 2018-2019. Després d’uns anys en què destacaven l’inici de nous projectes, durant el bienni analitzat observem com es trenca aquesta tendència, si bé es consoliden diverses iniciatives endegades en els anys anteriors i d’altres desapareixen. Veurem com, en l’àmbit institucional, s’han recuperat ajudes i subvencions cap al sector que havien desaparegut amb la crisi econòmica, i també com s’han impulsat diverses accions perquè les administracions que gestionen les biblioteques treballin de forma conjunta i coordinada. També es mostra la vitalitat del col·lectiu que continua participant en esdeveniments i generant coneixement amb les seves contribucions. En definitiva, l’objectiu del capítol és mostrar una visió de conjunt de l’activitat de les biblioteques públiques catalanes per reflectir el moment actual i veure les tendències de futur.
"Aaron Copland and the American Legacy of Gustav Mahler." Music Reference Services Quarterly, 24(1-2), pp. 112–113
