Free Republic

A ship's bow, a periscope, an unruly crown of lawn—could it be a boneyard for boats? An innovative work of art? Actually, it's the new Ballard library, the 15th branch to be built or renovated under Seattle's "Libraries for All" bond measure. It boldly blends elements of Ballard's heritage with cutting-edge environmental technology. Opening Saturday, May 14, it might be the "greenest" building in town. It's certainly unique among the city's branch libraries. Consider it a gift for Earth Day, which is Friday, April 22. The new Ballard Branch has a huge, upwardly arched roof supported by enormous wood...

HOUSTON, May 13 - Students attending the University of Texas at Austin will find something missing from the undergraduate library this fall...books. By mid-July, the university says, almost all of the library's 90,000 volumes will be dispersed to other university collections to clear space for a 24-hour electronic information commons, a fast-spreading phenomenon that is transforming research and study on campuses around the country. "In this information-seeking America, I can't think of anyone who would elect to build a books-only library," said Fred Heath, vice provost of the University of Texas Libraries in Austin. Their new version is to include...

Another Perspective Get the Funk Out By Christopher Orlet Published 5/13/2005 12:04:48 AM St. Louis' Public Library was designed in 1912 by Cass Gilbert, architect of the U.S. Supreme Court Building and New York's celebrated Woolworth Building. The modified Italian Renaissance structure is prized for its elegant classical interior of Tennessee marble and hand-carved quartered oak. On either side of the central foyer rise marble staircases illuminated by stained glass windows. The two-story Grand Hall features a coffered ceiling of molded plaster with gold accents and cast-bronze chandeliers. The marble floor is modeled on that of the Pantheon in Rome....

Faced with a lawsuit, the Bellingham Board of Library Trustees last night adopted a new policy banning latex balloons and gloves in the building.Patrick Callahan, whose 9-year-old son Andrew has severe latex allergy, said he is relieved. He has been fighting for three months to get the facility latex-free. "As long as we are in agreement, I will officially drop the case," he told trustees after a meeting in the library last night.Trouble brewed in February after a children's program in the library left balloon sculptures displayed in the building. Callahan said he asked library officials to remove the balloons...

House OKs Restriction On Gay-Themed Books By Michael McNutt The Oklahoman The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Monday to urge library officials to restrict children's access to books with homosexual themes. House Resolution 1039, by state Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, calls on Oklahoma libraries to "confine homosexually themed books and other age-inappropriate material to areas exclusively for adult access and distribution." It passed, 81-3. Kern said she wanted to make public libraries aware of the "values that our state upholds" and make sure books are on the shelves "where they appropriately need to be." "There are a lot of...

Oklahoma City, OK, May. 10 (UPI) -- The Oklahoma House voted overwhelmingly to recommend creating adult-only sections in all public libraries to shield children from gay-themed books. House Resolution 1039, by state Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, passed Monday by a vote of 81-3, calling on all public libraries in the state to "confine homosexually themed books and other age-inappropriate material to areas exclusively for adult access and distribution," the Oklahoman reported. "This isn't censorship, because I'm not asking that they be thrown away, be burned. I'm asking that they just be put in with adult collections and then if...

BEVERLY (Mass.)— Beverly's public library director was arrested yesterday for allegedly showing gay pornographic movies to a teenage boy and allowing him access to sexually explicit Web sites over the past two years. Thomas Scully, 56, who has managed the city's libraries for 19 years, pleaded not guilty in Salem District Court to a charge of disseminating obscene material to a minor. He has no criminal record. Beverly Mayor Bill Scanlon said he was "terribly shocked and saddened by these allegations" and would put Scully on paid administrative leave "until things clarify," adding that "everybody is innocent until proven guilty...

THE Bush administration revealed today that some of the September 11, 2001, hijackers booked their tickets on the internet using a computer in a college library in New Jersey. The disclosure by Ken Wainstein, US attorney for the District of Columbia in testimony to the House of Representatives subcommittee on crime, terrorism and homeland security, was intended to bolster the government's argument that Congress should renew a law allowing it to seize library and bookstore records. "Investigators tracing the activities of the hijackers determined that, on four occasions in August of 2001, individuals using internet accounts registered to Nawaf Al...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A British engineer has collected a $10,000 (5,200 pounds) bounty for turning in his near-mint copy of a famous forty-year-old electronics magazine, but not before irking university librarians who rushed to secure their copies from thieves. Intel this month posted a reward for a copy of the April 1965 issue of Electronics, in which company co-founder Gordon Moore accurately forecast years of exponential improvements in computer chip performance. Later dubbed Moore's Law, the forecast has become gospel for $200 billion chip industry. News of the reward reached Surrey, England, where an engineer named David Clark found...

A 49-year-old woman and her 12-year-old son were shocked when a Disney movie they rented from a Central Florida public library was instead filled with images of hard-core pornography, according to Local 6 News. Shirley Satcher rented the Disney movie, "Home on the Range," from the Alachua County Headquarters Library at 401 E. University Ave. in downtown Gainesville. Satcher checked three different spots on the tape and discovered that the adult movie, "Voyeur #5" filled the entire videotape. "You know, you think it's a Walt Disney (movie) but you go ahead and see what Walt Disney is talking about and...

Windows-Based Program for New Audiobooks Does Not Work With Industry-Leading iPodCounty library officials eagerly offered patrons a new service in February: For no charge, readers could download more than 700 digital audiobooks to listen to on their computers and portable players. Such books, library director Edwin S. Clay III said, "allow you to take your reading anywhere." But the library system inadvertently was caught in a clash of competing software that has left many patrons unhappy because they cannot use the service. Owners of the top-selling digital player, the iPod made by Apple Computer, cannot download books off the library's...

President Bush will be in Springfield, Illinois, on Tuesday morning to tour and dedicate the new Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. It's nice to see a Republican President come to honor old Abe, the first GOP President. And the library and museum is a real show piece, well worth the visit. Richard Norton Smith is the current director.

Posted on Sun, Apr. 10, 2005 Giving up liberty for safety? By Jim Wright Special to the Star-Telegram Benjamin Franklin wrote, "Those that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." In the immediate wake of such a stunning tragedy as befell this nation in the events of 9-11, a certain amount of over-reactive hysteria might have been expected, human nature being what it is. Stampeded by an outraged public demanding swift and vigorous action, members of Congress literally vied with one another to establish their own anti-terrorism credentials. Just a few...

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a surprise news conference this evening, anounced the appointment of former U.S. Senator John F. Kerry, as Special Envoy of the United Nations to France

THE WORST thing about the USA Patriot Act is its Orwellian name. It is an acronym for ''Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Interrupt and Obstruct Terrorism" the kind of graceless handle that only Washington could come up with, and only by first picking the acronym and then straining to find words to fit it. Maybe if Congress had resisted the temptation to drape its big post-9/11 law in red, white, and blue, the Patriot Act's sensible antiterrorism measures wouldn't have become such hobgoblins. Sixteen of the law's provisions are set to expire this year. Its...

Many argue that communism will never be possible because of "human nature". The essence of this false argument is the belief that a communist society would consist of an all-powerful central government that would tell everybody what to do--and would therefore undermine the creative initiative of individuals and the search for happiness. • This argument is based on two false assumptions: (1) It assumes that a communist society will look like the former Soviet Union, or the current China, North Korea, etc (ie: corrupt police states with a feudal-style ruling class) (2) It assumes that people will only work in...

A federal court jury on Monday found that Harvard University did not discriminate against a library assistant who claimed her repeated bids for promotion were rejected by school officials because they saw her as "just a pretty girl." Desiree Goodwin, who is black, claimed Harvard passed her over because of her race and gender. A federal jury deliberated less than four hours Monday before finding in favor of Harvard. "One of my friends said to me, no matter how it turns out, standing up for yourself is a victory in itself," Goodwin said. "I feel victorious in that sense."

BEDFORD - The Bedford Public Library locked its doors Wednesday night -- apparently the first public library to do so in the state. And patrons of the Boys Ranch Activity Center have only until Friday -- while employees tie up loose ends -- before that community favorite is also closed. No one knows when they might reopen. But the fate of the city's senior center -- also a victim of the City Council's budget cuts this week -- may hang on the generosity of Hurst, which shares the facility with Bedford. "We will do what we can to keep the...

Responding to a tax proposal's defeat at the polls last year, Santa Clara County's library district is returning to voters this spring, asking for approval of two special tax measures on an unusual and expensive mail-only ballot that will allow proponents to more easily influence voter turnout.Already, the library district has spent at least $80,000 in public money on a sophisticated opinion poll, "community awareness" campaign and mailer targeted to specific voter populations, despite prohibitions on using government funds on political campaigns.Library officials claim the expenditures are within the law.The big expense will be the $1.8 million cost of running...