¿Qué sucede cuando el gobierno elimina datos públicos sobre salud, derechos civiles y niñez? Jamie LaRue reflexiona sobre los peligros de la censura de datos. Este mes me gustaría escribir sobre dos asuntos relacionados: la información gubernamental y las amenazas hacia los niños. El primero es la purga de datos en sitios web federales. A […]
Jamie LaRue
Posted inOpinion
Literate Life: The War on Information
This month I’d like to write about two related issues: government information and threats to children. First is the purging of data on federal websites. Beginning in January of 2025, according to NPR, “several webpages from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with references to LGBTQ+ health were no longer available. A page from the […]
Posted inColumns
Literate Life: What is leadership?
Jamie LaRue is the executive director of the Garfield County Public Library District. My partner and I just finished co-teaching a leadership institute for librarians in the Western States. But I keep thinking about it. Some people, I know, think leadership is all about power. But I always wonder: power to do what? To make […]
Posted inColumns
Literate Life: Wanna write a book?
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 […]
Posted inColumns
Literate Life: From premises to conclusion in the Age of Misinformation
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 […]
Posted inColumns
Literate Life: Being on a board
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, […]
Posted inColumns
Literate Life: Your libraries in 2024
I like statistics. It matters to me how well we do and looking over the numbers helps me stay on top of change. This month, I’d like to take a look back at Garfield County Libraries use in 2024. Thanks to Jenn Cook, our technical services director, for pulling all this together. The main trend: […]
Posted inColumns
The gift that keeps on giving
Recently I ran across an article from an international boarding school talking about U.S. traditions around Christmas. The “Top 10 holiday traditions” for families include: Decorate the tree.Bake Christmas cookies.Write a letter to Santa (and the reindeer).Look at the twinkly lights.Build a gingerbread house.Sing Christmas carols.Exchange gifts.Wear an ugly sweater.Watch Christmas movies.Spend time with the […]
Posted inColumns
Literate Life: Introducing theTalking Book Library
By Jamie LaRueGarfield County Libraries Once I volunteered at a radio station. I read the daily newspaper for the blind. I wasn’t particularly good at it. I recorded at 6am and quickly learned that I need to be on the other side of at least two cups of coffee before I can talk. One time, […]
Posted inOpinion
Imagine that! Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Garfield County
When I was a child, my mother did three things that turned me into a reader. First, she signed me up for a library card. Later, she enrolled me in the Landmark series of American biographies for children, aimed at kids 10-15. There were similar series: Bobbs-Merrill’s “Childhood of Famous Americans,” which ran from the […]