Tag Archives: NELnewsletter

National Emergency Library Weekly Update: 5/11

What it Means to be a Library During COVID-19. Chris Freeland, our Director of Open Libraries, chatted with local librarians to find out what it means to be a library during the COVID-19 pandemic, how librarians are holding up during this time, and how the National Emergency Library has been used in their libraries. This post features commentary from Kelvin Watson, Director, Broward County Libraries; Michael Blackwell, Director, St. Mary’s County Library (MD); and Lisa Radha Weaver, Director of Collections and Program Development, Hamilton Public Library. We thank them for finding the time out of their very busy days.

In defense of the National Emergency Library: A call to library solidarity and partnership with the Internet Archive. Mark G. Bilby, the host of CalSchol.com is a [tenure track] Senior Assistant Librarian in Scholarly Communication at California State University, Fullerton recently penned a blog in defense of the National Emergency Library.  In his post, he notes how many Library Deans have shown support for the NEL, and why more institutions and libraries should partner with Archive.

Somebody is furiously uploading ’90s Windows Desktop themes to the Internet Archive. Two archivists are uploading hundreds of “early Windows Desktop themes” from the 1990s and early 2000s. The uploads feature fan art and other oddities, which you can install as your own desktop wallpaper.

In a suddenly remote spring, library support services carry on. Since mid-March MIT Libraries have been using only services and resources that can be accessed remotely. In this blog post, MIT provides an update as to how their libraries are coping during this challenging time, in addition to a list of resources and recommendations, including the National Emergency Library.

ICYMI: We have a Medium channel. In case you ever miss a blog on our website, you can find them here.

What YOU Are Saying About the National Emergency Library: Our team has been soliciting input on the National Emergency Library. Below are a handful of testimonials from across the education and library sectors. We only use testimonials for which we have explicit permission. If you would like to be featured in our next newsletter, please submit a testimonial.

Note: We have NOT substantially changed the testimonials, if you notice your testimonial looks a little different, it is just for readability purposes. Thank you for submitting.

Jennifer J., Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA, Librarian: 
Jennifer is a librarian who is using the National Emergency Library in a classroom setting. “[The NEL] provides my students with 9th grade student novels. I discovered the NEL from a librarian for the Atlantic City Public Library.’

Augusto W., Lima, Peru, Researcher: 
Augusto uses the National Emergency Library for personal research purposes. He writes, ‘It is like being a millionaire, being able to flip through books I always wanted to take a look at or read, including many of which have been out of print for decades. This is the greatest gift of all for someone in need (or who dreamed) of a near-perfect library.’

Upcoming Webinars and Events. Times are tough, so many books are now inaccessible due to the closures for the COVID-19 crisis. If you’re interested in learning how libraries can use controlled digital lending in addition to the temporary National Emergency Library, please join Chris Freeland, Director of Open Libraries, who will be leading a series of webinars on this topic. Freeland will explain how the Internet Archive works: from scanning book centers to how books are made available online. Please check out our calendar of webinar dates.