Local Institutions Archives - Page 2 of 4

Deborah Fallows
December 4, 2020

Are fines consistent with a fundamental mission of libraries: to serve the public with information and knowledge? And to address that mission equitably across the diverse population of rich and poor library users?

Downtown Akron, from the city’s North Hill neighborhood, over the Little Cuyahoga River Valley. Akron is one of countless cities whose recovery plans have been upended by the pandemic.

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What Happens After the Election

James Fallows
October 21, 2020

What else is going on in the country, with less than two weeks in this consequential election season?

A statue of Olympic marathon gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson wears a mask outside the library in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

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Libraries

The Post-Pandemic Future of Libraries

Deborah Fallows
May 12, 2020

"I've never been prouder to be a librarian."

The Aurora Public Library in Colorado offers free lunches for people under 18.

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Libraries

Public Libraries’ Novel Response to a Novel Virus

Deborah Fallows
March 31, 2020

America’s public libraries have led the ranks of “second responders,” stepping up for their communities in times of natural or manmade disasters, like hurricanes, floods, shootings, fires, and big downturns…

A "fly-brary," courtesy of the Deschutes Public Library, at the Redmond, Oregon, airport.

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Libraries

Looking at Libraries

Deborah Fallows
December 26, 2019

Continuing the photo essay about public libraries, which showed many examples of children’s rooms and adult spaces, this collection shows some of the multitude of activities happening at public libraries. It also…

The children’s space in the Brownsville Public Library.

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Libraries

A Portrait of Public Libraries

Deborah Fallows
December 23, 2019

Since Jim Fallows and I began traveling the country for American Futures and Our Towns nearly seven years ago, there has been one beat that began as a surprise to me and grew into…

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New Jobs, New Residents, and New Possibilities

James Fallows
December 6, 2019

Here are news items and developments related to trends we’ve been covering in the recent “Our Towns” series, and elsewhere: The furniture business returns, and is looking for furniture-makers. In a…

Sixty-one members of this year's Report for America corps at their training session in Houston this past summer. RFA has just announced that it will send four times as many reporters to local newsrooms next year.

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Local Institutions

Report for America Goes Big

James Fallows
December 3, 2019

It has been another rough period for the financial models behind journalism in general, and local news outlets in particular. Last month Brookings released a sobering report about the spread of “news…

Justin Rushing, advertising director of the online news site The Daily Memphian.

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Local Institutions

In Memphis, A Lab Experiment for Local News

James Fallows
November 8, 2019

It’s time for another look at new financial, editorial, and technological models for local journalism. You’ll find previous entries at these links: from Mississippi; from Maine; from Massachusetts; from Southern California and the San Francisco…

The Nashville Public Library (Wangkun Jia / Shutterstock)

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Libraries

A Big Little Idea From Nashville

Deborah Fallows
September 30, 2019

During our travels visiting towns and cities across the country for American Futures and now Our Towns, Jim Fallows (my husband) and I have encountered story after story of short, sweet initiatives…