Sari Feldman, chief of the Cuyahoga County Public Library in Cleveland: “Where is reference headed, and how is it being practiced in 2018? I asked some of my colleagues, and I heard a fairly consistent message: with so much information available online today, the value librarians add comes through their connection to the community,” helping patrons with, for example, applying for government social programs, obtaining health information, or navigating immigration and naturalization issues.
Blog
City Of Calgary Weighs Olympic Bid Versus Funding Arts
“I guess the question that I have is we have so many fundamental organizations that provide incredible quality of life for Calgary and we’re talking about cutting them and at the same time we’re talking about the Olympics. And I’m really struggling to rationalize this austerity budget or the Olympics.”
Journalist/Guinea Pig Tries Auditioning For Alvin Ailey Dance Company (Uh-Oh)
Madison Mills: “What does it take to make it as a dancer in New York? I have no idea. I’ve never done ballet, I prefer jazz hands to leaps, and I’m more uncoordinated than most. Regardless, I decided to find out. So I auditioned for Alvin Ailey, one of the most prestigious dance companies in New York. It wasn’t pretty.” (video)
Reconciling A Need For History With The Necessity For Contemporary Skills
Fact-checkers know that in a digital medium, the web is a web. It’s not just a metaphor. You understand a particular node by its relationship in a web. So the smartest thing to do is to consult the web to understand any particular node. That is very different from reading Thucydides, where you look at internal criticism and consistency because there really isn’t a documentary record beyond Thucydides.
A Year In The Life Of An Art Critic
“In which one writer, ARTnews Executive Editor Andrew Russeth, attempts to narrate life in the New York art world over the course of one full season, from September 2017 to September 2018, with brief forays to Miami, New Orleans, Basel, Buffalo, San Francisco, and a few other places. Along the way, countless exhibitions are visited, performances are witnessed, museum protests are reported on, art fairs are tolerated, and celebrations of various kinds are attended. Meanwhile, all sorts of surprises come in over the transom.”
US Senate Passes “Music Modernization Act”
ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews said: “Today’s unanimous passage of the Music Modernization Act in the Senate represents a Herculean industry-wide effort to promote and celebrate songwriters and ensure their right to a sustainable livelihood. We applaud Senators Hatch, Alexander, Grassley, Feinstein, Whitehouse, Coons and the entire Senate for recognizing the value music has in both society and our hearts.”
What’s Behind The Subgenre Of ‘Rock Star Romance’ Novels?
To figure it out, Rebecca Onion read a bunch of them: “Romance novels, as a genre, do a lot of thinking about the way power (wealth, intelligence, competence) drives attraction — for the women swooning over the male heroes, but also for the men themselves, who (in romance novels written recently, at least) often fall in love with heroines who can match their qualities of personal strength. Given that thematic interest, romance between civilians and stars is a natural fit. These rock stars are ‘alphas’ in the ‘best at their jobs’ sense; they need the women they meet to help them develop their private selves.”
How Can Small-City Ballet Companies Develop Big Reputations? Here Are Answers From Three Who Did It
“Small- to medium-sized companies based in cities outside dance meccas … are often written off as ‘regional,’ or somehow lesser than their big city counterparts. But in recent decades, a few have defied such categorization as they’ve gained traction on the national and international scene. So how does a company build an international profile without losing connection to its hometown? We asked the directors of Tulsa Ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and Sarasota Ballet to share their strategies.”
Small Arts Groups Are Thriving In Salt Lake, And Local Gov’t Funding For Them May Change
“[Salt Lake County’s] Zoo, Arts and Parks (ZAP) program will fund more groups than ever this year with $2.2 million split among 183 organizations … [Program director Kristen] Darrington said the growing applicant pool for Tier II, up from 156 in 2016 and 171 last year, is a ‘really good problem to have.’ It reflects the increased sophistication of small arts programs and demand for cultural programming across the county.”
Broadway Roulette: You Can Get Cheap Advance Tickets To A Show, But They Won’t Tell You Which One
Liz Durand Streisand’s online platform — which is, in fact, called Broadway Roulette — is basically the Hotwire of theatre: producers, like airlines, may be willing to release discount tickets in order to sell seats, but they don’t want the whole world to know that they’re resorting to cutting prices. So the customer will specify a date and order tickets, but the actual show will be a surprise.