From the PLG listserv.

The Progressive Librarians Guild stands in solidarity with the striking Vancouver Public Library workers of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 391 as they fight for a fair and equitable contract that addresses pay equity, improvements to employee benefits, access to training, fair treatment of part-time and auxiliary library […]

Mayor Miller’s recently defeated proposal for two new municiple taxes didn’t take long to fall onto Toronto Public Library.

Spacing Wire reposts a piece from Eye Magazine on the issue.

The cuts are deep. If this is on some level a device to call attention to a crisis in funding for public […]

This information comes via the Progressive Librarians Guild mailing list, a great resource for activist librarian types.

This particular story about the looming library strike in Vancouver also led me to another useful resource - the Union Librarian blog.

- JH

Several major media mergers are threatening to make the Canadian media scene an even more concentrated affair. A few examples: CTVglobemedia has inhaled CHUM (with Rogers taking the spoils), Alliance Atlantis is on the brink of becoming a part of CanWest, and Quebecor Media is poised to take over Osprey Media.

Full story

_DJ_

There is only two days left to let the CRTC know what you think about Big Media in Canada……..

I’m seeing conflicting reports about the latest developments in the attempt to impose royalty payments on Internet radio stations. No less a mainstream media authority than the Washington Post makes it seem like the advocacy efforts failed and the new fee structure is a done deal:

“The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to […]

Well it’s that time of the year again so get out and celebrate your rights.

Here’s a quick redirect to a Library Juice post with a couple of nice resources.

First is this guide for collecting from diverse sources.
(or: outsourcing, how not to)

Fostering Media Diversity in Libraries: Strategies and Actions.

Second there’s a link to a note on the ALA’s opposition to media concentration in […]

There’s been a lot of discussion lately in Toronto about the ROM, and not just about the opening of the controversial Libeskind designed crystal explosion on the north side (which after watching it grow and evolve through its baby to childhood to adolescent and finally adult crystal form, I am now a fan.)

The […]

Siobhan Stevenson, faculty at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information Studies, has published a paper in First Monday entitled “Public libraries, public access computing, FOSS and CI: There are alternatives to private philanthropy”. Great read!

I had the great fortune to read her University of Western Ontario PhD thesis (The post-Fordist public library : […]