Privatizing Libraries
Privatizing Libraries

Author: Jane Jerrard

Publisher: American Library Association

Published: 2012-01-26

Total Pages: 74

ISBN-13: 0838911544

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This timely special report from ALA Editions provides a succinct but comprehensive overview of the "privatization" of public libraries. It provides a history of the trend of local and state governments privatizing public services and assets, and then examines the history of public library privatization right up to the California legislation introduced earlier this year to restrict cities in the state from privatizing library services.The book also examines what happens when a private, for-profit organization takes over essential management tasks and decisions of a public library, including the effects this can have on services, patron satisfaction and staff, as well as legal issues. It provides in-depth recommendations for librarians who want to retain control of their own institutions. Complete with case studies, statistics, and a valuable checklist of to-dos for libraries that are facing partial or complete privatization.

The Privatization of Everything
The Privatization of Everything

Author: Donald Cohen

Publisher: The New Press

Published: 2021-11-23

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 1620976625

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The book the American Prospect calls “an essential resource for future reformers on how not to govern,” by America’s leading defender of the public interest and a bestselling historian “An essential read for those who want to fight the assault on public goods and the commons.” —Naomi Klein A sweeping exposé of the ways in which private interests strip public goods of their power and diminish democracy, the hardcover edition of The Privatization of Everything elicited a wide spectrum of praise: Kirkus Reviews hailed it as “a strong, economics-based argument for restoring the boundaries between public goods and private gains,” Literary Hub featured the book on a Best Nonfiction list, calling it “a far-reaching, comprehensible, and necessary book,” and Publishers Weekly dubbed it a “persuasive takedown of the idea that the private sector knows best.” From Diane Ravitch (“an important new book about the dangers of privatization”) to Heather McGhee (“a well-researched call to action”), the rave reviews mirror the expansive nature of the book itself, covering the impact of privatization on every aspect of our lives, from water and trash collection to the justice system and the military. Cohen and Mikaelian also demonstrate how citizens can—and are—wresting back what is ours: A Montana city took back its water infrastructure after finding that they could do it better and cheaper. Colorado towns fought back well-funded campaigns to preserve telecom monopolies and hamstring public broadband. A motivated lawyer fought all the way to the Supreme Court after the state of Georgia erected privatized paywalls around its legal code. “Enlightening and sobering” (Rosanne Cash), The Privatization of Everything connects the dots across a wide range of issues and offers what Cash calls “a progressive voice with a firm eye on justice [that] can carefully parse out complex issues for those of us who take pride in citizenship.”

Public Libraries and Resilient Cities
Public Libraries and Resilient Cities

Author: Michael Dudley

Publisher: American Library Association

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 0838911366

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Public libraries are keystone public institutions for any thriving community, and as such can be leaders in making cities better places to work, play, and live. Here, Dudley shows how public libraries can contribute to 'placemaking', or the creation and nurturing of vital and unique communities for their residents.

Public Things
Public Things

Author: Bonnie Honig

Publisher: Fordham Univ Press

Published: 2017-03-01

Total Pages: 141

ISBN-13: 0823276422

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In the contemporary world of neoliberalism, efficiency is treated as the vehicle of political and economic health. State bureaucracy, but not corporate bureaucracy, is seen as inefficient, and privatization is seen as a magic cure for social ills. In Public Things: Democracy in Disrepair, Bonnie Honig asks whether democracy is possible in the absence of public services, spaces, and utilities. In other words, if neoliberalism leaves to democracy merely electoral majoritarianism and procedures of deliberation while divesting democratic states of their ownership of public things, what will the impact be? Following Tocqueville, who extolled the virtues of “pursuing in common the objects of common desires,” Honig focuses not on the demos but on the objects of democratic life. Democracy, as she points out, postulates public things—infrastructure, monuments, libraries—that citizens use, care for, repair, and are gathered up by. To be “gathered up” refers to the work of D. W. Winnicott, the object relations psychoanalyst who popularized the idea of “transitional objects”—the toys, teddy bears, or favorite blankets by way of which infants come to understand themselves as unified selves with an inside and an outside in relation to others. The wager of Public Things is that the work transitional objects do for infants is analogously performed for democratic citizens by public things, which press us into object relations with others and with ourselves. Public Things attends also to the historically racial character of public things: public lands taken from indigenous peoples, access to public goods restricted to white majorities. Drawing on Hannah Arendt, who saw how things fabricated by humans lend stability to the human world, Honig shows how Arendt and Winnicott—both theorists of livenesss—underline the material and psychological conditions necessary for object permanence and the reparative work needed for a more egalitarian democracy.

Privatizing Russia
Privatizing Russia

Author: Maxim Boycko

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 1997-01-22

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 9780262522281

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Privatizing Russia offers an inside look at one of the most remarkable reforms in recent history. Having started on the back burner of Russian politics in the fall of 1991, mass privatization was completed on July 1, 1994, with two thirds of the Russian industry privately owned, a rapidly rising stock market, and 40 million Russians owning company shares. The authors, all key participants in the reform effort, describe the events and the ideas driving privatization. They argue that successful reformers must recognize privatization as a process of depoliticizing firms in the face of massive opposition: making the firm responsive to market rather than political influences. The authors first review the economic theory of property rights, identifying the political influence on firms as the fundamental failure of property rights under socialism. They detail the process of coalition building and compromise that ultmately shaped privatization. The main elements of the Russian program -- corporatization, voucher use, and voucher auctions -- are described, as is the responsiveness of privatized firms to outside investors. Finally, the market values of privatized assets are assessed for indications of how much progress the country has made toward reforming its economy. In many respects, privatization has been a great success. Market concepts of property ownership and corporate management are shaking up Russian firms at a breathtaking pace, creating powerful economic and political stimuli for continuation of market reforms. At the same time, the authors caution, the political landscape remains treacherous as old-line politicians reluctantly cede their property rights and authority over firms.

The Fighting Ground
The Fighting Ground

Author: Avi

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2016-03-08

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 0062453947

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Scott O’Dell Award for Best Historical Fiction * ALA Notable Book * ALA Best Books for YA Newbery Medal-winning author Avi tells the “compelling story of a young boy’s first encounter with war and how it changes him.”—Publishers Weekly Jonathan may be only thirteen years old, but with the Revolutionary War unfolding around him, he’s more certain than ever that he wants to be a part of it—to fight for independence alongside his brother and cousin to defeat the British. But Jonathan’s father, himself wounded from battle, refuses to let his son join the front lines. When Jonathan hears the tavern bell toll, calling all soldiers to arms, he rushes to enlist without telling his dad. Gun in hand, Jonathan falls in with a militia and marches onward to the fighting ground. It feels like he’s been waiting his whole life for this moment. But no amount of daydreaming could prepare Jonathan for what he encounters. In just twenty-four hours, his life will be forever changed—by his fellow soldiers, unsuspecting enemies, and the frightening and complicated realities of war. More than thirty years after its publication, award-winner The Fighting Ground continues to be an important work of historical fiction for young readers.

Burning the Books
Burning the Books

Author: Richard Ovenden

Publisher: Belknap Press

Published: 2020-11-17

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 0674241207

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A Wolfson History Prize Finalist A New Statesman Book of the Year A Sunday Times Book of the Year “Timely and authoritative...I enjoyed it immensely.” —Philip Pullman “If you care about books, and if you believe we must all stand up to the destruction of knowledge and cultural heritage, this is a brilliant read—both powerful and prescient.” —Elif Shafak Libraries have been attacked since ancient times but they have been especially threatened in the modern era, through war as well as willful neglect. Burning the Books describes the deliberate destruction of the knowledge safeguarded in libraries from Alexandria to Sarajevo, from smashed Assyrian tablets to the torching of the Library of Congress. The director of the world-famous Bodleian Libraries, Richard Ovenden, captures the political, religious, and cultural motivations behind these acts. He also shines a light on the librarians and archivists preserving history and memory, often risking their lives in the process. More than simply repositories for knowledge, libraries support the rule of law and inspire and inform citizens. Ovenden reminds us of their social and political importance, challenging us to protect and support these essential institutions. “Wonderful...full of good stories and burning with passion.” —Sunday Times “The sound of a warning vibrates through this book.” —The Guardian “Essential reading for anyone concerned with libraries and what Ovenden outlines as their role in ‘the support of democracy, the rule of law and open society.’” —Wall Street Journal “Ovenden emphasizes that attacks on books, archives, and recorded information are the usual practice of authoritarian regimes.” —Michael Dirda, Washington Post

Research Anthology on Privatizing and Securing Data
Research Anthology on Privatizing and Securing Data

Author: Management Association, Information Resources

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2021-04-23

Total Pages: 2188

ISBN-13: 1799889556

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With the immense amount of data that is now available online, security concerns have been an issue from the start, and have grown as new technologies are increasingly integrated in data collection, storage, and transmission. Online cyber threats, cyber terrorism, hacking, and other cybercrimes have begun to take advantage of this information that can be easily accessed if not properly handled. New privacy and security measures have been developed to address this cause for concern and have become an essential area of research within the past few years and into the foreseeable future. The ways in which data is secured and privatized should be discussed in terms of the technologies being used, the methods and models for security that have been developed, and the ways in which risks can be detected, analyzed, and mitigated. The Research Anthology on Privatizing and Securing Data reveals the latest tools and technologies for privatizing and securing data across different technologies and industries. It takes a deeper dive into both risk detection and mitigation, including an analysis of cybercrimes and cyber threats, along with a sharper focus on the technologies and methods being actively implemented and utilized to secure data online. Highlighted topics include information governance and privacy, cybersecurity, data protection, challenges in big data, security threats, and more. This book is essential for data analysts, cybersecurity professionals, data scientists, security analysts, IT specialists, practitioners, researchers, academicians, and students interested in the latest trends and technologies for privatizing and securing data.

Privatization
Privatization

Author: Roger L. Kemp

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2007-10

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13:

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The 31 articles in this book discuss the pros and cons of privatization of public services. Examined are the need for alternative service delivery; the process of privatization; concrete examples of privatizing services generic to local governments; precautions; and the future of privatization.

The Privatization of the Oceans
The Privatization of the Oceans

Author: Rögnvaldur Hannesson

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 9780262083348

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Why exclusive use rights -- in particular, individual transferable quotas -- provide the most efficient way to use fishing resources; theory plus case studies of ITQs in six countries.