Portside

Along with efforts to guide readers to trustworthy information sources, many branches are working to make themselves `sanctuary spaces' for immigrants. 'Our nation's 120,000 public, academic, school and special libraries serve all community members, including people of color, immigrants, people with disabilities and the most vulnerable in our communities, offering services and...resources that transform communities, open minds, and promote inclusion and diversity,'

Reader Comments: Two Weeks to Go - Dump Trump, Defeat Racism and Misogyny; Learning to Claim Our Victories; Bernie Sanders' Donor Network Comes Thru for House and Senate Candidates; John Oliver on Third Parties; Support Hillary, Then Fight Like Hell; and: Remembering Tom Hayden; Syria; Silencing Librarians; DuBois and the Fight for Peace; Bob Dylan; Announcements; and more...

A librarian in Kansas City, Missouri was arrested for standing up for a library patron's free speech rights. The right to read, to think, to discuss and listen to ideas in a public forum is essential to an open society, as is our individual privacy. One hopes that the Kansas City case-only the most recent of many-will be resolved, and that librarians there and everywhere will be able to do their jobs without taking on the added burden of battling for our freedom.

School libraries with more staff and larger collections lead to stronger academic performance, a study says. Yet one-third of public schools do not have a full-time, state-certified librarian. Often when education funding is cut, libraries and the arts are the first to go.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett haven't found a way to hire school librarians.