From David Rothman: “Sometime in the next few weeks I’ll review Saving Our Public Libraries: Why We Should. How We Can, by Janet Jai—’must’ reading for participants in the Digital Public Library of America.”

From David Rothman: “A small-town public librarian has been missing from the steering committee of the Digital Public Library of America—a troubling omission we’ve noted several times since the DPLA’s founding last year.”

“This library would include the digitized collections of the country’s great research institutions, but it would also bring in other media – video, music, film – as well as the collection of Web pages maintained by the Internet Archive.”

From Karen Coyle: “It occurs to me as I write this that the ‘Digital Public Library of America’ could create an information revolution in this country by upgrading the access of the general public to that of an academic or student in a large college or university, without ever digitizing a single page.”

“As the executive director of the Open Knowledge Commons, Marx is currently working with a wide assortment of library professionals, computer experts, authors, publishers, educators, government representatives, private industry, cultural organizations, and others as they pull the Digital Public Library of America into being.”

From Bob Berring: “But on June 16, 2011, The Future of Law Libraries Conference at the Harvard Law School gave me new hope. John Palfrey and his staff, with special nods to Meg Kribble, put on a stimulating, provocative and, well, classy event.”

From Ben Alper: “Since we’ve discussed this exciting initiative in the past, I thought I’d update readers of this blog on the status of the Digital Public Library of America.”

“With the annual meeting of the American Library Association out of the way and two major holidays (Canada Day and U.S. Independence Day) behind us, the summer can now start. My formal vacation comes next month, and I haven’t yet decided what to do with DLTJ Thursday Threads during that week.”

From David Curry: “Over the last several months, we have been following the spirited DPLA listserve discussion on what a “Digital Public Library of America” might strive to become (and what it might presume to preclude).”

From David Rothman: “I’m dismayed that Harvard so far is tolerating the DPLA’s secrecy, especially when DPLA committee member Carl Malamud has beaten the drums again and again for government openness and was an Internet broadcasting pioneer.”

John Palfrey’s June 30, 2011 video update on the DPLA’s progress is embedded in this blog entry.

Steering Committee Chair John Palfrey gives an update on the overall DPLA process, including the Beta Sprint and the upcoming public meeting in October.

From David Rothman: “We’re indebted to the Digital Public Library of America, hosted by Harvard’s Berkman Center, for raising interest in the national digital library issue.”

“DPLA’s new initiative means libraries (public and academic) intend to continue to compete with Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, and Google to be readers’ one-stop shopping place for ebooks and audiobooks.”

From Steve Matthew: “On May 31, I Posted Digital Natives Want It Now!, in which I linked to a YouTube video of a cute little digital native describing what she wanted in her library – NOW! I stated; Unfortunately, there won’t be a Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) in these Digital Natives’ youth.”

Harvard Law Prof. John Palfrey, chair of the Digital Public Library of America, still has not, to my knowledge, released minutes from the organization’s June 13 steering committee meeting in Washington—closed to the public.

From David Rothman: “Imagine—closed steering committee meetings of the so-called public library group, just like the Porcellian Club.”

From David Rothman: “The so-called Digital ‘Public’ Library of America has refused to live up to the P word.”

“The dream of a national digital public library is inching closer to the planning stage. The Berkman Center at Harvard University convened a large and diverse group of stakeholders to define the scope, architecture, costs, and administration for a proposed Digital Public Library of America (DPLA).”

“The right gizmos could help bring library e-books and other media to America’s poor and our cash-strapped middle class.”