Dempsey, Lorcan | American Libraries Magazine

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June 21 Lorcan Dempsey, vice president and chief strategiest of OCLC Research in Dublin, Ohio, received an honorary doctorate from the Open University in Edinburgh, Scotland.

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Theadora Soter writes: “To begin bridging the gap between the public and University of Utah Marriott Library’s rare books collection, we reached out to Bookish SLC, a social reading group that participates in silent, group reading all around the city. Together, we decided that the Bookish October 2025 meeting would be held at the University of Utah. With logistics in place, we turned to the heart of the event—the books themselves. As a relatively new curator, I spent considerable time crafting a selection that would be both seasonally spooky and representative of the collection’s breadth.”

TPS Collective, Oct. 12
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nickb writes: “There are not many computer file formats I would trust to still be readable 50 years from now, but plain text is one of them. That may sound like faint praise. A text file cannot embed a spreadsheet, preserve elaborate page layouts, run a presentation, or provide many of the conveniences we expect from modern applications. What it does instead is store text in one of the simplest and most widely understood forms in computing, and that simplicity is a large part of why it has lasted.”

Dead Parrot BBS, Oct. 4
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Jill Lawless, Hillel Italie, and Kostya Manenkov write: “Canadian poet, essayist, and translator Anne Carson won the Nobel Prize in literature October 8 for ‘bold and inventive’ works that fuse the classical and the modern and blur the boundaries of poetry and prose. The Toronto-born Carson, 76, has drawn on themes from classical Greek and Roman literature, modern influences, and personal experience for genre-blending titles that have ranged from translations of ancient Greek poets to collaborations with dancers and musicians, including Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed.”

Associated Press, Oct. 8
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Nathalie op de Beeck writes: “At a time when media consolidation is decimating local news organizations, journalist and civic strategist Terry Parris Jr. believes that libraries—and specifically, library patrons—may offer a solution. In 2024, Parris founded the Library Newsroom Project to combat the small-town media deserts he saw arising across the country. Now, he’s bringing LNP pilots to Miami-Dade Public Library, the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair (N.J.) State University, and Boston Public Library, with additional sites in development.”

Publishers Weekly, Oct. 2
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Becky Siegel Spratford writes: “Every year as big book award nominees are announced, people have opinions and complaints. This year everything came to a public head when New York Times opinion writer Bret Stephens wrote ‘The Literary World’s DEI Checklist’ about the National Book Award nominees. With all disrespect to his faulty logic, juries tend to be made of previous nominees and winners. Women, people of color, and queer people have slowly been added to those ranks, and when their turn comes up to be a juror, they bring their perspective and reading preferences with them.”

RA For All, Oct. 7
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Elissa Malespina writes: “On October 9, Moms for Liberty announced a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered program that the organization says monitors school board agendas across more than 13,000 districts nationwide. The tool reportedly checks agendas every 12 hours, flagging issues involving curriculum, diversity and equity policies, gender identity, and other topics. The goal is to alert members before school boards vote so they have time to respond. What concerns me is not that someone is reading school board agendas, but who is operating this technology, what the organization has already done in public education, and how AI could expand those efforts.”

The AI School Librarian, Oct. 13
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ALA and the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies have opened registration for National Library Legislative Day (NLLD) 2027. Hundreds of library advocates from across the country will gather in Washington, D.C., February 24–25, 2027, to make the case for federal support of libraries of all types. The event will open with an afternoon briefing on February 24 that includes education, advocacy training, and networking activities, followed by a day of meetings with federal legislators on February 25. The deadline to register is November 25, and capacity is limited.

ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office, Oct. 7

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