Schear, Thomas | American Libraries Magazine

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Thomas W. Schear, director of Passaic (N.J.) Public Library from 1961-1987, died June 14. Schear had been a member of the New Jersey Library Association since 1957, serving as treasurer from 1966 to 1972 and president in 1973 to 1974.

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Stacy Gilbert writes: “When we try to force an entire year’s worth of procedures into a single lesson, we lose the room, exhaust ourselves, and miss the mark. My ultimate goal for orientation can be summed up in one phrase: for students to want to come back and know how to. If you’re refining your plan this season, here are 7 common orientation traps that librarians fall into and tips for avoiding them.”

Knowledge Quest, Sept. 3
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Alejandro Marquez writes: “Like many of my library colleagues, I’ve found this year has felt … heavy. Working in a higher education environment, particularly now, can feel like wading through a relentless stream of depressing news, budget cuts, censorship concerns, and strategic crises. It’s not a dramatic, explosive kind of heaviness, but an endless stream of bad things, each one subtly eroding the foundations of what I believed was a stable and valued profession. For a little while, it felt like real progress was happening. Now, it feels like libraries are stuck.”

Choice 360: Toward Inclusive Excellence, Sept. 1
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Brett Bonfield writes: “Because of its financial deficit, ALA needs stability. Therefore, in April, ALA’s Endowment Trustees updated the target allocation for the Association’s investment portfolio, reducing our holdings of stocks and increasing our holdings of bonds. As a result, we are sacrificing some projected returns to limit projected risk. If stocks boom as they have in the past few years, ALA’s portfolio will not increase as much as it would have. On the other hand, if stocks crash, ALA’s portfolio will not take as big a hit as it would have.”

American Libraries Online, Sept. 3
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Dan Montgomery writes: “With a fresh school year underway, it’s the perfect time to lift up professionals who not only boost student learning and achievement but also help to make their schools welcoming, magical places of endless opportunity. I’m talking, of course, about school librarians and library support staff. School librarians work hard to turn their classroom—the library—into the well-loved hub and heart of the school. It’s a tall order, but they are up to the task.”

American Libraries column, Fall
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Reema Saleh writes: “Since fall 2024, each school day at Grant High School in Portland, Oregon, has started the same way: Roughly 2,100 students line up to place their phones in gray and green Yondr pouches as they enter the building. There’s been one unexpected outcome of the school’s effort to limit phone use on campus: More students are spending time in the library, where they’re browsing the collection or hanging out during free periods, says teacher-librarian Paige Battle.”

American Libraries Trend, Fall
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The Librarians, a documentary directed by Kim A. Snyder that follows librarians as they work to protect children’s rights to access books, won the Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking at the 78th Emmy Awards on September 5. In a Facebook post, the production team wrote: “We are so proud to stand here in solidarity with all our fierce librarians and Freedom to Read advocates, and so many others across the nation who continue to fight to defend our First Amendment rights. This award is such an honor–and it HONORS ALL OF YOU—American patriots, truly heroes!” The film is available to stream on PBS.

The Television Academy, Sept. 5; American Libraries Online, July 28, 2025
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Librarians joined the world in mourning Dolly Parton and remembering both her artistic achievements and her philanthropy. Parton’s award-winning Imagination Library initiative, inspired by her father’s inability to read or write, has put hundreds of millions of books into the hands of children, and she considered it one of her greatest achievements. ALA conferred Parton with honorary lifetime membership, its highest honor, in 2023. American Libraries interviewed Parton in 2018 as the Imagination Library was delivering its 100 millionth book. Libraries, including Knox County (Tenn.) Public Library and Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Public Library, created commemorative displays and book lists, while the University of Louisville (Ky.) Archives and Special Collections and the University of North Carolina Libraries shared rare photos and recordings.

I Love Libraries, Aug. 27; American Libraries Trend, Jan./Feb. 2018; Knox County (Tenn.) Public Library, Aug. 26; Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Public Library, Aug. 26; University of Louisville (Ky.) Archives and Special Collections, Aug. 27; Chapelboro.com, Aug. 27

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