Ward, Caroline | American Libraries Magazine

Caroline Ward retired as supervisor of the Youth Services Department at Ferguson Library in Stamford, Connecticut, in April.

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Larissa Kennedy writes: “Closures? Canceled. Reduced opening hours? Backtracked. £500,000 in job cuts? Blocked. These are the concrete wins of the Save Newham (England) Libraries campaign. Yes, there were petitions, banner-making workshops and town halls—hallmarks of countless campaigns. But what I’m truly interested in lies beneath that. The Newham community met the perfect storm of cuts and elections with their own cocktail of classic campaign techniques and novel ways to tap into shared memory, creativity, and duality.”

Shado, July 22
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Peter Derk writes: “If you haven’t already, I can just about guarantee you that you’ll get an offer to add an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant to your website or catalog within the next couple years. I’m begging you to not utilize one. The person trying to sell you on the AI assistant is going to tell you that 90% of the calls, emails, and messages you get are very simple. But while 90% of your questions might be simple, that doesn’t mean they will be adequately answered by the AI assistant.”
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Trevor A. Dawes writes: “One of the great achievements of academic libraries over the past two decades has been making access to information feel effortless. The challenge with seamlessness, though, is that it can shade into invisibility. Invisibility has consequences. When budget conversations happen, the loudest voices in the room tend to belong to those who have most recently felt a loss, not those who have been benefiting all along without quite noticing.”

Trevor A. Dawes, July 28
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David Lankes writes: “We are living in the early stages of an information shock caused by generative artificial intelligence (AI). Information shocks are rare, but historically transformative. We are currently living in the result of the last one at the end of World War II, when the sheer amount of information in the form of scientific and research data exploded, enabled by the introduction of the digital computer. One key result of such disruptions is the redefinition in the identity of what we now call information science and the tools information scientists and professionals develop and study.”

R. David Lankes, July 31; Information Matters, July 31
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Annelise Hanshaw writes: “Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and State Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican running for US Congress in Missouri’s 5th congressional district, held a joint press conference July 28 to discuss their investigation into the Daniel Boone Regional Library. The library’s Columbia branch hosted a Rainbow Storytime July 25 for toddlers and preschoolers. The event featured two picture books: Rainbowsaurus and Big Wig. Hoskins told reporters he had looked up the books but not read them.”

Missouri Independent, July 28
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“Presenters at the July 9 town hall of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions Advisory Committee on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression made it clear that access to information is under threat in many parts of the world at the moment, ranging from censorship of library activities and materials to the lack of open access publications and sanctions hindering research collaboration.” A follow-up session will be held August 11 at the World Library and Information Congress in Busan, Korea.

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions Advisory Committee on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression, July 30
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Elliott Bowen and Alexis Chanthachack write: “Autism acceptance efforts have come a long way in recent years, and libraries are one of the key reasons why. But challenges remain. One of the biggest is the idea that autism is something people ‘age out of.’ Autism doesn’t magically disappear as children get older, but people often behave like that’s the case. To create more age-inclusive, autism spectrum disorder–friendly spaces, resources, and programs, the best place to start is with a community conversation.”

Public Libraries Online, Aug. 3

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