Whitehead, Martha | American Libraries Magazine

Martha Whitehead was appointed Harvard University librarian, vice president for Harvard Library, and Larsen librarian for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in June.

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Vincent Safuto writes: “Paper copies of BookPage magazine are gone from Hernando County’s (Fla.) public libraries, though the free book-review publication remains available online. The move follows months of complaints from some residents who argued the magazine pushed a political agenda and that the subscription wasted county money. County Commissioner Steve Champion questioned whether libraries are an essential service. He said the county may have to cut nonessential services if Gov. Ron DeSantis’s proposed property tax reduction wins approval from 60% of Florida voters.”

Tampa Bay (Fla.) Beacons, July 6
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Carolyn Jones writes: “California librarians were stunned when a last-minute budget change stripped K–12 schools of a trove of research materials. Without notice to schools or librarians, the legislature canceled $5.5 million that pays online fees for Compass, an online database of research and curriculum materials that have been vetted by teachers and librarians. Since the program launched in 2018, it’s received nearly 1 billion hits. The cut goes into effect on July 1, 2027. Meanwhile, librarians are launching an aggressive campaign to save the program.”

Cal Matters, June 30; California School Library Association, July 1
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Jaime Eastman writes: “Let’s talk about ways that intentional, scaffolded program structures create organization and clear direction for patrons and staff alike. While each library’s program structure is different, my goal today is to share replicable models that work for all types of libraries and programs. I’ll explore how scaffolded programs help you reach specific audiences and customize patron experiences. At its core, scaffolded programming is about purposeful program design over time.”

ALSC Blog, July 1
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Audrey Richardson writes: “Imagine you’re in a new job with a newish liaison responsibility. Things you know and knew going into this position: There is a three week stretch where you’re supporting 2 specific assignments, and you know that’s your whole life. Now imagine you’re gearing up for that stretch, and you’ve suddenly lost your voice. What do you do? Having this experience made me really think about how we plan for success with faculty partners while also taking care of ourselves.”

Info Literal, July 1
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Mollee Holloman and Heather Pennica write: “When we wrote about advocacy amplification in our recent Knowledge Quest article, we described a school librarian who designed a social media campaign for School Library Month, shared it with a statewide cohort, and watched it travel further than she ever expected. That librarian is Jennifer Long, a school library media coordinator in Rockingham County, North Carolina, and her story deserves more than a paragraph. Jennifer to give school librarians something they could actually use during School Library Month: Not just inspiration, but a ready-made framework.”

Knowledge Quest, July 7,
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ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Committee announced July 7 the release of “Content Controls and Access Guidelines for Vendors,” a new guiding document designed to help library staff make informed, principled decisions when selecting third‑party digital content providers. The guidelines equip library workers with essential tools to safeguard the intellectual freedom of their communities. Key considerations include: How content is curated, filtered, or restricted; access considerations for minors; labels and ratings used by vendors to categorize content; and patron privacy protections.

ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, July 7
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Sabrina Cofer writes: “In the three and half years since ChatGPT’s launch, we’ve experienced a massive influx of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools that promise to solve problems that don’t exist and deliver ever-increasing efficiencies. A major topic of ALA’s 2026 Annual Conference was what AI can accomplish, and presenters had answers. Speakers shared that AI excels at tasks like writing code, generating tags, sorting through massive amounts of data, assisting with web development projects, and creating metadata. What is AI, as one panelist delicately put it, ‘garbage’ at? Reference services, reader advisory, and traditional catalog search.”

Choice 360 LibTech Insights, July 1

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