Latest Library Links
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Kendra Winchester writes: “Disability Pride Month is all about taking strength in who we are as disabled people, celebrating our lives, and coming together as a community. That includes the kiddos in our lives. That’s where picture books come into play. These stories aren’t just sweet stories; they are reflections of the many different kinds of disabled lives lived around the world. They illustrate the incredible diversity in disabled communities. Here are a few to help get you started.” -
Paul Goble writes: “The Lenin State Library in Moscow is setting up a special restricted access collection to hold what officials call ‘destructive literature’ that scholars and officials may need to see to do their work but that ordinary Russians will not be able to access, according to Zhanna Alekseyeva. The Russian deputy culture minister says other libraries will follow suit and will place books not on the approved list in such restricted collections.” -
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.” -
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.” -
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.” -
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.” -
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. -
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.” -
“In 2022, Livingston Parish (La.) school librarian Amanda Jones sued Michael Lunsford; Citizens for a New Louisiana, a conservative policy research group that Lunsford founded; and blogger Ryan Thames after they equated her opposition to banning books about LGBTQ+ subjects to supporting child pornography and grooming children. On June 15, 21st Judicial District Court Judge Erika Sledge said Jones’s attorneys’ fees must be paid by Lunsford and his organization.” Jones previously settled her lawsuit against Thames for $1 and an apology in which he acknowledged that his claims were not true. -
Jamillah R. Gabriel et al. write: “Library users today are as diverse as their questions. We meet graduate and international students, faculty, alumni, and visitors from all walks of life, and each brings unique identities and experiences into our space. Traditional approaches to reference services, while helpful, can miss critical opportunities to dismantle structural inequities or to recognize trauma, cultural context, and the full spectrum of knowledge traditions. Without intentional change, libraries can unintentionally reproduce the very exclusions we seek to challenge.”College & Research Libraries News, vol. 87, no. 7 (July/Aug.)
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Karen Lindell writes: “It wasn’t her usual workplace attire, but Katherine Bunker was really looking forward to donning a pair of glittery green fairy wings. Bunker, children’s librarian at Centennial Park Library in Greeley, Colorado, had that opportunity as she prepared for one of her most popular summer programs last year. She also set out twigs, moss, leaves, pine cones, acorns, rocks, grass, berries, and other items gathered from her own home and around the library grounds. Her workshop invited children to create fairy houses: tiny, whimsical structures made mostly out of natural materials.”
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