At “Career Quest: Engaging Teens with their Future Careers,” presenters Anna Kopinska and Kristin Linscott discussed how their library has helped young people get excited about professional opportunities and gain confidence in managing finances. Kopinska, senior public services librarian at Plano (Tex.) Public Library (PPL), and Linscott, development and community partnerships coordinator at PPL, shared … Continue reading Beyond Career Day
“As a person who was an outsider, in order for me to learn how to behave in certain spaces, I read these old novels,” Lee told attendees at the American Library Association’s 2026 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago on June 27. “I think it’s the most romantic thing I could say, but my life … Continue reading Prices Paid for Lessons Learned
Neal shared the story of the initiative in the June 27 “Breaking Barriers, Building Brands: Supporting Beauty Entrepreneurs in Libraries” session at the American Library Association’s 2026 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago. “I’m now the beauty librarian,” Neal declared. “I just made that my thing.” The multi-pronged program included a LibGuide that Neal developed … Continue reading Library Programming Gets a Glow-up
Moderator Amanda Gray Perry, web and digital user experience librarian at Hesbergh Libraries at University of Notre Dame (Ind.), grounded the panel’s discussions of AI in lived experience. “The more time I spend with technology, the more I am aware of the importance of including humanity in the process,” she said, also citing Notre Dame’s … Continue reading Coexisting with the Machine
“Tell me the truth, though—how many people saw my name in the program and thought, ‘I had no idea she was still alive’?” The 89-year-old author—twice a winner of the Newbery Medal, for The Giver and Number the Stars—took the stage to a standing ovation at the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2026 Annual Conference and … Continue reading A Storied Career
At the “Pokémon Club @ Your Library: Engaging Young Learners Through Play and Community” session, held June 26 at ALA’s 2026 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago, TPCi representatives and librarians who offer the clubs in their libraries discussed the first nine months of the partnership—TPCi’s first of this kind—and what the clubs can offer … Continue reading Catch ’Em All
Council adopted the hybrid meeting rules (CD#5.1). A proposed amendment to limit debate to 10 minutes per motion did not pass. The agenda (CD#8.5) and the minutes from ALA’s 2026 Virtual Winter Council sessions (CD#2.3) were approved. ALA Executive Director Dan Montgomery reported on Executive Board actions since the January sessions (CD#15.1) and the implementation … Continue reading Council I: Moratorium on New Committees Approved
“I’ve only seen this many librarians in my dreams!” she exclaimed. “The fact that there are 3,000 of you in the room really does feel like I’m dead!” The award-winning host of The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNOW and creator of the narrative podcast series Burn Order took the stage as Opening General Session speaker … Continue reading Inheritance as Nourishment
The tone and content of this year’s slate of speakers, programs, and gatherings strike a balance between the retrospective and the speculative, as library workers and advocates stake out a brighter, stronger, and more inclusive and accessible future for libraries of all types. Other sessions will study the present moment, as technological advancements and cultural … Continue reading 2026 Annual Conference Preview
From healthy breakfasts to decadent splurges and feasts, these establishments will provide whatever you need to keep your energy up for a long day of learning or feed your soul afterward. No matter what you decide to try, you’ll learn that Chicago’s reputation as one of the world’s great food cities is well deserved for … Continue reading City of Big Appetites
Born and raised in Kolkata, India, Majumdar studied social anthropology at Harvard, then earned a master’s in anthropology at Johns Hopkins. Her gripping second novel, A Guardian and a Thief, is set in a near-future Kolkata besieged by the ever-worsening climate crisis. It received this year’s Carnegie Medal, which will be presented to Majumdar on … Continue reading Newsmaker: Megha Majumdar
This milestone is about more than looking back; it is about the momentum we carry into the next era. When we talk about shaping what’s next, we are acknowledging that the radical act of keeping library doors open for everyone requires constant, courageous innovation. In the hallways of McCormick Place, you will feel a renewed … Continue reading Sparking a New Era
