3h
Winston Reed writes: “Libraries across Lafourche Parish could shut down next year unless another source of funding is secured after voters rejected two property tax renewals during the May 16 election, according to Library Director Laura Sanders. The failed millage renewals account for more than 90% of the Lafourche Parish (La.) Public Library system’s budget. Sanders said the system plans to ask voters to reconsider the measures during an election in December. In Lafayette Parish, voters also rejected a property tax renewal that provides roughly $9 million annually for the public library system, about 65% of its operating budget.”
WWL-TV (New Orleans), May 22; KPEL-FM (Lafayette), May 17
5h
ALA will hold its 2026 Virtual Membership Meeting June 17 at 3:30 p.m. Central. The Membership Meeting serves as a crucial platform for ALA members to actively engage in discussions surrounding key issues impacting libraries and librarianship. It’s also an opportunity for members to ask questions of ALA leadership (submit questions by June 15) or advocate for important causes by introducing resolutions, memorials, and tributes (see submission guidelines). Members must register by June 14 to receive voting credentials.
ALA Membership, May 19
22h
Rosie Newmark writes: “ALA employees voted overwhelmingly to approve the formation of ALA Workers United, a new union representing staff at the 150-year-old association. The final vote count, tallied on May 27, was 77–4, with 81 out of 87 votes counted. (Six votes were challenged.) The National Labor Relations Board will now certify the union, a process that may take approximately 10 days, allowing workers to begin collective bargaining. The union effort followed months of internal reorganization at ALA. In a March open letter announcing the campaign, employees cited increased workloads, benefit reductions, salary disparities, low morale, and a lack of transparent decision-making as reasons for unionizing.”
AL: The Scoop, May 27; American Libraries Online, Apr. 29
1d
As community demand continues to ramp up, organizations representing the vast majority of North American public libraries, including ALA’s Public Library Association, released a joint statement May 26 calling for change in licensing for digital content. The explosion in usage is straining public library budgets and dragging down wait lists for readers in ways that are not sustainable. While libraries are able to purchase physical books and lend them indefinitely, digital content is typically licensed to libraries for a limited time, restricts checkouts, or both.
Public Library Association, May 26
1d
Jennifer A. Peterson, Michelle Soderlind, and Chey Westphal write: “The Indian Trails Library Giving Garden began in 2009 and is active thanks to a dedicated team of staff and volunteers from the Wheeling (Ill.) Garden Club. The programs are truly intergenerational and community focused with young children, caregivers, and adults of all ages participating in planting, weeding, pruning, and picking the fruits and vegetables. When children attend these programs, not only are they harvesting food for the food pantry, but they are also making a direct impact on their community.”
ALSC Blog, May 23
2d
“Everyone’s path to academic libraries is a little different. One common refrain that’s come up among this year’s ACRLog First-Year Academic Librarians is what we’ve learned from our past jobs—which could be anything from previous careers, library jobs that we had during grad school, and non-library jobs—that we use in our work today in academic libraries. Today, three of us are sharing some thoughts and suggestions about what we learned from previous jobs.”
ACRLog, May 19
2d
Steve Tetreault writes: “I am fortunate enough to get to talk to school librarians from all over. I’ve noticed during many of these conversations that, as passionate as school librarians are about doing what they do, they also frequently refer to what they, personally, do as nothing special. Each and every time, this hurts my heart, because nothing could be further from the truth. Having any kind of school library program provides resources and access for which students and staff would otherwise go wanting. And I have met very few school librarians who are just bare-minimum kinds of folks!”
Knowledge Quest, May 20
