2h
Eric Stroshane writes: “ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom is receiving reports of bots conducting automated spam searches of library catalogs. This behavior is nefarious and a security concern requiring immediate action. Bot activity during normal business hours can also negatively impact catalog performance for legitimate users. Imperva’s 2025 Bad Bot Report indicates that bot traffic is ‘infiltrating industries, bypassing security measures, and disrupting digital ecosystems,’ and that AI is rendering bot activity more pervasive and damaging, a trend that has only gotten worse in 2026.”
OIF Blog, Sept. 29
8h
Stephanie Book writes: “The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has relaunched the AASL Standards web portal, providing school librarians and their learning communities with an enhanced digital resource for exploring, understanding, implementing, and advocating for the second edition of the National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. With streamlined navigation, curated collections, improved search functionality, and a growing library of new, second edition-aligned resources, the site provides users with clearer pathways from learning about the standards to putting them into practice.”
Knowledge Quest, Sept. 23
24h
Alika Medina writes: “The research lab Transluce says an OpenAI agent targeted the University of New Mexico’s digital library in multiple hacking attempts in May, but did not successfully breach the system. According to the report, the agents were trying to obtain a photograph from UNM’s Valmora Collection, which documents the history of health care in Mora County.” New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez urged congressional leaders to regulate the artificial intelligence industry in the wake of the attempted hack.
KOB-TV (Albuquerque, N.M.), Sept. 24; Transluce, Sept. 23; Source NM, Sept. 25
1d
Reanna Esmail writes: “Library workers are well aware of the effects of book bans and censorship. Propaganda and disinformation are the flipside of the same coin. Understanding the complex relationships among these interrelated processes is more critical than ever, especially as libraries explore possible solutions and responses. The following books show how disinformation can lead to censorship and how censorship can, in turn, allow disinformation to thrive.”
American Libraries column, Fall
1d
ALA and the International Interior Design Association have announced the winners of the 2026 Library Interior Design Awards. Submissions are open to any library worldwide and are judged by industry professionals for extraordinary interior design and innovative concepts. Of the selected projects, one is named Best of Competition. The winners were recognized in June at ALA’s Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago.
American Libraries feature, Fall
4d
Tony Phillips writes: “For a single unit conversion, Google wins on convenience. But if I have a bunch of measurements to convert, I don’t want a scrap of paper covered in random numbers, or to keep copying values out of a spreadsheet and back again. Excel’s CONVERT function lets me keep the measurements, units, and results together, while reusing the same formula for as many conversions as I need.”
How-To Geek, Sept. 21
4d
The National Book Foundation (NBF) has announced longlists for its 2026 National Book Awards. The longlists include ten books in each of five categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people’s literature. These longlists will be narrowed to five-book shortlists October 6 before winners are announced at a ceremony November 18. Also at the ceremony, NBF will present its Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to Salman Rushdie and its Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community to Perri Klass, a pediatrician and National Medical Director of Reach Out and Read.
National Book Foundation, Sept. 8, Sept. 10, Sept. 15–17
