4h
Celeste Leeds-Laliberte writes: “In my first full-time librarian job, I was often scared I didn’t belong or that I wouldn’t live up to my co-worker’s expectations. With over a year in my current position, I still sometimes feel like I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m now able to piece together what I’m doing, what my job demands, and how best to accomplish it. As you settle into your jobs, I’d like to share some things that have been the most helpful on my journey as a librarian.”
New Members Round Table Notes, May 31
19h
Pride Month is celebrated annually in June. Our collection of statistics offers fascinating facts about the AIDS Memorial Quilt, the Digital Transgender Archive, the founding of Drag Story Hour, and San Diego Public Library’s Pride library card design contest, which was won by Annie Alwine with a design resembling a vintage date-due slip filled with LGBTQ+ icons, including Marsha P. Johnson, Harvey Milk, and Edie Windsor.
23h
Sam Helmick writes: “A unique electricity fills the air when the ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition returns to Chicago, the city that holds our history and anchors our future. As we gather this June, we aren’t just attending a professional meeting, we are stepping into a historical slipstream 150 years in the making. This is the moment we have been building toward: the sesquicentennial celebration of our collective impact. This milestone is about more than looking back; it is about the momentum we carry into the next era.”
American Libraries column, Summer 2026
1d
ALA was founded in Philadelphia in 1876 amid the patriotic spectacle of our nation’s centennial celebrations. But it’s Chicago, the Association’s home for more than a century, that will welcome the library community for a milestone 150th anniversary celebration at the 2026 Annual Conference and Exhibition, to be held June 25–29 at the McCormick Place Convention Center. This year’s 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.
American Libraries feature, Summer 2026
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“Digital preservation exists to safeguard knowledge for the future. But as the volume of digital content continues to grow, so too does the need to better understand the environmental impact of the systems, storage, infrastructure, and workflows that support long-term preservation. That is why the release of the new Carbon Footprint Toolkit by the Digital Preservation Coalition marks an important moment for the digital preservation community. The toolkit has been designed to help organizations undertaking digital preservation understand, measure, and reduce the carbon footprint of their activities in a practical and proportionate way.”
CLOCKSS, May 20
4d
Leah Dudak writes: “Trauma rarely exists in isolation. It often intersects with other forms of stress, exhaustion, and harm that shape how we experience our jobs and relate to our communities. Some of these experiences may not qualify as trauma in a clinical sense but are still deeply impactful. Understanding the range of related terms can help us more accurately describe what we’re going through, validate our own and others’ experiences, and begin to imagine healthier, more supportive workplace cultures.”
Urban Librarians Unite, May 22
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Quintis Pinder writes: “While there is increasing recognition of the importance of diversity in higher education, Black men in librarianship often encounter significant structural barriers when it comes to advancing their careers, gaining representation, and stepping into leadership roles. It is hoped that this literature review will help academic libraries understand the unique and complex challenges faced by Black male librarians, while also promoting the implementation of intentional policies, mentorship programs, and equity-focused recruitment practices. These approaches are essential for building a more inclusive and representative academic library workforce.”
Urban Library Journal, vol. 32, no. 1, May
