People with American Libraries

Gallery July 9, 2015 Amy Carlton

Author and Parks & Recreation star Nick Offerman at #alaac15 in San Francisco.

Sonia Manzano, who played Maria on Sesame Street for 44 years and won 15 Emmy Awards for writing, at #alaac15 in San Francisco.

Phil Klay

Phil Klay, 2014 National Book Award Winner for Redeployment, at #alaac15 in San Francisco.

Louis Sachar

Louis Sachar, author of Holes, at #alaac15 in San Francisco.

Roberta Kaplan

Attorney Roberta Kaplan, Opening General Session speaker and author of Then Comes Marriage: United States v. Windsor and the Defeat of DOMA at #alaac15 in San Francisco.

Jon Klassen

Caldecott-winning author-illustrator Jon Klassen at #alaac15 in San Francisco.

Edwidge Danticat

National Book Award finalist Edwidge Danticat at #alaac15 in San Francisco.

Erin Dealey

Author Erin Dealey at #alaac15 in San Francisco.

Sarah Vowell

Essayist, historian, radio contributor, and cartoon voice artist Sarah Vowell at #alaac15 in San Francisco.

Josh Davis

Joshua Davis, Wired contributing editor, Epic Magazine founder, and author of the book Spare Parts, at #alaac15 in San Francisco.

Actor, director, and host of Reading Rainbow LeVar Burton at #alamw15 — Actor, director, and host of *Reading Rainbow* LeVar Burton at #alamw15 in Chicago.

High-wire artist (Man on Wire) Philippe Petit at #alaac14 — High-wire artist (*Man on Wire*) Philippe Petit at #alaac14 in Las Vegas.

Actor and author of Nightmares! Jason Segel at #alamw15. — Actor and author of *Nightmares!* Jason Segel at #alamw15 in Chicago.

Mandalorian bounty hunter Boba Fett at C2E2 in Chicago.

Actor and author Bruce Boxleitner at C2E2 in Chicago.

Chef, author, and TV host (Mexico: One Plate at a Time) Rick Bayless at #alaac13. — Chef, author, and TV host (*Mexico: One Plate at a Time*) Rick Bayless at #alaac13.

Chef, writer, and Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis at #alaac13 in Chicago.

Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, at #alaac13 in Chicago. — Khaled Hosseini, author of *The Kite Runner*, at #alaac13 in Chicago.

Octavia Spencer, actor and author of Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective: The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit, at #alaac13 in Chicago. — Octavia Spencer, actor and author of *Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective: The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit*, at #alaac13 in Chicago.

For the past five years, Schaumburg Township (Ill.) District Library has provided citizenship education for many area residents.

Becoming New Americans

Students—and teachers—find library citizenship program has much to offer

Counterclockwise from top right: Keith Lu, bookmobile driver and library tech, waves a rainbow flag from the SFPL bookmobile; collections management assistant Alan Wong (center) and collections librarian Erin Dubois (right) strike a pose while waiting for the parade to begin; adult services librarian and bookmobile librarian Connie Porciuncula wears a pink wig in front of the TechMobile; Annemarie Dompe, student at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, holds a sign for Radclyffe Hall’s 1928 book The Well of Loneliness in front of the bookmobile; SFPL city librarian Luis Herrera rides a balloon-covered bike, and SFPL deputy city librarian Michael Lambert rides a skateboard ahead of SFPL’s marchers. (Photos: San Francisco Public Library)

Bookend: Librarians Show Their Pride

ALA at the San Francisco Pride Parade

Latest Library Links

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“As early as 2003, certain university libraries in the US developed virtual libraries in the online video game Second Life and offered a variety of services, marking the first practical research on metaverse libraries. The metaverse is regaining popularity nearly two decades later, and technological circumstances have improved. Today’s metaverse is a collection of new technologies, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), gaming, networking, etc. VR and AR are two of the most important metaverse enabling technologies, and their use in university libraries is growing.”

College & Research Libraries, Nov.
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Christina Caron writes: “On social media, Mychal Threets was spreading the gospel of ‘library joy’ to hundreds of thousands of followers. But at his job, as a supervisor at the Fairfield Civic Center Library in Solano County, Calif., he was facing new challenges. Over a year, Threets filed more than 170 incident reports documenting how library patrons had acted out: property damage, harassment, physical altercations. Like Threets, librarians around the country are struggling to reconcile their desire to serve their communities with their need for self-preservation.”

New York Times, Oct. 31
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Megan Bennett writes: “From the iconic to the incendiary, political messages like these have emblazoned buttons and pins since the start of US elections. Since 2012, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been archiving political buttons. The collection now spans thousands of items over a century’s worth of campaigns and causes. The collection has approximately 4,800 buttons and pins and 200 stickers. Most fit into one of three categories: campaigns (local and national), sociopolitical movements, and community organizations like unions.”

American Libraries column, Nov./Dec.
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Cindy Hohl writes: “Recognizing all of humanity in libraries requires a thoughtful approach and a humble spirit. I believe that we, as information professionals, have been called to this work because of our shared values. Every day, library workers provide a vital public function. We are entrusted to serve our communities, and we know that the best way to serve the public good is to welcome everyone into libraries to access accurate information.”

American Libraries column, Nov./Dec.
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Anne Ford writes: “For Susan Brown, December 17, 2004, was a perfectly normal day—until she saw the elevator doors open. Brown, director of Transylvania University’s J. Douglas Gay Jr./Frances Carrick Thomas Library in Lexington, Kentucky, was walking past the staff elevator on the library’s main level when the doors parted and she reflexively glanced inside. Her gaze locked on the great red books held by two young men inside. On the 20th anniversary of what became known as the Transy book heist, American Libraries looks back at one of the most brazen and puzzling thefts ever to take place in an academic library.

American Libraries feature, Nov./Dec.
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Chase Hunter writes: “Chabot College Library and Learning Center in Hayward, California, held a ceremonial opening last week, but students have already gone so often that it’s quickly become a campus cornerstone. More than 35,000 Chabot College students have visited the new library and learning center—the tallest building on campus—this semester, already surpassing last year’s total. The new building’s geometric clean lines and splashes of orange—the school’s color—over a chrome exterior is attracting students in a way that Chabot College hasn’t experienced since the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Mercury News (San Jose, California), Oct. 28
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Michelle Ehrhardt writes: “Like the Metaverse and NFTs before it, it feels near impossible to follow tech news right now without hearing about Artificial Intelligence (AI). I understand it can get annoying: The tech is still in development, and everyone’s still figuring out the ethics of generating AI Art, or how to make it not suck. It’s tempting to write AI off entirely. There are a few key use cases I’ve found where AI shines better than pretty much any other alternative. As an AI skeptic, here’s where I think AI is most useful.”

Lifehacker, Oct. 28

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