Engagement at a Distance

Librarian's Library by Araceli Mendez Hintermeister

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the ways in which librarians do their jobs—from everyday tasks to community outreach and beyond. These books offer a variety of resources to help adjust to our new reality.

Pivoting during the Pandemic: Ideas for Serving Your Community Anytime, Anywhere
Edited by Kathleen M. Hughes and Jamie Santoro

This collection includes 22 reflections from library staffers across the US on how public libraries have responded to challenges posed by COVID-19. Whether you seek to serve specific patron groups, address larger community needs, or reimagine programming, you will find innovative models and services that many libraries have used in their communities, including homebound delivery, virtual reference, remote readers’ advisory, and setting up Wi-Fi hotspots. Pivoting during the health crisis requires far more than just putting programming online, and this collection will help readers develop new ideas and strengthen existing ones. Public Library Association, 2021. 112 p. $29.99. PBK. 978-0-8389-4974-0. (Also available as an ebook.)

Transitioning to Virtual and Hybrid Events: How to Create, Adapt, and Market an Engaging Online Experience
By Ben Chodor with Gabriella Cyranski

Chodor has presented virtual programs in the digital media space for more than 20 years. Drawing on that experience, he digs deep into how to become a more efficient host, understand your audience, and use media beyond videoconferencing. His approach creates an intimacy that allows event attendees to feel directly engaged rather than just looking at their screens. This book includes comprehensive checklists, best practices, and tips for hosting events. Wiley, 2020. 208 p. $25. PBK. 978-1-119-74717-8. (Also available as an ebook.)

The Collection All Around: Sharing Our Cities, Towns, and Natural Places
By Jeffrey T. Davis

One of the library’s greatest strengths is its ability to connect patrons to resources, and this book shows how that skill goes beyond a building’s walls. By focusing on what surrounds a library, Davis asks readers to consider nearby parks, nature, and places in their community as part of their collection. This is not to say libraries should embed in the community; rather, it is about making the places around their users more comprehensible, familiar, and accessible to everyone. The lessons will assist library workers as they guide patrons in discovering the treasures around them. ALA Editions, 2017. 152 p. $57. PBK. 978-0-8389-1505-9. (Also available as an ebook.)

Healthy Living at the Library: Programs for All Ages
By Noah Lenstra

Lenstra provides resources to help integrate healthy living and wellness practices into library programming, whether through garden plots, StoryWalks, or fitness classes. Healthy Living at the Library outlines how to develop a program, engage in community partnerships, and eventually run a program, and it concludes with advice on how to make new initiatives permanent. Lenstra includes information about liability waivers, strategic plans, and assessment tools that will support these offerings every step of the way. Libraries Unlimited, 2020. 225 p. $45. PBK. 978-1-4408-6314-1. (Also available as an ebook.)

Coronavirus: Leadership and Recovery
By Harvard Business Review, Martin Reeves, Nancy F. Koehn, Tsedal Neeley, and Scott Berinato

It can be difficult for libraries to embrace changes instituted because of COVID-19, especially when they may be required to transition back to traditional services at any moment. Through the lens of business management, Coronavirus: Leadership and Recovery motivates readers to think through these unprecedented challenges while maintaining a foundation that will allow them to emerge stronger at the end of the pandemic. Broken into sections that address leadership, management, and strategic planning, the book presents case studies that explore how other businesses in multiple industries are addressing everything from workers calling in sick to communicating with customers. Harvard Business Review, 2020. 192 p. $23. PBK. 978-1-6478-2049-7. (Also available as an ebook.)

Library Services for Online Patrons: A Manual for Facilitating Access, Learning, and Engagement
Edited by Joelle E. Pitts, Laura Bonella, Jason M. Coleman, and Adam Wathen

Access, learning, and engagement are at the core of this manual, which offers a holistic approach to initiating and enhancing library resources and services to online patrons. The book looks at reference, instruction, and marketing through the lens of online users and guides readers through the process of making intentional considerations. While this book focuses on academic libraries, its lessons on designing services will help readers navigate and address the needs of any online patron, even if those needs may not be entirely apparent at first. Libraries Unlimited, 2019. 200 p. $55. PBK. 978-1-4408-5952- 6. (Also available as an ebook.)

Latest Library Links

42m

Joe Árvai writes: “As artificial intelligence (AI) creeps further into people’s daily lives, so do worries about it. At the most alarmist are concerns about AI going rogue and terminating its human masters. But my own research as a psychologist who studies how people make decisions leads me to believe that all these risks are overshadowed by an even more corrupting, though largely invisible, threat. That is, AI is mere keystrokes away from making people even less disciplined and skilled when it comes to thoughtful decisions.”

The Conversation, Apr. 12
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Tess Prendergast writes: “As someone who teaches contemporary children’s literature, I have been following the surge of picture books about climate and environment topics for several years. While there has been some great scholarly research about such books, I have devised a simple framework for grouping these kinds of books. This four-tiered categorization may help you decided what to read, suggest, or display in various scenarios and for different audiences.”

ALSC Blog, Apr. 11
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Max Eddy writes: “It’s a nightmare scenario: You’ve protected all of your online accounts with two-factor authentication (2FA), but then your phone is broken, lost, or stolen, and you’re locked out of everything. Past You’s effort to protect Future You has made Present You’s life a living hell. 2FA is supposed to keep attackers and scammers out of your online accounts, but what if something happens to your second factor? With a little planning, you can reduce that risk and still keep your accounts safe.”

New York Times Wirecutter, Apr. 12
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Nik Altenberg writes: “About 100 librarians and their supporters rallied outside San Francisco Public Library’s Main Library on April 9 to demand the city hire security guards for every branch. Workers decried a lack of security at most of the city’s branches and said they are often forced to de-escalate volatile situations and step into the role of providing security themselves. The rally is the latest in a series of union actions [from 10 unions representing more than 25,000 city workers across city departments] seeking to draw attention to what they say is a pervasive understaffing crisis.”

KQED-TV (San Francisco), Apr. 9
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“Two years after Brooklyn Public Libraries’ (BPL) launch of Books Unbanned, an initiative to protect the freedom to read for young people, In Their Own Words: Youth Voices on Books Unbanned gives new insight into the impact of censorship on teen and young adults across the US and how restrictions and other barriers to access build upon and reinforce each other. The new report, published April 11 by BPL and Seattle Public Library, analyzes 855 stories shared by young people who signed up for a free Books Unbanned ecard from April 2022 through December 2023.”

Seattle Public Library, Apr. 11
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Samantha Guss, Sojourna Cunningham, and Jennifer Stout write: “Recruitment and retention are both critical to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in academic libraries, and failing to improve retention has and will continue to derail these initiatives. Research that addresses retention tends to focus on proposed strategies, such as stay interviews (structured interviews aimed at strengthening employee and employer relationships) and mentorship programs. But there is no agreed-upon definition of retention that would allow us to assess these strategies. We should recognize that involuntary staying can be just as negative an outcome for the individual and the organization as leaving, setting the stage for legacy toxicity.”

In The Library With The Lead Pipe, Apr. 10
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Jackie Edwards writes: “As spring rolls around, seasonal allergies can flare up among library workers, resulting in symptoms like sneezing; runny or stuffy nose; itchy eyes, ears, and nose; coughing; and asthma. Not only are these symptoms detrimental to well-being and productivity, but they can also mean you’re less able to provide excellent customer service to library users. Fortunately, by purifying the air, preventing mold, and keeping your work area clean, you can improve indoor air quality and combat allergies in your library.”

Library Worklife, Apr.