spotlight-podcast

May 23, 2025 970 × 647 Amplifying Voices

Fourth-grade students at George A. Jackson Elementary School in Jericho, New York, work on podcasts. The project was spearheaded by their librarian and teachers.Photo: Lauren Kawasaki

Latest Library Links

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Rachel Milburn writes: “Teen advisory boards (TABs) are an excellent resource for libraries. TABs are the perfect group to promote a library’s young adult collection. What better way to do this than through social media? Plano (Tex.) Public Library regularly includes our TAB in social media posts to promote all sorts of things, including our collections. Our teens (and their caregivers) sign photo release forms, which allows us to include them in our online presence. Here are a few easy ways to incorporate your library’s TAB in social media posts.”

Young Adult Library Services Association: The Hub, May 23
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Kwame Alexander writes: After the firings of Carla Hayden and Shira Perlmutter from the Library of Congress, “It feels urgent for us, as citizens, to gather and plan together how to respond to this attack on our freedom to read, write, and learn. We are bringing together some smart folks, including Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi, Meg Medina, Amanda Jones, and Tracie D. Hall, to speak out about what intellectual freedom means to us and form an action plan to stand up for these freedoms.” The rally will be held May 31 at DC Public Library’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library at 5 p.m. Eastern and livestreamed for those not able to attend in person.

Kwamealexander.com; DC Public Library
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Danielle Melia, Lauren Kawasaki and Reshma Seth write: “George A. Jackson Elementary School’s library wants to provide a dynamic and inclusive learning environment. That makes podcasting a perfect fit. It gives students a platform to express their creativity, explore new ideas, and collaborate with peers while learning real-world skills. Our podcast project started as a collaboration between librarian Danielle Melia and coteachers Lauren Kawasaki and Reshma Seth. We wanted our 4th-graders to work in pairs to create an episode related to our unit on natural hazards. Students developed episodes to answer thought-provoking questions.”

American Libraries Trend, May
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Cinzi Lavin writes: “In the summer of 2023, a controversial book—Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe—was removed from the shelves of the small Connecticut library where I worked as a part-time paraprofessional. The removal was done in transgression of the library board’s book reconsideration policy. Our small staff was upset and bewildered. As the granddaughter of Europeans who fled to the US to escape fascism just before World War II, I found that the fight against this injustice in our library became very personal. I offer the following considerations to other small libraries facing similar challenges.”

American Libraries column, May
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Rosie Newmark writes: “While creating one of their in-house brews, employees at Johnson City (Tenn.) Brewing Company brought in some unexpected assistants to pour barley into the batch: library staffers. The pre-Prohibition-style lager they crafted together was called 1895, a nod to the founding year of Johnson City Public Library, located just a few blocks from the brewery’s downtown taproom. The partnership marks a growing trend of libraries working with local brewers to create signature drinks for fundraising and awareness campaigns that expand the library’s visibility to younger adult crowds.”

American Libraries Trend, May
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On May 20, the Trump administration filed a status report describing its compliance with a federal judge’s preliminary injunction in Rhode Island v. Trump, which ordered the administration to restore terminated Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) staff and grants to recipients in 21 plaintiff states. However, the Administration has filed an appeal and requested a stay of the order. ALA has filed its own, nationwide challenge to the elimination of IMLS, ALA v. Sonderling. A temporary restraining order on May 1 halted further actions to dismantle the agency, and a ruling on ALA’s request for a preliminary injunction is expected by May 29.

ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office, May 21; AL: The Scoop, May 2
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Melanie Robinson writes: “As cities work to build stronger connections between children and nature, one powerful and often underutilized ally stands ready: your local library. Most residents live within a two-mile radius of a library. These institutions have deep roots in their communities and are committed to values aligning with city leaders: lifelong learning, health, equity, and engagement. They are ideal partners in helping cities achieve bold goals, especially when giving children more access to nature. To support cities in this effort, see the new Nature-Smart Libraries Toolkit published by Nature Everywhere Communities.”

National League of Cities, May 16

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