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August 26, 2022 700 × 500 2022 Library Design Showcase

Fulton County (Ga.) Library System, Central Library in Atlanta

Latest Library Links

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Olivia Olander and Jeremy Gorner write: “Starting this year, public libraries in Illinois had a choice: Adopt principles against book banning or give up state grants. [About 40] school districts, many of them in deeply conservative areas of south and central Illinois, appear to have taken the latter option. Administrators at some of those districts acknowledged being concerned about giving up any measure of control on what books are allowed on their schools’ library shelves. Some 700 school districts statewide have regularly applied for state library grant funding in the last two years.”

Chicago Tribune, Dec. 8
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Despina Gerasimidou and Maela Rakočević Uvodić write: “Displaced persons are scattered all over the world looking for the safest place for them and their families to settle and when they move to a new country are faced with legal, cultural, educational, and economic challenges, while in need of information, guidance, and support. The new IFLA Guidelines for Libraries Supporting Displaced Persons showcase how libraries can champion their core mission for universal and equitable access to information, ideas, and works of imagination, aiming at social, educational, cultural, democratic, and economic well-being.”

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, Dec. 16
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Rebecca Bryant writes: “In 2021, the University of Calgary Libraries in Alberta launched a multilingual reference chatbot by leveraging a commercial product that combines a large language model with retrieval-augmented generation technology. The chatbot is trained on the library’s own web content, including LibGuides and operating hours, and is accessed from the library’s website. Before launch, the implementation team estimated that the chatbot could answer 14%–24% of reference chat questions, but today the chatbot answers about 50% of all questions with a rating of at least 4/5.”

Hanging Together, Dec. 12
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Chase Ollis writes: “On December 16, ALA announced 10 recipients of the 2025 I Love My Librarian Award, nominated by library users for their expertise, dedication, and impact in their communities. Four academic librarians, three public librarians, and three school librarians were selected to receive the 2025 award. ALA received nearly 1,300 nominations from library users across the country. Nominations highlighted librarians’ outstanding service in expanding access to literacy and library services, outreach to their communities, and supporting the needs of the most vulnerable. Each honoree will receive a $5,000 cash prize and complimentary registration and a travel stipend to attend ALA’s LibLearnX conference in Phoenix.”

AL: The Scoop, Dec. 17
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Catherine Hollerbach writes: “Much has been written about the US Surgeon General’s 2023 report on loneliness, which explicitly names libraries as part of the social infrastructure poised to make a difference in addressing the epidemic. Concurrently, since COVID, many public libraries have embraced their role in public health initiatives. Social prescribing, a new trend in health care that connects patients with nonclinical experiences to improve their health, gives libraries another opportunity to make a difference in the lives of their customers.”

Public Libraries Online, Dec. 12
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The Public Library Association (PLA) has selected more than 130 libraries as the third cohort to host digital literacy workshops through the PLA Digital Literacy Workshop Incentive and the new PLA Digital Navigator Workshop Incentive. The workshops, funded by a $2.7 million contribution from AT&T, are designed to support public libraries in their efforts to boost digital skills for everyone in their communities. The workshops leverage online digital literacy courses, created by PLA in collaboration with AT&T, that are available to anyone through DigitalLearn.org and AT&T ScreenReady.

Public Library Association, Dec. 10
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Award-winning author and illustrator Raina Telgemeier and cartoonist and comic theorist Scott McCloud have been selected as 2025 National Library Week honorary chairs. Telgemeier and McCloud have partnered to create a one-of-a-kind graphic novel, The Cartoonists Club (Scholastic Graphix, April 2025). They will also speak at the opening session of ALA’s 2025 LibLearnX Conference in Phoenix January 25. National Library Week celebrates the important role libraries and library professionals play in schools and communities. In 2025, the event will be held April 6–12, with the theme “Drawn to the Library.”

ALA Communications, Marketing, and Media Relations Office, Dec. 5

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