Banned Books Week 2010 Urges Readers to “Think for Yourself and Let Others Do the Same”

October 19, 2010

Challenged books are wrapped in brown paper and included with statistical graphs and newspaper articles in a display at Gallaudet University Library in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Jan Susina (right) and his son Jacob pose after reading from To Kill a Mockingbird and Junie B. Jones Loves Handsome Warren at Illinois State University's Milner Library in Normal.

Zanne Macdonald, a librarian at Jefferson-Madison Regional Library in Charlottesville, Virginia, answers questions for the local media about the library's display at a downtown Free Speech Wall.

A display at California State University, Bakersfield, Walter W. Stiern Library.

Playing games in Houston leads to families learning and having fun together

Violence Grips Karachi, but U.S. Consulate Announces Plans to Reopen IRC Library

Latest Library Links

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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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Urszula Lechtenberg and Helene Gold write: “Libraries take the call for accessibility very seriously. However, our web content can still fall short of the World Wide Web Consortium guidelines first developed in 1999 and continuously updated through the present day. In April 2024, the Department of Justice finalized a rule updating regulations for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The final rule dictates that public entities’ web content [including LibGuides and licensed content from libraries that receive federal funding] meet the technical standards of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.1, level AA.”

Information Technology and Libraries, Dec. 16
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Rachel Rosenberg writes: “Inclusivity requires intention and planning. More and more, library leaders are acknowledging that staff members and patrons benefit when our programs, hiring practices, and trainings are inclusive and community-led. These six guides provide support for libraries looking to make thoughtful and service-transforming changes.”

American Libraries column, Nov./ Dec.