All posts by Megan Bennett

Librarian's Library by Allison Escoto

Leadership at Any Level

Inspired Thinking: Big Ideas to Enrich Yourself and Your Community By Dorothy Stoltz, with Morgan Miller, Lisa Picker, Joseph Thompson, and Carrie Willson For libraries to remain relevant, the concept of inspired thinking is not only valuable but essential. Beginning with a hat tip to big thinkers like Plato and Shakespeare, this reflective volume outlines … Continue reading Leadership at Any Level

Headshot of Kelly Yang

Newsmaker: Kelly Yang

Yang, now a bestselling and award-winning middle-grade and YA author, spent her childhood moving from city to city, making it difficult to find her footing. But everywhere she went, she could find familiar stories and characters at the library. “Books became my friends, but most importantly, the library became my home,” Yang says. “It was … Continue reading Newsmaker: Kelly Yang

Headshot of Ani DiFranco

Newsmaker: Ani DiFranco

DiFranco, who released a bestselling memoir in 2019, published her debut children’s book, The Knowing (Penguin Random House), in March. She describes the book as a chance for readers to look inward and not get lost in external identities and the “cultural signifiers” around them. American Libraries spoke with DiFranco during the 2023 LibLearnX conference … Continue reading Newsmaker: Ani DiFranco

An illustration representing libraries who utilized relief funding to support recovery from the pandemic as well as natural disasters.

A Perfect Storm

The library served as a hub for the school’s approximately 400 students and faculty. It had separate spaces for elementary and high school students to study, check out books, and use computers. Maria and its aftermath claimed most of the library’s collections. Of an estimated 4,000–5,000 books, 90% were no longer usable. “Everything was full … Continue reading A Perfect Storm

Pickens County (S.C.) Library System's blood pressure medical kit

A Checkup for Checkout

“We’re a fairly tight-knit, smaller community, so we get to know our patrons very well and we hear a lot of different challenges that they’re facing in their everyday lives,” says Lepore, director of North Scituate (R.I.) Public Library (NSPL). She and library staffers began searching for ways to address pandemic recovery with a focus … Continue reading A Checkup for Checkout

A close-up of the cell phones provided through the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District's Cellphone Lending Program

Libraries on Call

When Las Vegas–Clark County (Nev.) Library District (LVCCLD) closed its doors at the start of the pandemic, the technological barriers that existed within the community were laid bare, particularly those affecting people facing homelessness. Last April, LVCCLD launched its Cellphone Lending Program, an innovative approach to providing hundreds of unhoused individuals with access to needed … Continue reading Libraries on Call

Pieces from Library of Congress' Bob Hope Collection

By the Numbers: Humor

1976 Year that author Larry Wilde founded National Humor Month, held annually in April. 70 Number of oral history interviews available online through the American Comedy Archives, housed at Iwasaki Library at Emerson College in Boston. Interview participants include Margaret Cho, Dick Van Dyke, Betty White, and “Weird Al” Yankovic. 628,300 Number of print materials … Continue reading By the Numbers: Humor

Headshot of Adrienne Doman Calkins

Behavior Policy Reboot

In preparing to welcome our patrons back amid a statewide mask mandate, library leadership realized our existing behavior policy was inadequate. Our policy lacked the nuances needed during a pandemic and didn’t cover our expanded virtual services. It needed more consistent and empathetic oversight when we knew our community was dealing with polarized and heightened … Continue reading Behavior Policy Reboot

Librarian's Library by Araceli Mendez Hintermeister

Demystifying Data

Fundamentals of Planning and Assessment for Libraries By Rachel A. Fleming-May and Regina Mays Part of ALA Publishing’s Fundamentals series, this book helps to build understanding of planning and assessment cycles in a way that suits all library workers’ needs, no matter their prior familiarity. Fleming-May and Mays detail different parts of the cycle, including … Continue reading Demystifying Data

Headshots of Ibram X. Kendi and Nic Stone

Newsmakers: Ibram X. Kendi and Nic Stone

Now Kendi, working with middle-grade and YA fiction author Nic Stone, is bringing his concepts and research to teens in an effort to help them understand their role in identifying and dismantling systemic racism. How to Be a (Young) Antiracist (Penguin Random House) was released in January. After the authors opened the American Library Association’s … Continue reading Newsmakers: Ibram X. Kendi and Nic Stone

A member of Brooklyn Public Library's senior debate program participates in a debate hosted during the library's 2022 Older Americans Celebration Fair.

Making a Statement

“Kids are very strong critical thinkers,” says the University of California, Berkeley, sophomore. “They’re natural at questioning the status quo.” Yet Tong says not many spaces exist for children to participate in conversations about social justice. In 2019, as a high school junior, Tong approached San José (Calif.) Public Library (SJPL) staffers with a programming … Continue reading Making a Statement

An image of a tape recorder used to tape conversations at the White House during the Nixon administration and now belongs to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.

By the Numbers: Presidents’ Day

Presidents’ Day is February 20  1955 Year Congress passed the Presidential Libraries Act, establishing the Presidential Library System. Before that, many presidents’ archives were lost, destroyed, or separated. 887,000 Number of copies of Barack Obama’s 2020 memoir, A Promised Land, that sold in the US and Canada within the first day of publication—a record for … Continue reading By the Numbers: Presidents’ Day