All posts by Sanhita SinhaRoy

Photo of Fulton County (Georgia) Library System's Central Library in Atlanta
Features

2022 Library Design Showcase

Environmentally sound Fulton County (Ga.) Library System, Central Library in Atlanta The interior design of the renovated downtown Central Library prioritizes accessibility, flexibility, and transparency, with large windows, multipurpose collaboration spaces, and a two-story atrium wrapping around a central staircase. The building, which is LEED Gold–certified, also emphasizes sustainability. By renovating instead of building entirely … Continue reading 2022 Library Design Showcase →

2022 ALA/AIA Library Building Awards
Features

2022 ALA/AIA Library Building Awards

The following libraries are winners of the 2022 Library Building Awards, sponsored by Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures (a division of the American Library Association) and the American Institute of Architects. The awards recognize the best in library architecture and design and are open to any architect licensed in the United States. Projects may be located … Continue reading 2022 ALA/AIA Library Building Awards →
Features

Show and Tell

Interior signage includes identification signs for service points, office room numbers, elevators, stairways, restrooms, entrances, and exits; directional signs; signs for orientation (call number ranges, floor directory); and regulatory signs (fire exits, fire alarm pulls). Exterior signage usually includes signs for site identification, entrances, exits, parking (and accessible parking), and directional signs. At its most … Continue reading Show and Tell →

Trends

ID Made Easier

“We saw how hard it was for [residents] to get electricity, rent an apartment, open a bank account, or pick up their children from school” without them, says Damaris Gonzalez, an immigration rights organizer with the nonprofit Texas Organizing Project (TOP), which has been advocating for enhanced library cards in the state. These cards are … Continue reading ID Made Easier →

Photo of ALA Executive Director Tracie D. Hall. Text says "From the Executive Director by Tracie D. Hall"
Columns, Executive Director's Message

Librarianship as Resistance

In the present age of neo-censorship—which journalist Rohan Jayasekera describes as “a kind of control on opinion that moves beyond the traditional model” (that of the state, the law, and the secret police) to now include “big business, courtrooms, schools, newsrooms [that] block ideas out of habit, or prejudice, or fear”—the contemporary answer to Juvenal’s … Continue reading Librarianship as Resistance →

Librarian's Library by Araceli Mendez Hintermeister
Columns, Librarian's Library

Project Management Basics

Launching Large-Scale Library Initiatives: Innovation and Collaboration By Valerie Horton With years of library experience under her belt, Horton knows that project management involves various stages of planning and a careful balance of preparation, collaboration, and management of resources. In this title, Horton presents lessons and techniques from project management across various industries and adapts … Continue reading Project Management Basics →

Celeste Ng
Features, Newsmaker

Newsmaker: Celeste Ng

Ng, who spoke at the American Library Association’s 2022 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C., talked with American Libraries about the novel, which calls to mind the not-so-distant past—and the anti–Asian American hate we are seeing today. In Our Missing Hearts, libraries are one of the last remaining sources of truth, as an underground … Continue reading Newsmaker: Celeste Ng →

Photo of ALA Executive Director Tracie D. Hall. Text says "From the Executive Director by Tracie D. Hall"
Columns, Executive Director's Message

Calling a Thing a Thing

The nonprofit ProLiteracy, one of ALA’s longtime partners, makes the connection between reading and health care agency. It points out that women with low literacy skills are at higher risk of “financial, health, and partner vulnerabilities throughout their lives,” potentially limiting their independence. That cyclical relationship—limited education and reading ability leading to limited economic opportunity … Continue reading Calling a Thing a Thing →