Author Archive: Alison Marcotte

Emily Drabinski and Michele Norris

2024 LibLearnX Wrap-Up

February 5, 2024

Authors told inspiring stories and emphasized the importance of having open conversations. Presenters addressed the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), covering different ways librarians have started using the technology, as well as measuring its impact. Speakers tackled critical topics in the profession, including intellectual freedom, community engagement, and leadership and management. A different dialogue Opening … Continue reading 2024 LibLearnX Wrap-Up


2023 Holiday Gift Guide for Librarians and Book Lovers

November 29, 2023

  Gifts under $20 This Is My Bookstore 2024 Wall Calendar ($14.99) With Chronicle Books’ This Is My Bookstore 2024 Wall Calendar, avid readers can begin each month discovering a new bookstore from around the world. This 12-by-12-inch calendar will sate their wanderlust and make them feel part of a global literary community.     … Continue reading 2023 Holiday Gift Guide for Librarians and Book Lovers


Ikebana

Flower Power

May 1, 2023

“People who come are fully engaged in the process,” says Matt Beatty, branch manager at San Diego Public Library’s Scripps Miramar Ranch Library (SMRL). More than simply decorative, ikebana is about noticing and appreciating the beauty of nature and bringing the indoors and outdoors together. Using principles of minimalism, silence, shape, and line, practitioners select … Continue reading Flower Power


Joslyn Dixon (left), executive director of Oak Park (Ill.) Public Library, poses with author Caseen Gaines in the LLX Marketplace.

2023 LibLearnX Wrap-Up

February 15, 2023

At ALA’s second-annual LibLearnX, presenters shared different approaches and a refreshed outlook for dealing with the swell of book bans and censorship attempts happening across the country. Authors and illustrators took to the stage to offer stories of hope and struggle and showed the power of centering narratives from those who are Black, Indigenous, and … Continue reading 2023 LibLearnX Wrap-Up


2023 LibLearn X Preview

2023 LibLearnX Preview

January 3, 2023

Designed for active learning, the conference will offer more than 120 educational sessions in various formats, created by and for library professionals. Additionally, LibLearnX sees the return of ALA’s Symposium on the Future of Libraries, as well as an all-new Governance Institute geared toward prospective leaders. This preview represents a sampling of the sessions that … Continue reading 2023 LibLearnX Preview


2022 Annual Wrap-Up

2022 Annual Wrap-Up

July 20, 2022

Major themes that resonated throughout the conference included book bans and censorship; issues around diversity, equity, and inclusion; examples of successful library programming during the pandemic; library funding strategies; patron and library worker safety; information access; and technology trends and challenges. Conference speakers included actors John Cho and Tiffany Haddish, comic book artist Kevin Eastman, … Continue reading 2022 Annual Wrap-Up


Celeste Ng

Newsmaker: Celeste Ng

July 20, 2022

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


2022 LibLearnX Wrap-Up

February 1, 2022

The lineup also included familiar ALA conference components: high-profile speakers, networking opportunities, and celebrations of libraries, books, and authors. Originally scheduled to be held in person in San Antonio, the conference shifted to an all-virtual format because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Speakers get personal US Sen. Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) opened the conference in … Continue reading 2022 LibLearnX Wrap-Up


Charlie cart

By the Numbers: Food

November 1, 2021

350 Number of classes offered annually through Free Library of Philadelphia’s (FLP) Culinary Literacy Center. According to FLP, this kitchen classroom is the first of its kind created at a public library in the US. $9,000 Amount that Chattanooga (Tenn.) Public Library spent on a Charlie Cart—a mobile kitchen that includes a convection oven, an … Continue reading By the Numbers: Food



A band celebrates Juneteenth in Austin, Texas, in 1900. Photo by Austin History Center, Austin Public Library

By the Numbers: Juneteenth

June 1, 2021

19 Date in June when Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the US, is observed. The holiday is also sometimes called Freedom Day or Emancipation Day. 1865 Year that US General Gordon Granger arrived with 2,000 Union troops in Galveston, Texas, on June 19 with news that the Civil … Continue reading By the Numbers: Juneteenth