Author Archive: Annie Bostrom

Latest Library Links

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Nathan Hart writes: “‘These are the giant bugs.’ Those five words, repeated twice, propelled Hakim Kalokoh, a 36-year-old security guard at the Columbus Metropolitan Library, to viral TikTok fame. Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Library posted a TikTok of Kalokoh telling library Digital Storyteller Specialist Grayson Kelly that he was not at a Chappell Roan concert and was, in fact, in front of the library’s giant bug exhibit on September 13. Since then, 1.1 million users have liked the video, and 6.4 million have seen it, far outpacing any of the library’s previous TikToks.”

Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 10
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“Election news can be both overwhelming and insufficient—a veritable deluge of reports and opinion pieces, too focused on the issues of the hour, obscuring our understanding of the larger picture and deeper repercussions. True understanding takes breadth and depth. Often, it takes a book. For this election season, Booklist editors have selected two lists of books—fiction and nonfiction—for both adult and young adult readers. The recommendations explore the big questions that underlie elections: Who are we? Who do we want to be? What do we want the future to look like?”

AL: The Scoop, Oct. 16
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Registration for ALA’s 2025 LibLearnX Conference, to be held January 24–27 in Phoenix, is now open. Early-bird rates are available through December 6. Eisner Award-winning graphic novelist Raina Telgemeier and cartoonist and comics theorist Scott McLeod, co-creators of the forthcoming book The Cartoonists Club, will present the opening session. Technology reporter and novelist Vauhini Vara will discuss the power and danger of corporate-owned technologies, including artificial intelligence, at the Close Out session. Award-winning Anishinaabe journalist and writer Kyle Edwards will be the featured speaker at the ALA President’s Program. See more featured speakers and information at the LibLearnX website.

ALA Conference Services, Oct. 16
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Carrie M. Santo-Thomas writes: “Early this summer I was interviewed by Rose Horowitch, an editor for The Atlantic, for an article that would explore the problem of reading stamina [among college students]. But while professors at elite universities sound the alarm over Gen Z undergrads not finishing Les Misérables because they are uninterested in reading a pompous French man drone on for chapters about the Paris sewer system, my colleagues and I have developed professional toolboxes with endless other ways to inspire our students to read about justice, compassion, and redemption.”

Teaching & Learning, Oct. 4, The Atlantic, Oct. 1
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Ileana Garnand writes: “A Houston-area public library reclassified a nonfiction children’s book about Native American history as fiction, after the title was reviewed by citizens, not librarians. In September, Colonization and the Wampanoag Story by Linda Coombs was challenged in Montgomery County libraries by an unknown person, according to public records. Per county policy, the book was reviewed by a group of five citizens who weren’t required to consult a librarian. Coombs is a Wampanoag Tribe historian who has worked in the field for 50 years, and the book is classified as nonfiction by the Library of Congress.”

Lonestar Live, Oct. 14, Mar. 26; Texas Freedom to Read Project, Oct. 11
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Shannon Maughan writes: “On Saturday, October 19, libraries, bookstores, and other partners and advocates across the country will be holding community events and rallies against book banning as part of the inaugural Freedom to Read Day of Action. The effort has been spearheaded and organized by ALA, the Association for Rural and Small Libraries, Brooklyn Public Library, New York Public Library, Queens Public Library, and ALA’s Unite Against Book Bans initiative. The Unite Against Book Bans website provides additional information and resources for readers and event hosts.”

Publishers Weekly, Oct. 15
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Kelly Jensen writes: “Thanks to a new proviso in the South Carolina state budget, at least one public library system in the state has made the decision to acquire no new books for those under the age of 18. In a statement released across York County Public Library’s social media October 11, the library board chair announced the moratorium on new purchases until the State better clarifies what is and is not permitted in public libraries.”

Book Riot, Oct. 14; York County (S.C.) Public Library, Oct. 11

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Author Archive: Annie Bostrom

Recommended Reading: Books for Election Season