Author Archive: Carrie Smith

Accessible not just discoverable; Lauren Geiger and Emily D. Harrison

Planning for Accessibility

By Carrie Smith | June 27, 2021

Harrison and Lauren Geiger, metadata librarian at MSU Libraries, shared their experiences in improving accessibility in the university’s digital archives and special collections at the on-demand session “Accessible, Not Just Discoverable: Ensuring Accessibility in Digital Collections,” part of the American Library Association’s 2021 Annual Conference and Exhibition Virtual. Users encounter the four principles of accessibility … Continue reading Planning for Accessibility →

What's in a name: LGBTQ+ and Latinx perspectives on access

What’s in a Naming Term?

By Carrie Smith | June 26, 2021

Access language—subject headings, naming terms, and search terms—reflect the values, priorities, and assumptions of their creators, and often demean or pathologize marginalized groups. The complexity of solving these issues—if they are solvable—was explored in “What’s in a name?: LGBTQ+ and Latinx perspectives on access terminology—challenges and solutions,” on Saturday, June 26, as part of the … Continue reading What’s in a Naming Term? →

Lean on Community, Learn from Robots

By Carrie Smith | June 26, 2021

Ewing spoke to K. C. Boyd, school librarian in District of Columbia Public Schools, about her new middle-grade book on Friday, June 25 as part of the American Library Association’s 2021 Annual Conference and Exhibition Virtual, addressing themes of community, emotional learning, and life’s transitions. Ewing believes we form our identities as readers as young … Continue reading Lean on Community, Learn from Robots →

Headshots of three speakers from the “Smooth Transitions: Developing Information Literacy in the In-Between Places" panel

Information in the In-Between Spaces

By Carrie Smith | June 26, 2021

As manager of knowledge services for a special library that is also open to the public, Zoe Magierek found herself in “a really in-between place.” Forefront, an association for Illinois grant makers and nonprofits, has a library that provides services to nonprofit professionals and volunteers. Magierek has found herself helping patrons learn skills from saving … Continue reading Information in the In-Between Spaces →

Headshots of four speakers from the “Sustainable Choices in Library Prizes and Promotional Materials” panel at ALA 2021 Annual Conference

Green Swag and Memorable Experiences

By Carrie Smith | June 25, 2021

At the panel “Sustainable Choices in Library Prizes and Promotional Materials” on June 25 at the American Library Association’s 2021 Annual Conference and Exhibition Virtual, four librarians shared how they’ve balanced sustainable practices while still rewarding engagement. “I feel pretty bad about handing out a lot of plastic stuff to kids that I know is … Continue reading Green Swag and Memorable Experiences →

Gracey Gordon, Liz M. McChesney, Vicky Perez, Aldo Vasquez

Priming the STEM Pipeline

By Carrie Smith | June 25, 2021

The STEM career pipeline is “leaky,” often leaving behind students of color and those in poverty. For this reason, the Urban Libraries Council—with funding from IMLS—launched Partners for Middle School STEM in 2018. This grant funded programs at 11 libraries to develop models for building strong STEM community partnerships for middle school children. Durham County … Continue reading Priming the STEM Pipeline →

Alicia Serratos poses in front of a seed library holding a box of seeds.

Newsmaker: Alicia Serratos

By Carrie Smith | June 1, 2021

Serratos started her first seed library in 2014 at her elementary school in Mission Viejo, California, after learning about healthy eating, gardening, and sustainability. Through Three Sisters Seed Box, she has now helped place seed libraries in all 50 states and has filled requests from as far away as India. American Libraries talked with Serratos … Continue reading Newsmaker: Alicia Serratos →

Two toddlers and an adult play with Everbright, an interactive light wall with many multicolored round dials. The smallest child faces the camera smiling.

Low-Vision Accessibility

By Carrie Smith | June 1, 2021

Everbright User: Kate Simpson, Central Library children’s department manager at San Antonio Public Library What is Everbright? Everbright is an interactive light wall. It has knobs all over, and each knob changes color as you turn it. You can create images or patterns by setting the dials to various color shades, and you can program … Continue reading Low-Vision Accessibility →

Monique Sugimoto, librarian and archivist for Palos Verdes Library District's Local History Center, points out over the coast. Photo: Erik Jay

Bookend: History Rolls On

By Carrie Smith | May 3, 2021

Monique Sugimoto, an avid bicycle commuter—and archivist and librarian for Palos Verdes Library District’s (PVLD) Local History Center—enjoys pairing her expertise in the region’s past with her rides to work. “I’d give myself these little tours and thought it would be cool if we did an introduction to the peninsula.” Thus, Pedal PV—a series of … Continue reading Bookend: History Rolls On →

Gale Engage provides dashboard visualizations of library data.

Target Acquired

By Carrie Smith | May 3, 2021

Gale Engage User: Riti Grover, director at Farmington (Mich.) Community Library What is Gale Engage? Gale Engage is a marketing and analysis tool designed to optimize the library’s effectiveness through data analysis and dashboard visualizations that enable library staff to best focus their efforts within the community. How do you use it? We use Gale … Continue reading Target Acquired →

Meeting the Future Head-on

By Carrie Smith | January 25, 2021

It’s a timely, if violent, image: The pandemic has accelerated numerous technological changes, including digitization, automation, and remote work. In the midst of this upheaval, the Hawaii State Library system has partnered with Oceanit to help dodge any metaphorical punches by bringing artificial intelligence (AI) technology, along with job training and mentorship for students, to … Continue reading Meeting the Future Head-on →

Jeff Pinsker, Erica Ruscio, and Rebecca Strang

Let’s Play Online

By Carrie Smith | January 25, 2021

Strang was joined by Erica Ruscio, young adult librarian at Ventress Memorial Library in Marshfield, Massachusetts; Dan Major, adult services library at Orion Township (Mich.) Public Library (OTPL); and Jeff Pinsker, CEO of Amigo Games, for “Virtual Gaming Programs: Resources for Fighting Social Isolation with Gaming,” a session sponsored by the Games and Gaming Round … Continue reading Let’s Play Online →

Latest Library Links

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Latifah Muhammad writes: “LeVar Burton’s dream of hosting Jeopardy! has been a decade in the making, and it finally came true on July 26 with Burton kicking off his run as guest host of the long-running quiz show. Besides helping millions of kids fall in love with reading, Burton has written several books of his own, narrated books for other authors, hosted public book readings via the LeVar Burton Reads podcast, and recently launched a book club. Here is a roundup of some of the books that Burton has recommended.”

IndieWire, July 27
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Looking for online newspapers and their archives? Ancestry’s Newspapers.com archive includes searchable articles from more than 21,000 newspapers dating back to the 1700s. A similar service exists in the UK at the British Newspaper Archive, which allows you to search archived British newspapers for free but only allows registered users to read digitized content. The NewspaperArchive provides a similar subscription service, allowing you to search newspapers from around the world. The Newspaper Map provides direct links to thousands of newspapers currently operating all around the world.

Google Maps Mania, July 27
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Richard Byrne writes: “Creating multimedia projects like videos, podcasts, and audio slideshows is a great way for students to develop a variety of skills. Finding images that meet that criteria is easy. Finding audio that fits that criteria is a bit of a challenge for some. That’s why I’ve put together a new video that highlights my three go-to places to find free audio that students can use in their multimedia projects.”

Free Technology for Teachers, July 26
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Christianna Silva writes: “I read a lot, and I love the low pressure engagement of a virtual book club. I was bad at attending book clubs in real life before the pandemic, because my book club friends and I all have very busy schedules, so finding a time for us all to meet up was difficult. Scheduling online hangouts is easier because you can do them from anywhere—at your family’s house, with your partner, or even from your own bed. But it’s not just the scheduling—there are four main reasons book clubs are ruined by an IRL meetup, and why I’ll be staying home.”

Mashable, July 23
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Terra Dankowski writes: “As a woman who is mixed race, has experienced elite schools and generational poverty, and has been thin and fat at different times in her life, Savala Nolan has long felt that she occupies in-between spaces in society. The lawyer, speaker, and writer (whose work has appeared in Bust, Time, and Vogue) explores this liminal territory in her debut collection, Don’t Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body (Simon & Schuster, July), touching topics such as dating, motherhood, and police brutality. American Libraries spoke with Nolan, executive director of the Thelton E. Henderson School of Social Justice at Berkeley (Calif.) Law, about identity, representation, and how libraries can help each of us find our story.”

American Libraries Trend, Jul./Aug.
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Terra Dankowski writes: “When Tenzin Kalsang, children’s librarian at Brooklyn (N.Y.) Public Library’s Williamsburg branch, started an online series of bilingual storytimes in April 2020, the native Tibetan speaker couldn’t have predicted she’d become an overnight sensation. After all, BPL wasn’t new to hosting programs in Arabic, Bengali, Russian, Spanish, Urdu, and other languages—nor was the system unfamiliar with virtual storytimes, which typically attract 100–300 people. But her program garnered tens of thousands of viewers, from patrons in her neighborhood to students attending a Tibetan school in Australia to monks living in Nepal.”

American Libraries feature, Jul.Aug.
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A sign addressing systemic racism was recently removed from the Whitefish Bay (Wisc.) Public Library grounds following vocal criticism from some in the community—including former Milwaukee Bucks player Steve Novak. The sign, which was placed in a rock garden display outside the library by anti-bias organization Bay Bridge Wisconsin, read: “Whitefish Bay will be a welcoming community that recognizes systemic racism, and actively works to address and dismantle it. How will you be a bridge in helping to repair and build a more equitable community?”

Milwaukee (Wisc.) Journal-Sentinel, July 26

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