Author Archive: Carrie Smith

Claire Nickerson, learning initiatives and open educational resources librarian at Fort Hays (Kans.) State University, discusses evolving library spaces.

Immersive Classrooms for All

By Carrie Smith | January 28, 2020

Immersive classrooms—spaces that use large displays and interactive elements to simulate environments—have been in use at large academic institutions for years. They generally require expensive screens, projectors, and interactive devices as well as expert-level development to design and adapt content. However, Fort Hays (Kans.) State University (FHSU) received a National Leadership Grant from the Institute … Continue reading Immersive Classrooms for All →

Exploring Speculative Design

By Carrie Smith | January 27, 2020

Jung and Renee Albrecht-Mallinger, senior design researcher at IA Collaborative, hosted a reading group at a collaborative art space in Chicago to address climate change through speculative design, with an end goal of creating an art piece that would engage people and get them to think more deeply about the topic. Jung spoke about the … Continue reading Exploring Speculative Design →

Making Discoveries Discoverable

By Carrie Smith | January 26, 2020

The team of librarians who helped shape this course through collaboration with instructors shared their experience at “Metadata Instruction Mobilizing Human Rights Research in the Undergraduate Classroom” on Saturday, January 25 at the ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Philadelphia. The project began when a history professor approached Alex Boucher, research and instructional services librarian … Continue reading Making Discoveries Discoverable →

More Than Making

By Carrie Smith | January 26, 2020

To explore the roles a library can play in hosting a makerspace, Schrupp posed three questions: Why host a makerspace? Knowing how it fits into a school’s mission and objective will guide how you choose resources and what types of activities will take place. What is the focus? “There are a lot of approaches out … Continue reading More Than Making →

Nebraska City (Neb.) Mayor Bryan Bequette (left) and his wife and daughter celebrate after solving a puzzle in the Morton-James Public Library’s escape room.

Nontraditional Approaches to Reaching Local Leaders

By Carrie Smith | November 1, 2019

At Manitowoc (Wis.) Public Library (MPL), which hosts a free carnival every August, local representatives such as the mayor and aldermen hop into a dunk tank or serve as targets for the water-balloon catapult. Julia Lee, youth services manager at MPL, says getting local celebrities in the dunk tank helps break down barriers between residents … Continue reading Nontraditional Approaches to Reaching Local Leaders →

The MERGE Headset adapts smartphones into VR viewers with access to games, 360-degree video, and educational content.

Alternate Realities, Simplified

By Carrie Smith | November 1, 2019

MERGE While specialized VR equipment can be expensive and difficult to loan, MERGE offers a suite of apps and accessories to make augmented and virtual reality more accessible and portable through common technology including smartphones, tablets, and laptops. The MERGE Cube is a small foam cube that, when used with its accompanying apps, allows users … Continue reading Alternate Realities, Simplified →

OverDrive supports library-driven digital book clubs through publisher negotiation and marketing materials.

Bringing Book Clubs Online

By Carrie Smith | September 3, 2019

OverDrive Digital Book Clubs Libraries that have digital collections from OverDrive are automatically part of the company’s global ebook club, the Big Library Read, which makes select titles available for unlimited checkouts for a limited period three times a year. In addition to this large-scale reading program, the company also provides support for community-wide and … Continue reading Bringing Book Clubs Online →

On the Horizon for Accessibility

By Carrie Smith | June 25, 2019

Reed Strege, director of library services at the Braille Institute of America, led “The Best in New Tech for Readers with Blindness, Visual Impairments, and Physical Disabilities” on June 23 at the ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C., highlighting new and upcoming technology for blind and print disabled library users. “It’s a really … Continue reading On the Horizon for Accessibility →

Saving Your Digital Life

By Carrie Smith | June 25, 2019

Katlin Seagraves is the digital literacy associate at the Tulsa City-County Library where she manages the library’s Digital Literacy Lab. At “Save As: Preserving Your Digital Life” on June 24 at the ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C., Seagraves educated attendees on methods for preserving born-digital personal data like photos and social media. … Continue reading Saving Your Digital Life →

Discord in the Community

By Carrie Smith | June 24, 2019

So many people came to the program, the drag queen held a second storytime immediately after her session. Now, even though the program is over, the library is still receiving around 50 emails per day asking them not to hold it. Sukrit Goswami, director of the Haverford Township Free Library, shared how he and his … Continue reading Discord in the Community →

Matt Beckstrom, systems librarian at Lewis and Clark Library, and Brady Lund, PhD student at Emporia State University, introduce conference attendees to the dark web.

In the Deep Beneath the Iceberg

By Carrie Smith | June 24, 2019

At “Casting light on the Dark Web: Dispelling myths and using it to preserve your anonymity” on June 23 at the ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C., Beckstrom and Brady Lund, PhD student at Emporia (Kans.) University School of Library and Information Management, explained the basics of the dark web and how libraries … Continue reading In the Deep Beneath the Iceberg →

Toward Empowerment

By Carrie Smith | June 23, 2019

Service decisions’ effect on marginalized communities was the focus of Brown’s president’s program, “Inequity and the Disappearance of Reference and User Services,” on June 22 at the ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C. Teresa Morris, reference and instruction librarian at the College of San Mateo, moderated a discussion between Nicole Cooke, program director … Continue reading Toward Empowerment →

Latest Library Links

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Michael Hochman writes: “There are more than 35,000 booksellers and libraries across America, so we crunched the numbers and calculated the top 10 best cities in the nation for bookworms. We eliminated any city with a population less than 50,000, leaving us with the 764 largest American cities with at least one book-related establishment. We then calculated the ratio of book-related establishments per 100,000 residents in each to determine the cities deemed the top 10 best cities for booklovers in the nation. The top cities are a mix of population centers, college towns, hub suburbs, and a few surprises.”
Apartment Guide, Jan. 24
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Jacqui Higgins-Dailey writes: “There was a request for reconsideration waiting for me to research on my first day of work in the collection development department of the Phoenix Public Library. The title was Dinosaurs for Kids by Ken Ham. The request came from a parent concerned about being misled by the book’s title. The book was shelved in 567.9 (dinosaurs) but the book was a biblical interpretation of the timeline of when dinosaurs walked the earth. The parent was concerned that it was shelved with the other books about dinosaurs from a scientific perspective and requested that the library remove the book or shelve it in a religious section.”
Intellectual Freedom Blog, Jan. 28
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ACRL has published three new books full of exercises, effective practices, innovative ideas, and detailed case studies that can help you develop your unique leadership potential, lead change within your academic library, and cultivate the skills of new library leaders. Becoming a Library Leader by Shin Freedman and James M. Freedman can help you understand and develop leadership. Developing the Next Generation of Library Leaders by Lori Birrell shows how the library profession can foster skill development. Leading Change in Academic Libraries edited by Colleen Boff and Catherine Cardwell helps you establish flexible decision-making processes.
ACRL Insider, Jan. 28
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Wearing a virtual reality headset, Deng Kaiyang saw a four-character idiom with one character missing at the new Jiangxi Provincial Library in Nanchang, China. The 8-year-old used the controllers to shoot a digital arrow at a lantern with the right character to play a word game. Other visitors entered small booths and followed the words displayed on the screen, reading stories or poems aloud, then downloading the works via their cellphones to share with family and friends. In a corridor, children stepped excitedly on a projection piano keyboard to play a delightful tune. Readers borrowed books through a facial recognition system.
Xinhua News Agency, Jan. 27
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The LITA Committee Recognizing Excellence in Children’s and Young Adult Science Fiction has released the 2020 Excellence in Children’s and Young Adult Science Fiction Notable Lists. The lists are composed of notable children’s and young adult science fiction published between November 2018 and October 2019 and organized into three age-appropriate categories. The annotated lists are posted on the LITA website.
LITA. Jan. 27
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The ALA Film and Media Round Table’s Notable Videos for Adults Committee has compiled its 2020 list of Notable Videos for Adults, a list of 15 outstanding films released on video within the past two years and suitable for all libraries serving adults. Its purpose is to call attention to recent video releases that make a significant contribution to the world of video. The committee selected 15 outstanding titles from among 45 nominees for this year’s list.
Film and Media Round Table, Jan. 26
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Claudette S. McLinn is the 2020 recipient of the ALSC Distinguished Service Award, which honors an individual who has made significant contributions to library service to children and to ALSC. McLinn is the founder and executive director of the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature in Inglewood, California, and a long-time literacy consultant, advocate, and speaker on library services to children and culturally diverse children’s literature.
ALSC, Jan. 25

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