Author Archive: Carrie Smith




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

Priming the STEM Pipeline

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

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

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

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

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


Stacey Aldrich and Ian Kitajima

Meeting the Future Head-on

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

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


Melissa N. Glenn and Melissa Munn

Caring for the Caretakers

January 24, 2021

“Most of us are managing multiple stresses at once. Some are related to the pandemic, and some are related to normal life,” said Melissa Glenn, health and social services coordinator for King County (Washington) Library System (KCLS). “Working from home, witnessing racial violence, political tension—these are all things can cause distress, especially when they are … Continue reading Caring for the Caretakers


Julia Gelfand, Shannon Lichty, Sarah Sansbury, and Amber Seely

Meeting Digital Challenges

January 23, 2021

Last year saw unprecedented increases in digital lending. Digital collections aren’t new to libraries, but coronavirus precautions have led many library users to try out ebooks, digital audiobooks, and other online offerings for the first time. Shannon Lichty, vice president of partner services for OverDrive, moderated a panel of academic, public, and school librarians in … Continue reading Meeting Digital Challenges