Author Archive: Carrie Smith

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 →

Caring for the Caretakers

By Carrie Smith | 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

By Carrie Smith | 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 →

Christian Cooper, Marie Javins, and Alitha Martinez

Making Better Myths

By Carrie Smith | January 23, 2021

Cooper, joined by DC Comics Executive Editor Marie Javins, artist and illustrator Alitha Evelyn Martinez, and moderated by Andrew Aydin, former aide to the late Rep. John Lewis and coauthor of his March graphic novel trilogy, discussed bringing new voices to comics at “REPRESENT!: Stories of Personal Experiences, Unheard Voices, and Social Change—a Panel” at … Continue reading Making Better Myths →

A clock next to calendars listing different numbers of days representing REALM test result quarantine periods

REALM Test Results

By Carrie Smith | January 4, 2021

Since May, the REopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums (REALM) project—an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)–funded collaboration between OCLC and the research and development organization Battelle—has been studying surface transmission risks of common library and museum materials. Results from the first five rounds of tests, illustrated in this infographic, show that the virus’s survival … Continue reading REALM Test Results →

Destiny facilitates holds and curbside pickup.

Remote Realities

By Carrie Smith | January 4, 2021

Follett Destiny User: Craig Seasholes, librarian at Dearborn Park International Elementary School in Seattle What is Destiny? Destiny is a library management system that allows cataloging, inventory, and usage reports for print and electronic resources. Destiny Discover is the student-facing catalog that allows students to log in, download electronic resources, and put holds on books. … Continue reading Remote Realities →

Staff (top) and patron views of Curbside Communicator.

Don’t Touch

By Carrie Smith | September 1, 2020

Curbside Communicator Unique’s Curbside Communicator automates curbside pickups for holds and creates a simple communication link between patrons and library staff to facilitate the process. Rather than requiring patrons to reserve a time slot in advance, Curbside Communicator allows patrons to arrive anytime during designated hours and use their mobile devices to check in and … Continue reading Don’t Touch →

Infobase’s Films on Demand fashion studies streaming video collection includes more than 1,300 titles.

Arts Online

By Carrie Smith | July 1, 2020

Infobase Infobase is one of the largest providers of streaming services to libraries. Its Films on Demand service provides more than 42,000 streaming videos to academic libraries on a variety of subjects. Each video is divided into searchable segments, and users can create and bookmark their own segments. Downloadable and searchable transcripts accompany each video, … Continue reading Arts Online →

Serving the Transgender Community

By Carrie Smith | June 29, 2020

In “Serving the Transgender Community: It’s More Than Just Bathrooms!,” an American Library Association (ALA) Virtual program sponsored by the ALA Rainbow Round Table and moderated by Deb Sica, deputy county librarian at Alameda County, panelists discussed things libraries can do to serve the needs of the transgender community. Transgender and nonbinary members of the … Continue reading Serving the Transgender Community →

Making Comics History: Malaka Gharib and Tasha Spillet-Sumner

This Moment in Comics

By Carrie Smith | June 29, 2020

With Tasha Spillett-Sumner, author of the Surviving the City graphic novel series, Gharib discussed the role of the comics industry in this historic moment of uprisings against white supremacy and structural inequality at “A Comics History in the Making,” moderated by Alea Perez, president of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Graphic Novels and Comics Round … Continue reading This Moment in Comics →

Latest Library Links

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Web Behrens writes: “Libraries typically provide books—not publish them. But eight years ago, Ann Arbor (Mich.) District Library (AADL) had some voices it wanted the world to hear. And so emerged Fifth Avenue Press, AADL’s publishing imprint, in 2017. Focused on the authors, history, and culture of Michigan’s Washtenaw County, the imprint includes 60 titles spanning literary genres. They range from Light in a Cage (2017), a chronicle of local educator Judy Patterson Wenzel’s experiences teaching in a prison classroom, to Peri Peri Paprika (2024), a sci-fi novel written by Leanne Su, a University of Michigan doctoral student.”

American Libraries Trend, June
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Allison Frick and Sara DeSabato write: “It’s vital for young people to see themselves in books and collections. Some books give children language to express what is in their hearts. For those who may not have strong family support, a library can offer a safe, private place to access thoughtfully curated, age-congruent information. That’s why, as a school librarian and a teacher, we felt strongly about helping our school, Friends Select School in Philadelphia, create a Lower School Gender and Sexuality Education committee in 2017.”

American Libraries column, June
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Julia Smith writes: “In early May, bestselling author-illustrator Grace Lin published her first novel in nearly nine years. Throughout her more than 25-year career, Lin has garnered many accolades, including a 2010 Newbery Honor, a 2019 Caldecott Honor, and a 2022 Children’s Literature Legacy Award. In advance of her appearance at the upcoming American Library Association 2025 Annual Conference in Philadelphia, she talked with American Libraries about being inspired by myths, the insidiousness of book bans, and finding comfort in the library as a child.”

American Libraries Trend, June
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Serra Sowers writes: “Jen Miller, librarian at Northern Guilford Middle School in Greensboro, North Carolina, is turning the page on lost book fees thanks to donations from a community of book lovers. With the end of the school year just days away, it’s a race against time to get books back on the shelves and clear student debt. When her social media account went viral, she started the Book Return Game—using her platform to keep tally of overdue copies and mobilize followers to help her replace books that never came back. Since then, she’s surprised schools locally and across the country with books.”

WXII-TV (Winston-Salem, N.C.), May 31
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Felicity Dachel writes: “A Minnesota school district is doing away with a book ban, settling a lawsuit that argued the ban was unlawful. The suit was brought against St. Francis Area Schools by Education Minnesota on behalf of eight students, all of whom have parents working as teachers across St. Francis schools.” The settlement requires the district to replace a policy that required selections align with the now-defunct Moms For Library–affiliated website booklooks.org with one that guarantees the input of qualified media specialists and follows a 2024 Minnesota state law that prohibits libraries and schools from banning books.

KARE-TV (Minneapolis), June 10; Words and Money, June 11; The Minnesota Daily, June 23, 2024
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Elissa Malespina writes: “In our seven-part series, we’ve explored AI’s role in personalized learning, assessments, research, libraries, and ethical considerations. Now, we focus on how educators and librarians can navigate the evolving AI landscape and ensure responsible integration. Librarians are essential in the AI-driven knowledge ecosystem, ensuring that students and patrons navigate AI-generated information critically and ethically.”

The AI School Librarian, June 9
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Stephen Town writes: “Little research exists about how library leaders develop their ethical identity, how they manage their work to facilitate library excellence, and how they overcome the difficult and complex problems arising in the academic context. This study provides evidence and a unique perspective toward answering these questions, based on narratives from research library leaders demonstrating the deployment of a range of virtues to improve the character and performance of their libraries.”

portal: Libraries and the Academy, vol. 25 no. 3, July

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