Author Archive: Char Booth

Reflective Teaching for Librarians

By Char Booth | March 14, 2012

Most librarians are educators in one sense or another, even when the role is not explicit. The best teachers learn from others and learn by doing. This is a good rule for improving at virtually anything: Seeking inspiration and accepting criticism makes your work richer and more well rounded. Many of the ideas I present … Continue reading Reflective Teaching for Librarians →

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Emily Drabinski writes: “When you’re president of the ALA, you get asked a lot of questions. But here’s one that’s hard to answer: ‘What’s your favorite library?’ When you’ve seen as many amazing libraries as I have, it’s impossible to choose, so my favorite library is always the most recent one I’ve visited. As much as individual libraries are distinct, they also have a lot in common. Librarians select, acquire, describe, organize, and provide access to information. These fundamentals might look different in time and place, but they remain the core of our profession.”

American Libraries column, May
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Marshall Breeding writes: “The library technology industry had a quiet year in 2023. But in the absence of major business moves and acquisitions, companies set their sights on executing strategies to strengthen their market position. Previous cycles of business consolidation have yielded a layered landscape with distinct levels of competition. Competition at each level remains vigorous. Libraries may have fewer product choices because of past acquisitions, but the options remaining are distinctive. Most libraries can choose between for-profit and nonprofit vendors, and between proprietary and open source products.”

American Libraries feature, May
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ALA’s redesigned website went live on April 30. Upgrades include simplified menus, smoother navigation, enhanced functionality, and fewer pages for a cleaner experience. The enhanced calendar collects all events in one place with filters to search by topic, event type, location, audience, and more. A new awards and grants interface makes it easier to find and apply for funding opportunities. The new site is compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2, and the Reference and User Services Association’s Accessibility Assembly is continuing efforts to improve accessibility.

ALA, Apr. 30
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Tania Otero Martinez writes: “Since a shocking plunge in math and reading scores on the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress, educators, administrators, and policymakers have grappled with how to address learning challenges following the pandemic. One factor that has largely escaped notice, however, is the role school libraries and librarians play in academic performance. School libraries are too often treated as a luxury rather than an essential part of the public education system with a proven impact on learning. It is time to turn around years of disinvestment in school libraries and librarians.”

Center for American Progress, Apr. 18
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Cynthia Hudson Vitale writes: “The Association of Research Libraries has issued Research Libraries Guiding Principles for Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI technologies, and in particular, generative AI, have significant potential to improve access to information and advance openness in research outputs. AI also has the potential to disrupt information landscapes and the communities that research libraries support and serve. The increasing availability of AI models sparks many possibilities and raises several ethical, professional, and legal considerations. These principles will serve as a foundational framework for the ethical and transparent use of AI and reflect the values we hold in research libraries.”

Association of Research Libraries, Apr. 25
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Orlando Mayorquín writes: “Less than two weeks after a Pennsylvania school board unanimously voted to cancel a gay author’s antibullying speech at a middle school, the board voted Wednesday night to reverse its decision and reinstate the event amid pressure from parents, students, and administrators. The 5-to-4 vote by the Cumberland Valley School District’s board came in front of scores of community members who packed a high school auditorium and, for several hours, chastised the board for having canceled the event featuring the actor and author Maulik Pancholy over what they said were homophobic concerns.”

New York Times, Apr. 24
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Wanda Sykes may have been the headline guest on the April 23 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, but the highlight of the show was a World Book Day segment about antilibrarian bills. Kimmel said “There are at least 100 bills in various red states, three of which have become law already, threatening librarians with prison for the crime of lending books.” He then turned the segment over to real-life librarians to clarify that they give out library cards and offer storytimes rather than “grooming” children or spreading Satanism and meth. One of the featured librarians concluded the segment by declaring “You can have To Kill a Mockingbird when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!”

Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Apr. 23

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