Author Archive: Dan Montgomery

Advocacy Unites Us

By Dan Montgomery | March 2, 2026

Indeed, the American Library Association (ALA) exists because of a shared desire for a professional community and coordinated advocacy. In my early interactions across the many facets of the Association, I have seen firsthand the deep drive and commitment our members bring to this work. At events like the American Association of School Librarians National … Continue reading Advocacy Unites Us →

Reinvigorating ALA

By Dan Montgomery | January 2, 2026

As I write this, still in my early weeks at the Association, I’ve been asked often about my own priorities for ALA. Well, my primary goal is this: to support us in achieving the vision outlined in the ALA Forward initiative. This includes ensuring ALA’s financial stability, fostering membership trust and growth, and bolstering advocacy. … Continue reading Reinvigorating ALA →

Ready to Go

By Dan Montgomery | November 3, 2025

Neither of my parents went to college, but I am fortunate that they read constantly and took me and my siblings to the library every week. No vacation began without a trip to the bookstore or library to stock up—everything from comic books to Robert Louis Stevenson (I still have my hardcover Treasure Island from … Continue reading Ready to Go →

Latest Library Links

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Family playing a block-stacking game

Rachele Harmuth writes: “When children engage in play—whether solving a puzzle, creating stories, or playing a game—they are doing far more than passing time. Play helps children practice important skills that support mental, emotional, and social health. Many caregivers recognize the importance of reading and academic learning, but may not always realize that play is equally critical for building life skills. Libraries are in a unique position to help families make that connection. Libraries interested in participating in the MESH Helps Play for Resilience campaign during Mental Health Awareness Month can apply to receive resources and materials through March 31.”

Games and Gaming Round Table, Mar. 12
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Sallyann Price writes: “Bad-news fatigue is real for library advocates who feel like every year is more hostile than the one before it. Since about 2021, coordinated groups of parents and elected officials have increasingly pushed to outsource librarians’ curatorial authority and exert greater control over what books are available on library shelves. But in 2025, there were notable examples of voters, courts, and candidates across the country affirming the profession’s core values of intellectual freedom and inclusive access. Below we highlight five recent victories for libraries, library workers, and their communities.”

American Libraries feature, Mar./Apr.
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Oluwademilade Afolabi writes: “Most people who use Microsoft Word daily still don’t know that Spike exists, and that’s a shame. It’s not tucked behind a subscription wall or buried in a settings menu nobody opens. It’s right there, bound to a keyboard shortcut, waiting. I stumbled across it while trying to rearrange a lengthy report without endlessly cycling through copy-paste operations, and it has changed the way I think about editing in Word. It’s a secondary clipboard that accumulates multiple chunks of content and holds them all until you’re ready to drop them exactly where you need them.”

MakeUseOf, Mar. 6
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Marissa Levien writes: “Reading goals aren’t a new phenomenon—there’s a whole generation of us who grew up with the promise that, if we read a certain number of books in a summer, our local library would be obligated to throw us a pizza party. But if we’re gamifying our reading, we stop reading widely: we pick different versions of a story that we are guaranteed to like, and with that we lose a sense of well-roundedness, a sense of discovery and surprise. On a deeper level, it also means that we give up the art of reading slowly.”

Literary Hub, Mar. 5
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Hana Lee Goldin writes: “Most of us might experience algorithmic curation as helpful. The system learns our preferences and filters out what seems irrelevant. But the filter doesn’t distinguish between content we don’t want and content we’ve simply never encountered. It removes both—including ideas, opportunities, and perspectives we might value if we knew they existed. Each prediction based on our past behavior assumes our future interests will mirror our history.”

Card Catalog, Mar. 10
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Greyson Pasiak writes: “Academic librarians are increasingly tasked with creating and implementing new policies and ethical guidelines surrounding generative artificial intelligence’s (AI) role in research and publishing practices. They are called through vocational language to educate on safe, transparent, and responsible use of AI. These new roles and responsibilities are coupled with insufficient time and general support, resulting in faculty and staff feeling fatigued. Many have already addressed how fatigue in higher education can ultimately lead to interruptions in publishing support and academic research if not addressed.”

The Scholarly Kitchen, Mar. 4
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Anth Sinnott writes: “In the digital library, statistics are ubiquitous. We are currently awash in an exhausting volume of data, from COUNTER 5.1 reports to granular platform analytics that promise to underpin our collection strategies. When harnessed correctly, this data is the engine of a truly dynamic service. It allows for just-in-time acquisition and a responsive, data-driven strategy that mirrors the actual needs of our researchers and students in real-time. However, there is a darker side to this deluge. Data can be weaponized.”

Librarianth, Mar. 9

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