Author Archive: Diana Panuncial

Angie Thomas

Newsmaker: Angie Thomas

May 1, 2023

Thomas continues to champion Black narratives through new and numerous projects, including a TV show currently in production with Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground media company. The show will be based on Blackout (Quill Tree Books, 2021), an anthology she cowrote with Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon. … Continue reading Newsmaker: Angie Thomas


Three illustrated figures are seen reaching out to touch an illustration of a smartphone.

Getting Back to Giving Back

March 1, 2023

In a milieu of uncertainty caused by worldwide shutdowns, Brooks, executive director of Friends of the Library, Montgomery County (FOLMC) in Maryland and a United for Libraries board member, didn’t know if it was insensitive to ask the community to support the library with donations. She attended a workshop in 2020 on fundraising during a … Continue reading Getting Back to Giving Back


Man wearing a VR headset

On the Cutting Edge

March 1, 2023

American Libraries spoke with the creators of two initiatives—virtual reality programs for medical students at Greenblatt Library at Augusta (Ga.) University (AU) and a specialized book club for pediatric staff at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). Both innovations were presented at the 2022 Medical Library Association’s Annual Conference and demonstrate the impact of medical librarianship. … Continue reading On the Cutting Edge


Clint Smith

Newsmaker: Clint Smith

March 1, 2023

American Libraries spoke with Smith ahead of his appearance at the American Library Association’s 2023 LibLearnX conference in New Orleans, about how the city has influenced his identity and how fatherhood has shaped his writing. You’re a New Orleans native. What impact has the city had on your work? There’s obviously the food and the … Continue reading Newsmaker: Clint Smith



Clint Smith

Our Collective Histories

January 29, 2023

Smith discussed his journey in crafting his narrative nonfiction book, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America (Little, Brown and Company, 2021), and his upcoming poetry collection, Above Ground (Little, Brown and Company, March), at his January 29 featured speaker session at the American Library Association’s 2023 LibLearnX … Continue reading Our Collective Histories



Willie Mae Brown

Taking Care of Our Future

January 28, 2023

Brown spoke of her catalytic experience seeing Martin Luther King Jr. and the importance of telling one’s story at her keynote speaker session January 28 at the American Library Association’s 2023 LibLearnX conference in New Orleans.  Brown’s debut novel, My Selma (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, January), recounts her experience growing up in Selma, Alabama, during … Continue reading Taking Care of Our Future


Tonya Ryals

Finding Your Allies

January 28, 2023

At “Building Strong Trustee Relationships during Book Challenges,” a January 28 session at the American Library Association’s 2023 LibLearnX conference in New Orleans, Tonya Ryals—director of MacDonald Public Library in New Baltimore, Michigan—shared tips on how library directors can create and maintain relationships with their trustees to form allyships when requests for book reconsiderations come … Continue reading Finding Your Allies


Molly Virello

Roll for Initiative

January 28, 2023

At “Critical Hit! Table Top Gaming in the Library,” a January 28 session at the American Library Association’s 2023 LibLearnX conference in New Orleans, Virello shared how to run a Dungeons & Dragons session for new players, including basic game terminology and what library workers should consider if they want to start their own program. A … Continue reading Roll for Initiative



Ihor Poshyvailo, founder of Maidan Museum in Kyiv, holds the ceramic cockerel that has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

A Helping Hand

November 1, 2022

American Libraries spoke with three members of the library community who have rallied in support of Ukraine through efforts to preserve cultural information, raise funds for its libraries and affected population, and help its refugees settle in new places: Kristin Parker, lead curator and manager of the arts at Boston Public Library (BPL); Michael Dowling, … Continue reading A Helping Hand