To come up with the funds for the vacation, you might take on a side hustle, redeem travel miles, or even sit through a timeshare presentation in exchange for covering part of the trip. For libraries, options exist beyond their tax revenue funding, including capital campaigns, public-private partnerships, new market tax credits, or mixed-usage agreements. … Continue reading Think Creatively
A panel of academic librarians, moderated by Zara T. Wilkinson, reference and instruction librarian at Rutgers (N.J.) University Libraries, discussed the direct and indirect threats that book bans and challenges pose to academic librarians in “Can It Happen Here? Book Challenges, Censorship, and Academic Freedom in Academic Libraries,” a June 29 session at the American … Continue reading Censorship Can Happen Anywhere
“I propose it as: Let me do some of your work for you,” explained Podmore, librarian at Clark High School. They shared history programs that have worked for them in “Hyping History: Highlighting History in a High School Library,” a June 29 session at the American Library Association’s 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia. … Continue reading A Home for History
Spohn, the former COO of AbleGamers and current director of the Mount Sinai Back to Life Center, and Vicki Karlovsky, inclusion coordinator at Deerfield (Ill.) Public Library (DPL), discussed how libraries can bring that experience to a wider audience in “Adaptive Arcade at the Library: Video Games are for Everyone,” a June 29 session at … Continue reading Adaptive Arcade
A panel of ALA and library leaders speculated on how the association might evolve to better serve libraries during “ALA at 150: Envisioning the Next 50 Years—How Will ALA Empower Libraries and Library Workers in 2076,” a June 28 session at ALA’s 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia. Moderator Joe Thompson, director of public … Continue reading Visions of 2076
Takei discussed his life as a closeted actor and how he came out at age 68 with Meg Lemke, graphic novels editor at Publishers Weekly, at the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia on June 28. His coming out is also the subject of his new memoir, It Rhymes with … Continue reading A Rhyme of Himself
Hayden spoke in a conversation with Newbery Medal-winning author Kwame Alexander on the main stage at the American Library Association’s (ALA) Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia on June 28. She recounted the story of how she was in her mother’s home when she received a short email, addressed simply to “Carla.” “So this person … Continue reading What Gives Carla Hayden Hope
The event was RPL’s second Flip the Fair, introduced in 2022 to help graduate students develop skills to effectively communicate their research while engaging local elementary students with STEM topics and the library. It’s an example of how libraries are seeking innovative ways to share science and research with new audiences. “We wanted to give … Continue reading Shaking Up Science
Drew Evans, a retired law librarian who has previously worked at Kansas State University in Manhattan and Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, took up the sport about seven years ago. “I was hooked from the first hit,” he says. “You’re about 14 feet from your opponent, and that allows for a lot of social interaction … Continue reading Bookend: Holding Court
Hylton spent years doing archival research and building relationships with former patients and staff members at Crownsville, one of the last segregated psychiatric hospitals with surviving records. During that time, she learned more about the history of the facility, which operated from 1911 to 2004, and of psychiatry more generally, particularly from the perspective of … Continue reading Newsmaker: Antonia Hylton
“We’re located on a busy Main Street in the heart of Patchogue village, with loads of vehicle and foot traffic, so we are seen,” said Karen McCahey, promotions library assistant. “But one of the challenges that’s ongoing is to get people in the front door.” McCahey, along with Community Engagement Librarian Emily Spizzirri, Head of … Continue reading A Whopper of a Campaign
Flores described how she incorporated microcourses into professional development in “Reimagining an Instruction Librarian Retreat with Microcourses,” a January 21 ShopTalk session at the American Library Association’s LibLearnX conference in Baltimore on January 21. The retreat had traditionally been an intensive, day-long, off-campus affair. “The pandemic changed everything,” she said. “People were using Zoom, and … Continue reading Bite-Sized Professional Development
