Author Archive: Jessica Cilella

Graphic: Libraries use tech tools to fight fake news (Illustration: Drew Bardana)

Check Your Facts

By Jessica Cilella | November 1, 2019

The Albuquerque Journal’s coverage of the event was headlined “Drag Queens Dazzle at Library Storytime,” while enthusiastic parents voiced support on the library’s Facebook page. Other Facebook commenters voiced opposition, sharing links to conservative websites and articles with headlines like “Parents Beware—Registered Sex Offenders Are Performing for Small Children at Drag Queen Story Hours in Public Libraries” … Continue reading Check Your Facts →

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Boise, Idaho, voters rebuked City Hall on November 5 when they voted overwhelmingly to approve Propositions 1 and 2, which require future citywide elections on any city library project costing more than $25 million (the most recent cost estimates for a proposed new library put it at $104 million). Mayor David Bieter said he has heard the voters and will recommend to the Boise City Council “an immediate reset” to the main library project. But he did not say what a reset would look like, so it was not clear how it would affect existing plans, including those for fundraising or the city’s $11 million contract with architect Moshe Safdie.

Boise Idaho Statesman, Nov. 11
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Ed Garcia writes: “Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden often speaks of the library as America’s treasure chest. She celebrated one of those treasures on November 4 when she joined us at Cranston (R.I.) Public Library with Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Veterans History Project. Hayden’s goal for the VHP is ambitious: She would like every US veteran to have their stories told. So far, Rhode Island veterans have contributed about 260 of the 110,000 interviews since 2000. Hayden and Reed were joined by local veterans who shared stories that will become part of the VHP collection.”

AL: The Scoop, Nov. 11
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Specially designed for the needs of small and rural libraries, “Libraries Transforming Communities: Facilitation Skills for Small and Rural Libraries,” a new ALA learning series, will help library workers develop facilitation skills to engage with their communities. ALA and its project partners will release a suite of facilitation resources in 2020, including a five-part asynchronous online course, open to all library workers, free of charge; in-person training at the 2020 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago; and a step-by-step facilitation guide.

ALA Public Programs Office, Nov. 11
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Information at Work: Information Management in the Workplace, published by Facet Publishing and available through the ALA Store, provides a comprehensive account of information in the modern workplace. Edited by Katriina Byström, Jannica Heinström, and Ian Ruthven, it includes a set of chapters examining the major concepts within workplace information, from overarching themes of information cultures and ecologies, to strategic concerns of information management and governance, and to detailed accounts of questions and current debates.

ALA Neal-Schuman, Nov. 11
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At its August 2019 meeting, the Specialized Professional Associations Standards Committee of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation approved the ALA/AASL Standards for Initial Preparation of School Librarians prepared and presented by AASL. These standards fully align with AASL’s National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. The adoption begins a two-year transition period during which programs may choose to use the 2010 standards or the 2019 standards in developing key assessments.

AASL, Nov. 11
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ALCTS has released the 2020 schedule for ALCTS Fundamentals web courses. Focusing on the fundamentals of acquisitions, cataloging, metadata, collection assessment, collection development and management, electronic resource acquisitions, and preservation, Fundamentals web courses are a series of related online courses that cover the basics of library technical services. Courses are limited to 25 students per session, and sessions are expected to sell out quickly.

ALCTS, Nov. 11
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When students in Loudoun County, Virginia, started school this fall, they found their classroom shelves stocked with new collections of books. The “diverse classroom libraries” installed in elementary and high schools across the Northern Virginia school district were intended to expose students to stories about young people of different cultures, races, and religions. Some of the books were about LGBTQ characters—Heather Has Two Mommies for elementary students and Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out for high school students. But to some parents, the books amounted to “sexual propaganda.”

Washington Post, Nov. 10

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