“This is the first step.… We want the library to be a place where they know they can come in and feel welcome,” she said during “Creating Welcoming and Supportive Libraries for Asylum Seekers and People Experiencing Homelessness and Poverty,” a January 20 session at the American Library Association’s 2024 LibLearnX Conference in Baltimore. Bentt-Peters … Continue reading Opening Doors
The Hybrid Council Meeting Rules (CD#5) and Council I agenda (CD#8.1) were adopted. The minutes from the June 2023 Annual Conference Membership and Council Meetings and the November 2023 Special Virtual Council Meeting (CD#2–#2.1) were also approved. ALA Interim Executive Director Leslie Burger reviewed Executive Board actions since the 2023 Annual Conference meetings (CD#15) and … Continue reading Council I: Discussion of Ceasefire Statement Postponed
While examining academic library websites in 2022, researchers Danielle Maurici-Pollock and Rebecca Stallworth noted they found 80 different definitions for FGS. The most common definitions refer to the first person in a family to go to college or a student whose parents didn’t attend college, but a range of lived experiences can make the terminology … Continue reading Eliminating Barriers, Meeting Needs
ALA’s 2024 LibLearnX conference will be held January 19–22 in Baltimore. 1882 Year that Enoch Pratt Free Library (EPFL) in Baltimore was founded. Six years after ALA’s founding, EPFL received its initial funding from local businessman and philanthropist Enoch Pratt. The system now has 22 locations across the city. 1992 Year that Atomic Books—an independent … Continue reading By the Numbers: Literary Baltimore
“It really [was] a seismic culture shift,” Kresmer says. “We call it the moonshot. We liken it to the internet, how it had that kind of change on people.” Kresmer analyzes and catalogs materials, supports exhibit development, and oversees BORM’s research library, home to more than 5,000 titles. Locomotives aside, BORM’s collection—including its archives, library, … Continue reading Bookend: Keeping Track
El Progreso Memorial Library (EPML) in Uvalde, Texas, is one of an increasing number of libraries, with help from community partners, organizing programming about handling grief during the holiday season. EPML has been a center for grief recovery since May 25, 2022. The day before, the community faced the unimaginable tragedy of losing 21 community … Continue reading Holiday Healing
At many of the country’s 4,000 rural library systems, staffers are operating by themselves, or nearly so. Solo librarianship can take a variety of forms. It can be a sole employee, a full-time employee managing part-timers or volunteers, or librarians working with small or spread-out teams. As libraries continue to recover from the worst of … Continue reading One of a Kind
230,000 Number of volumes available at the Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play, located at Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. The museum is also home to the National Toy Hall of Fame. The library houses books, catalogs, personal papers, design documents, oral history projects, and other research material relating to … Continue reading By the Numbers: Toys
The actor, known for his roles in the iconic series Roots and Star Trek: The Next Generation, has long been recognized for his work as a reading and literacy advocate. From 1983 to 2006, he was host of PBS’s children’s show Reading Rainbow. He founded Skybrary, a digital library app for young readers, and served … Continue reading Newsmaker: LeVar Burton
Banned Books Week takes place Oct. 1–7 1,269 Number of book challenges documented in 2022 by the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF). This is nearly double the number reported in 2021 and the highest number of book ban attempts since OIF started compiling this data more than 20 years ago. The 2022 … Continue reading By the Numbers: Banned Books Week 2023
Lucy Biddle Lewis, a fellow peace activist, walked in on this happening. Lewis told her contemporaries that she saw Addams and begged her to stop because scholars could learn from her life and work. There’s no record of when this interaction took place, but in 1930, Addams began donating her materials to Swarthmore (Pa.) College, … Continue reading Keep the Peace
Riordan spoke with American Libraries about his newest works and the longevity of Percy Jackson. The Sun and the Star follows Nico, who has faced significant trauma and must learn to find “lightness” in the dark. How can this book help young readers experiencing trauma or grief? It’s often easier to process our own trauma … Continue reading Newsmaker: Rick Riordan
