Author Archive: Megan Bennett

Dawn La Valle speaks at her session, “Which World? Using Far Fetched Scenarios to Map out the Future of Libraries” on January 29 at the 2023 LibLearnX Conference in New Orleans.

Thinking Ahead

By Megan Bennett | January 29, 2023

These hypothetical questions may seem more sci-fi than reality, but they’re the kind of futuristic scenarios that Dawn La Valle says libraries should think about and prepare for. “The decisions we make today inform our future tomorrow,” said La Valle, director of the division of library development for Connecticut State Library (CSL) and a Certified … Continue reading Thinking Ahead →

ALA Council I: Round Table Dues Standardized

By Megan Bennett | January 29, 2023

The Hybrid Council rules (CD#5) and agenda (CD#8.2) were adopted, and the minutes from the Hybrid Council meeting during the June 2022 ALA Conference (CD#2) were approved. ALA Executive Director Tracie D. Hall reviewed Executive Board actions since the June 2022 Hybrid Council meeting (CD#15) and the implementation report on ALA Council Actions (CD#9) taken … Continue reading ALA Council I: Round Table Dues Standardized →

Julia Kress, senior electronic resources assistant at the Fondren Library at Rice University in Houston, and Neyda Gilman, assistant head of sustainability and STEM engagement and pharmacy, nursing and health sciences librarian at Binghamton University in New York, discuss their work as part of ALA's Resilient Communities grant.

Climate Change Chat

By Megan Bennett | January 29, 2023

Alexandria Library was one of 25 libraries that received an American Library Association (ALA) Resilient Communities grant to help educate patrons on the climate crisis. Representatives from five public and academic library recipients joined to discuss their work in a January 28 program at ALA’s 2023 LibLearnX conference in New Orleans. The Resilient Communities’ six-month … Continue reading Climate Change Chat →

Authors Nic Stone and Ibram X. Kendi discuss their new book, How to Be a (Young) Antiracist

Legitimize and Rehumanize

By Megan Bennett | January 28, 2023

He credits that to their courage. “For whatever reason, as we get older, we lose a little bit of courage,” Kendi said at the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2023 LibLearnX Conference in New Orleans. “For young people, the question isn’t about the danger,” he continued. “The question is, ‘Is it right or is it wrong?’” … Continue reading Legitimize and Rehumanize →

A member of Brooklyn Public Library's senior debate program participates in a debate hosted during the library's 2022 Older Americans Celebration Fair.

Making a Statement

By Megan Bennett | January 3, 2023

“Kids are very strong critical thinkers,” says the University of California, Berkeley, sophomore. “They’re natural at questioning the status quo.” Yet Tong says not many spaces exist for children to participate in conversations about social justice. In 2019, as a high school junior, Tong approached San José (Calif.) Public Library (SJPL) staffers with a programming … Continue reading Making a Statement →

An image of a tape recorder used to tape conversations at the White House during the Nixon administration and now belongs to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.

By the Numbers: Presidents’ Day

By Megan Bennett | January 3, 2023

Presidents’ Day is February 20 1955 Year Congress passed the Presidential Libraries Act, establishing the Presidential Library System. Before that, many presidents’ archives were lost, destroyed, or separated. 887,000 Number of copies of Barack Obama’s 2020 memoir, A Promised Land, that sold in the US and Canada within the first day of publication—a record for … Continue reading By the Numbers: Presidents’ Day →

Latest Library Links

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John Warner writes: “I understand what people mean when they invoke the term ‘institutional neutrality,’ but I don’t know how it’s workable in today’s world. Higher education institutions are built upon a foundation of actual values, values that are, by definition, not neutral. The Kalven report, the Rosetta Stone of institutional neutrality produced by a faculty committee at the University of Chicago in 1967, is not a call to make all work emanating from an institution ‘neutral,’ but is instead a call to make the atmosphere for scholarly inquiry and debate as free as possible.”

Inside Higher Ed, Nov. 15
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Angela Hursh writes: “Ever wondered how your library’s email performance compares to others? Benchmarks help you understand how well your emails perform in key areas and identify opportunities for improvement. They also allow you to compare your email marketing performance, set goals, and stay on top of trends. However, the lack of industry benchmarks for email marketing metrics specific to libraries has been bugging me. Metrics from similar industries don’t fully capture the unique aspects of promoting a library. To help libraries accurately measure their email effectiveness, we’ve created the first-ever library email benchmark report.”

NoveList, Oct. 22
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Rachel Hendrick writes: “Students and library vendors are pushing artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in higher education, but there are very few resources that help librarians and scholars separate the wheat from the chaff. Luckily, we here at Choice love a good assessment rubric. (In fact, we made a PDF of our assessment rubric.) Even the least tech-savvy of us can use a very simple AI literacy framework to think critically about whether an AI application is worth your time.”

Choice 360 LibTech Insights, Nov. 13
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Rowana Miller writes: “In my experience, many young library-goers identify as storytellers but not writers. These are the kids who draw Captain-Underpants-style cartoons, who craft meticulous Minecraft universes, and who plot elaborate Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, but who believe that ‘writing’ is limited to five-paragraph essays. But when children draw the connections between their natural storytelling proclivities and the written word, they can become self-motivated to develop the communication skills that will help them for the rest of their lives. Libraries, I believe, are uniquely positioned to help children make this connection.”

ALSC Blog, Nov. 15
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ALA has reopened its search for an executive director in partnership with executive search firm Isaacson, Miller. A committee of ALA member leaders will oversee the search. The selected candidate will succeed Interim Executive Director Leslie Burger, who was appointed in November 2023. “We are excited to embark on our search for a new executive director,” said ALA President Cindy Hohl. “This leadership position is critical as we navigate the years ahead. We seek candidates who have knowledge of the library community and the urgent issues we face.”

ALA Communications, Marketing, and Media Relations Office, Nov. 14
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Emily Weak writes: “Something I always hear from hiring managers is that they want to build a resilient, diverse workforce. Sometimes we say we want a resilient workforce, but what we mean is that we want staffers who are willing to go above and beyond, or to do more with less. These concepts are deeply entrenched in librarianship, but I think we’re beginning to see how they can cause problems. Instead of trying to hire people who will do more with less and who will thrive amid adversity, let’s think about resilience as an organizational feature.”

American Libraries column, Nov./Dec.
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Elisabeth B. White writes: “How can librarians ensure their instruction materials are as accessible as possible? One way is through Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, a set of best practices to improve teaching and learning and create inclusive and equitable educational experiences for all students. The guidelines include three principles that instructors must provide via multiple means: engagement (the ‘why’ of learning), representation (the ‘what’ of learning), and action and expression (the ‘how’ of learning). However, to create a truly equitable educational experience, school library workers need to consider accessibility principles as well.”

American Libraries feature, Nov./Dec.

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