In a January 23 session of ALA’s Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits Virtual, the eight-time Grammy winner joined publisher Johnny Temple of Akashic Books for a conversation about venturing into children’s music, producing an album remotely, and seeking refuge in books and libraries. “I was a little bit conflicted about it, because a lot of things … Continue reading More Family Time with Ziggy Marley
“One of the great benefits of being an actor is, if you do it long enough you realize that what it truly is at its core is a celebration of writing,” he said. “There’s a feeling that you get when you read something beautiful, whether it’s a Wallace Stevens poem or a comic book, and … Continue reading The Power of Language
Marley spoke to American Libraries ahead of his appearance at the American Library Association’s 2021 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits Virtual about his creative process during a lockdown, oral traditions, and voting for the first time. Your latest album was written and recorded during the pandemic. What was that like, and did you intend to create … Continue reading Newsmaker: Ziggy Marley
Wishing Chair Productions draws on the legacy of the prolific puppeteer Tom Tichenor, who worked in the library in the 1930s. After his death in 1992, NPL established a program in his honor that grew from small, single-performer storytimes to full-blown productions staffed by a team of 10 professional puppeteers. With marionettes, juggling, magic tricks, … Continue reading Bookend: The World on a String
One of the central themes of Transcendent Kingdom is the tension between science and faith. How did you approach the science aspect? It was really fun for me to do something so outside of my comfort zone. Talking to scientists, many of them conceptualized their work as a series of questions, as trying to get … Continue reading Newsmaker: Yaa Gyasi
Across the board, the panelists linked women’s activism in libraries to the activism of Black women and women of color working in a field dominated by white women, with frequent disparities between the credentialed professionals and the more diverse pool of paraprofessional library workers. “[These disparities are] hard to think about and hard to grapple … Continue reading Women’s Activism Is Black Activism
“Windows, mirrors, and doors are still important and will always be important, but it’s time to take the next step and recognize that books written by diverse authors, featuring diverse characters, are for anyone, for everyone, all the time,” said Robin Bradford, collection development librarian at Pierce County (Wash.) Library System, noting the growing availability … Continue reading Recommending Diverse Voices
“I was interested to see [the show] again as an adult and as a parent because a lot of the things that didn’t stand out to me as a child really stood out to me as an adult, particularly some of the quieter moments,” Cordell said in a June 24 address to ALA Virtual attendees. … Continue reading Won’t You Be Matthew Cordell’s Neighbor?
Panelists at the June 24 session, “Retention Efforts of Minority Librarians in Librarianship from the Perspectives of Early, Middle, and Advanced Career Librarians,” shared Hall’s disbelief that there were or are so few qualified applicants of color for library positions. “Some days we have good days, some days are bad, and some days are not … Continue reading Retaining Librarians of Color
ALA Virtual (June 24–26), the organization’s first-ever online-only member engagement event, will offer the programming, speakers, exhibits, and social networking attendees have come to expect from Annual Conference. Join your colleagues in this virtual space to learn, grow, and adapt together in these changing times. Note that all times listed are Central. Featured Speakers Opening … Continue reading ALA Virtual Preview
What drove you to write this novel? Why now? Afterlife comes out of a feeling that it’s an elegiac time for our planet, as we watch so many species become extinct, ecosystems in danger, forests burning. It feels like a time of many endings. In our national life—our uncivil society, the divisions, the draconian immigration … Continue reading Newsmaker: Julia Alvarez
“The census is a living document,” says David Thibodeau, head librarian and project manager, of the survey that has been conducted every 10 years since 1790. “People find something in the 1980 Census and they want to find the exact same data going back decades, but it doesn’t really work like that. In every manifestation, … Continue reading Bookend: The Science of the Census
