Author Archive: Stephanie Hlywak

Mazie K. Hirono Opens Inaugural LibLearnX

By Stephanie Hlywak | January 22, 2022

Both women represent important firsts for the organizations they represent. Hirono is the first female senator to represent Hawaii and the only first-generation immigrant to serve in the Senate; she was born in Japan and came to the US with her mother when she was 8 years old. Wong is the first Asian American president … Continue reading Mazie K. Hirono Opens Inaugural LibLearnX →

From left: ALA Past President Loida Garcia-Febo; PLA Executive Director Barb Macikas; ALA Past President Sari Feldman; Alan S. Inouye, ALA senior director of public policy and government relations; and Tim Cherubini, executive director of the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, outside the offices of Macmillan Publishers on October 30, 2019. Photo: Daniel Root

Library Advocates Deliver Ebook Petition to Macmillan

By Stephanie Hlywak | October 30, 2019

“I traveled from the nation’s capital to New York City, the publishing capital, to stand for the vast number of readers who will be impacted by this discriminatory embargo,” said Alan S. Inouye, the American Library Association’s (ALA) senior director of public policy and government relations. He was joined by past ALA Presidents Loida Garcia-Febo … Continue reading Library Advocates Deliver Ebook Petition to Macmillan →

Wrapping Up Digital Book World 2019

By Stephanie Hlywak | September 13, 2019

On September 12, Burleigh discussed the robust ebook and audiobook lending ecosystem. Rakuten Overdrive began servicing libraries in 2003, before publishers were fully on board with selling to the market. Fast forward 16 years, and Burleigh said one of the best things libraries do for publishers and authors is to offer discoverability. For every borrower … Continue reading Wrapping Up Digital Book World 2019 →

All Things Considered host Michele Norris addresses attendees at the Association of College and Research Libraries conference in Cleveland April 10. Photo: Laurie DeWitt/Pure Light Images

ACRL Opens with Michele Norris

By Stephanie Hlywak | April 11, 2019

That authority and confidence was on full display as she danced onto stage April 10 at the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) conference in Cleveland to the Ohio Players’ “Love Rollercoaster.” Noting that it was the first time she’d been asked to select her own “walk out” music, Norris joked she would be … Continue reading ACRL Opens with Michele Norris →

Latest Library Links

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Michael Kan writes: “Are you still using ‘chocolate,’ ‘naruto,’ or ‘monkey’ for your passwords? You really need to stop. All three are among the most commonly used passwords, putting your accounts at risk of hacking, according to new data from NordPass. The password manager’s sixth annual list of the top 200 most commonly used passwords is pulled from a 2.5TB dataset of stolen logins taken from various sources.” ZDNet offers tips for creating stronger passwords and improved security measures.

PC Mag, Nov. 14; NordPass, Nov. 13; ZDNet, Nov. 14
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John Sharp writes: “Athens and Fairhope are two fast-growing cities in the fastest-growing areas of Alabama, and there is no mistaking their conservative bona fides. But according to early statistics about library card applications, their libraries appear to be bucking a trend embraced by conservative-leaning groups and the Alabama GOP: Their patrons appear to be trusting the libraries. More than 60% of parents at Fairhope Public Library and Athens-Limestone County Public Library have signed off on all-access passes for their children with no restrictions on library usage.”

AL.com, Nov. 17
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Katie Gaddini writes: “Book bans may have mushroomed in the Trump era of reactionary politics, but they have a well-established history in America. One woman in particular, Norma Gabler, redefined the current strategy and logic behind modern book bans. Called ‘education’s public enemy number one,’ by critics in 1980, Gabler led the crusade against the so-called secular trend in school textbooks throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Even though Norma and her husband Mel worked together, Norma was the public face of their efforts for decades.”

Time: Made By History, Nov. 13
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Many members know Bill Ladewski as executive director of the Reference and User Services Association, an ALA position he has held since 2019. In early September, Ladewski added another title to his CV: director of Member Relations and Services. In this role, he and his team are charged with providing service and information to the Association’s nearly 50,000 members. Ladewski answered our 11 Questions to reintroduce himself to the ALA community.

AL: The Scoop, Nov. 19
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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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