Veterans Day is November 11. 19 million Current number of US veterans, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The figure refers to living people who have actively served in the armed forces. 115,000 Number of collections—which often include oral history recordings, manuscripts, and photographic materials related to an individual service member—held by the Veterans … Continue reading By the Numbers: Veterans
In your forthcoming collection Liberation Day, “Love Letter” is about a grandfather who writes to his grandson in an authoritarian near-future, expressing contrition and caution about the political situation and observing that people are unpersuaded by others’ beliefs. Is this a speculative tale or do you think our country is at an impasse? In “Love … Continue reading Newsmaker: George Saunders
19th Century in which Halloween was popularized in the US, thanks in part to the arrival of Irish and Scottish immigrants. Halloween has its roots in the ancient Celtic festival Samhain. 65% Percentage of US consumers who planned to celebrate Halloween in 2021, according to a National Retail Federation survey. 6 Number of live “ghostcams” … Continue reading By the Numbers: Halloween
Steph McHugh (left) and Mary Hamer (right), media specialists and librarians at Yorkville (Ill.) Community Unit School District 115, pose with author Rosemary Wells during a signing of her book If You Believe in Me. María Daniela “Dani” Thurber, reference librarian in the Hispanic Reading Room of the Library of Congress and immediate past president … Continue reading Bookend: Reunited, and It Feels So Good
“Disruption of this world is how we’re going to get to the place we actually want to get to,” Jones told attendees at the June 28 Closing Session of the American Library Association’s 2022 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C. “Maybe it wouldn’t be a dumpster fire if Batman wasn’t the one you had … Continue reading Making Trouble
American Library Association (ALA) President Patricia “Patty” M. Wong convened a panel of authors, publishers, and literacy advocates to discuss these questions at “Advancing the Asian American Story,” a June 26 program at ALA’s 2022 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C. To better understand the strides the publishing industry is making with representation and … Continue reading ‘This Is a Movement’
“Despite how big our school is, there was no sustainability office,” Embree said at “Sustainability Hubs in Practice: How Libraries Can Develop Dynamic Spaces and Services to Help Foster an Action-Based Sustainability Culture in Communities,” a June 26 session at the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2022 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C. “Unless you’re … Continue reading Join the Hub
Haddish appeared as a featured speaker on June 25 at the American Library Association’s 2022 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. In a lively conversation with Andrew Medlar, president and director of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, she spoke about her early experiences with libraries, her new picture book, and her outlook on life. “This is my … Continue reading Bringing Joy
“After joining ALA, I saw a lot of changes,” said Hagemeyer, who now leads Bridging Deaf Cultures, an interest group of ALA’s Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. While services and outreach to Deaf people have improved over the last 50 years, libraries could be doing more in this area. That was the takeaway … Continue reading Deaf Is a Culture
“The Association’s membership is called on at this moment to interrupt the systemic information poverty that is going on in American’s detention facilities,” she said. As ALA prepares to revise its Standards for Adult Correctional Institutions for the first time since 1992, Hall was joined in conversation by a panel of advocates who are fighting for … Continue reading ‘Our Access Point to the Humanity We Cannot Touch’
Since then, the library has offered six speech and debate series for grades 3–5 over Zoom, with each 12-week session focused on a different social justice topic, such as Black Lives Matter, anti-Asian sentiment, and climate change. Instructors from the program shared insights into their curriculum and success at “Inspiring the Next Generation to Champion … Continue reading Up for Debate
Luckily for job seekers, that trend seems to have receded. CNBC reported in late March that there were a record 5 million more job openings than available workers. That tendency bears out across the library industry. “The number of library jobs advertised nationally since late 2021 has hit unprecedented levels,” says David Connolly, recruitment ad … Continue reading 5 Library Jobs on the Rise
