Blog | American Libraries Magazine

Newsmaker: Natalie Portman

Oscar-winning actor and author serves as honorary chair of National Library Week
By Phil Morehart | April 5, 2021
A Disproportionate Pandemic

Library patrons with disabilities face compounded challenges
By Emily Udell | March 1, 2021
How User-Friendly Is Your Website?

Usability lessons for libraries in a remote world
By Greg Landgraf | March 1, 2021
Emerging Leaders: Where Are They Now?

Past participants on lessons learned, experience gained
By Phil Morehart | March 1, 2021
The Road to Normal

Bookmobiles and outreach staffers take on new roles in a year of COVID-19
By Mark Lawton | March 1, 2021
Users at the Center of Everything

A crash course in UX for your library
By Callan Bignoli and Lauren Stara | March 1, 2021
By the Numbers: Deaf History and Culture

Stats on the intersection of Deaf history and libraries
By Alison Marcotte | March 1, 2021
A Movement Grows in Brooklyn

Oral histories highlight one neighborhood’s environmental issues and activism
By Acacia Thompson | March 1, 2021
Fighting the Spread

Health librarians quell pandemic panic with webinars
By Timothy Inklebarger | March 1, 2021
Think Inside the Box

Librarians turn to a Japanese form of storytelling during pandemic
By Diana Panuncial | March 1, 2021
Where Monarchs Reign

Library butterfly gardens emphasize sustainability, community partnerships
By Emily Udell | March 1, 2021
Bookend: Clues You Can Use
By Amy Carlton | March 1, 2021

Latest Library Links

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Amy Carlton writes: “In the closing session of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) 2021 Virtual Conference on April 16, data journalist Mona Chalabi explained how she uses complex and sometimes flawed data—including the dry statistics buried in the appendix of a PDF or a government website—to visually express stories that focus on the humanity behind the numbers.”

AL: The Scoop, Apr. 19
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Over the years, Roberta Saltzman accumulated 700 Jewish cookbooks, with a particular focus on community cookbooks from small-town America. Despite being chief assistant librarian at New York Public Library’s Dorot Jewish Division, Saltzman used her own money to build her collection, which she donated to her workplace before her death. Now, at more than 2,500 books, the collection is likely the largest in existence, drawing researchers from around the world.

Gastro Obscura, March 24
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M. E. Hilliard writes: “Many a mystery novel featuring an amateur sleuth places a librarian in that role. With good reason—outside of law enforcement, no profession lends itself to the role of detective more readily. Librarianship requires a combination of temperament and education that produces a professional with a powerful curiosity and the skill set to satisfy it, no matter how obscure the fact we seek. Though often written off as unassuming, cardigan-wearing bookworms, our jobs require traits more often associated with our hard-boiled colleagues in the investigation business.”

Crime Reads, Apr. 15
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Amy Carlton writes: “At the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) 2021 Virtual Conference on April 15, the creators of We Here, an online community for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) in LIS professions and educational programs, explored the ways in which academic libraries stifle their BIPOC workers through pay and opportunity gaps, enable toxic work environments, and prevent systemic change.”

AL: The Scoop, Apr. 16
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A protest of the East Bonner County (Idaho) Library District’s mask requirement remained unfruitful, as of the latest board meeting April 12. A few dozen protesters began gathering around 4 p.m. at the Sandpoint branch, including library board candidates Kathy Rose and Jalon Peters. Protesters had hoped that following a change.org petition that garnered 365 signatures over roughly five days, board trustees would rescind the library’s mask requirement.

Bonner County (Idaho) Daily Bee, Apr. 13
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Reuters will begin charging for access to its website as it tries to capture a slice of the digital subscription business. The company, one of the largest news organizations in the world, announced the new paywall on April 15, as well as a redesigned website aimed at a “professional” audience wanting business, financial, and general news. After registration and a free preview period, a subscription to Reuters.com will cost $34.99 a month, the same as Bloomberg’s digital subscription. The Wall Street Journal’s digital subscription costs $38.99 a month, while The New York Times costs $18.42 monthly.

New York Times, Apr. 15
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Cape Town, South Africa, ordered precautionary evacuations of communities living along the edges of city landmark Table Mountain on April 19 as firefighters struggled to contain a fire that gutted historical landmarks, including the oldest working windmill in South Africa and a library housing African antiquities at the University of Cape Town. ALA’s Disaster Relief Fund is supporting the recovery and reestablishment of the library.

Washington Post, Apr. 19