Blog | American Libraries Magazine

Newsmaker: Emmanuel Acho

Sports analyst and former NFL player turns author with uncomfortable book
By Terra Dankowski | January 20, 2021
Meet the 2021 I Love My Librarian Award Winners

ALA honors 10 librarians for outstanding service
January 11, 2021
2021 Midwinter Preview

Inspiring speakers and informative sessions adapt to a virtual format
By Greg Landgraf | January 4, 2021
2020 Year in Review

A look back at the stories that affected libraries
January 4, 2021
Tarnished Legacies

Presidential libraries grapple with the histories of their subjects
By Lara Ewen | January 4, 2021
REALM Test Results

How long SARS-CoV-2 lives on common library materials
By Carrie Smith | January 4, 2021
Mitigating Implicit Bias

Diversity, equity, and inclusion in action
By Molly Higgins and Rachel Keiko Stark | January 4, 2021
By the Numbers: Midwinter

Stats on the history and happenings of ALA’s Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits
By Alison Marcotte | January 4, 2021
Newsmaker: Ziggy Marley

Reggae icon on the pandemic, storytelling, and More Family Time
By Sallyann Price | January 4, 2021
Working Toward a Sustainable World

United Nations book club inspires students to make a difference
By Anne Amrhein | January 4, 2021
Tales as Old as Time

Libraries keep classic literature alive through Masterpiece book clubs
By Diana Panuncial | January 4, 2021
Responsive and Responsible

Libraries promote ethical care of Indigenous collections
By Ulia Gosart | January 4, 2021

Latest Library Links

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Register to attend the Presidential Candidates Forum at ALA Midwinter Virtual on January 23 at 1 p.m. Central and engage in real time with ALA’s presidential candidates Stacey Aldrich, Ed Garcia, and Lessa Pelayo-Lozada. Renew your membership by January 31 to ensure that you receive a ballot for the election. The 2021 Virtual Membership Information Session takes place January 23 from 11–12:30 Central. Register to attend. Members are also invited to attend ALA Council sessions beginning January 24. These sessions offer a chance to learn more about the work of ALA’s governing body. For other Governance events, please check out the listings in the program scheduler. You do not need to register for the conference to attend these events.

ALA Governance Office
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After the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May 2020, Fox Sports analyst and former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho felt compelled to do something. By June, Acho decided to channel this discourse into a YouTube series called Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man. American Libraries caught up with Acho ahead of his January 24 appearance at the ALA 2021 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits Virtual to discuss his series and book, as well as equity in professional sports and the power of libraries.

American Libraries Trend, Jan. 20
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ALA Treasurer Maggie Farrell writes: “Last year started off as a productive but worrisome one for ALA finances, as evidenced by critical conversations held at the 2020 Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia. Since then, additional circumstances—including the pandemic—have aggravated ALA finances as libraries struggle with their own budget declines. Despite everything, member leaders remain committed to addressing ALA’s ongoing budget concerns and to creating a path toward a healthy financial future.”

American Libraries column, Jan./Feb.
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How many times has ALA held Midwinter Meetings? What year was the ALA Code of Ethics adopted? When are this year’s Youth Media Awards? We’ve got the stats on the history and happenings of ALA’s Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in By the Numbers.

American Libraries Trend, Jan./Feb.
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Sarah Mangiola writes: “On January 20, 2021, Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in as president and vice president, respectively, of the United States. It’s a historic moment for the country, as Kamala Harris will be the first female, first Black, and first Indian American vice president. The kids in your life can join in the celebrations with these stories, including books written by Kamala Harris, a new picture book about White House dogs Champ and Major, and more.”

Brightly, Jan. 16
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As shared by the official Twitter account of Ursula K. Le Guin’s estate, the author is getting her own commemorative stamp from the United States Post Office. The stamp, the 33rd in USPS’s Literary Arts series, features a portrait of Le Guin in front of an illustration from a scene in The Left Hand of Darkness, her 1969 novel.

Gizmodo, Jan. 16
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The Food Timeline is an obsessively catalogued, exhaustively comprehensive resource on the history of what humans have been eating from from 17,000 B.C. onward. The site was the life’s work of reference librarian Lynne Olver, and it languished after her death in 2015. A profile in Eater last summer revived interest in the site from archivists, and now the Special Collections and University Archives department at Virginia Tech University has acquired Olver’s 2,300 books (right) and management of the site.

Eater, Jan. 12