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  • Emmanuel Acho. Photo: Ali Rasoul

    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
  • A Lakota camp in 1891. During his presidency, Harrison forced the Sioux Nation to divide among separate reservations in the Dakotas and sent the military to Wounded Knee. Photo composite: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (Harrison, Lakota, tipis)

    Tarnished Legacies

    Presidential libraries grapple with the histories of their subjects

    By Lara Ewen | January 4, 2021
  • A clock next to calendars listing different numbers of days representing REALM test result quarantine periods

    REALM Test Results

    How long SARS-CoV-2 lives on common library materials

    By Carrie Smith | January 4, 2021
  • Illustration: Figure shines light into the larger head of another figure (Illustration: ©Feodora/Adobe Stock)

    Mitigating Implicit Bias

    Diversity, equity, and inclusion in action

    By Molly Higgins and Rachel Keiko Stark | January 4, 2021
  • By the Numbers: Midwinter

    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
  • Batesville (Ind.) Intermediate School students held a read-a-thon to raise money for the nonprofit Grain of Rice Project. Photo: Batesville (Ind.) Intermediate School

    Working Toward a Sustainable World

    United Nations book club inspires students to make a difference

    By Anne Amrhein | January 4, 2021
  • The Masterpiece Book Club at Chicago Public Library’s Vodak–East Side branch hosted a Miss Fisher–themed holiday party in 2015. Photo: Nancy Devlin

    Tales as Old as Time

    Libraries keep classic literature alive through Masterpiece book clubs

    By Diana Panuncial | January 4, 2021
  • A drawing of Iroquois games and dances by Jesse Cornplanter resides in Amherst (Mass.) College’s collection of Indigenous materials.

    Responsive and Responsible

    Libraries promote ethical care of Indigenous collections

    By Ulia Gosart | January 4, 2021

Latest Library Links

  • 19h

    ALA Virtual Midwinter logoRegister 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

  • 19h

    Emmanuel AchoAfter 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

  • 2d

    From the Treasurer by Maggie FarrellALA 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.

  • 2d

    By The Numbers: Paper Midwinter program from 1915 and metal Midwinter button from 2001How 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.

  • 2d

    Cover of Champ and Major: First DogsSarah 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

  • 2d

    USPS stamp illustration of Ursula K. Le GuinAs 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

  • 2d

    Library of Food Timeline librarian Lynne OlverThe 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

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