Blog | American Libraries Magazine

What Does My Library Need to Know about Ebook Laws?

Lawyer-librarian fields legal questions
By Kyle K. Courtney and Mary Minow | May 17, 2022
Book Battle in Tennessee

Librarians fight back against state’s “obscenity” bill
By Lindsey Kimery | May 11, 2022
2022 Library Systems Report

An industry disrupted
By Marshall Breeding | May 2, 2022
A Career Path for Youth

PLA webinar focuses on boosting youth workforce preparedness and engagement
May 2, 2022
Rightsizing Your Collection

Make the academic collection management process more intentional and user-centric
By Mary E. Miller and Suzanne M. Ward | May 2, 2022
Newsmaker: Mariko Tamaki

Eisner-winning author on publishing LGBTQIA voices, collaboration, and censorship
By Carrie Smith | May 2, 2022
A Sense of Support

Libraries curate accessibility collections for young patrons and their caregivers
By Annemarie Mannion | May 2, 2022
Period. End of Story.

Librarians help get the word—and the products—out
By Lara Ewen | May 2, 2022
Antiracist Storytimes

Programs for kids spark and normalize conversations about race
By Emily Udell | May 2, 2022
An Uphill Battle

A public library in West Virginia shines a light on rural food deserts
By Austin Persinger | May 2, 2022
By the Numbers: Older Americans Month

Stats celebrating seniors and their library habits
By Diana Panuncial | May 2, 2022
Bookend: Stranger than Fiction
By Sallyann Price | May 2, 2022

Latest Library Links

1h

In Episode 71 of Call Number with American Libraries, “Setting Up for Self-Care,” we celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month, observed each May. The importance of self-care has become clearer than ever in recent years, especially in the age of the pandemic. In this episode, AL editors speak with Randa Lopez Morgan about Louisiana State University Library’s Relaxation Room, Rebecca Tolley about her book A Trauma-Informed Approach to Library Services, and Michelle Schaub, who implemented yoga classes in the Monona (Wis.) Grove High School library.

AL: The Scoop, Apr. 16
3h

Melissa Grasso writes: “I love wearing clothes. Nothing can boost my confidence like a cute outfit. Especially when days can be so…repetitive, clothes bring me life.” Recommendations include creative jumpers, cardigans, suspenders, overalls, and matching sets. However, “if you’re just starting at a new job, aim formal and then you can scale down. Clothes have the power to make you stand out in a good, or bad, way. Use your good sense and, if you have to ask if it’s work-appropriate, then it’s not.

Hack Library School, May 10
4h

Patrick Flanagan, Jill L. Kilgore, and Jennifer Mendez write: “Law librarianship has evolved over the last several decades. Gone are the days when law librarians were thought of as simply the gatekeepers of stacks of books—so long Federal Reporter! Law librarians have been embracing and driving innovation since at least the introduction of microfiche, which may not seem like a disruptive innovation today, but its history proves otherwise. It’s no surprise then that the role of the law librarian has continued to evolve just as the technology used in law libraries has evolved.”

AALL Spectrum, May/June 2022
6h

Hannah Natanson writes: “Republican lawmakers across the country are proposing legislation that would target online library databases and library management technology—tools built by a half-dozen large companies that catalogue millions of books, journals and articles that students peruse for assignments. These bills—already enacted in Utah and Tennessee, on the verge of becoming law in Oklahoma, and proposed in at least six other states—are broadly similar. They require databases to remove and block student access to material that is obscene, pornographic, sexually exploitative of children or “harmful to minors”—designations that opponents say could encompass a wide range of texts.”

Washington Post, May 10
21h

David Rothman writes: “One of the most fearsome anti-trusters was Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican president who jousted with the oil companies. We know who today’s oil companies are: Big Tech, in so many cases. As an ebook reader, writer or publisher, what targets would be on your anti-trust list if you ruled the world or at least the Federal Trade Commission and equivalents in the EU and elsewhere?”

Teleread, May 9
23h

Meredith Farkas writes: “The goal of universal design is to design spaces to minimize the need for accommodations because they work for everyone by design. While has primarily been discussed in the design of spaces and objects, I feel like the concept could be extended to organizational design. What if we provided not only spaces and furniture that helped employees do their best work, but also designed the organizational structure for maximum inclusivity?”

Information Wants to Be Free, May 12
1d

Ashley Hawkins writes: “When I came to my school library in 2018, it was a dump. I mean that literally. Old books filled the school library. Posters were still up from the last time students or school librarians had occupied the space. That was 2006, when the original high school was broken into smaller high schools during New York City’s restructuring of its high school system. It’s a reasonably typical story in New York City, where most schools do not have a library” despite regulations that every school in the state have one.

Knowledge Quest, May 12