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The Scoop

ACRL Day Four: Humanizing Information

Conference concludes with data visualization, first-gen students
By Amy Carlton | April 19, 2021
ACRL Day Three: Recasting the Roles of Academic Libraries

Speakers look at how COVID-19, systemic injustice affect the profession
By Amy Carlton | April 16, 2021
ACRL Day Two: Getting to Welcome

Moving from openness to belonging in libraries and archives
By Amy Carlton | April 15, 2021
Pelayo-Lozada Wins 2022–2023 ALA Presidency
April 14, 2021
Ascending into an Open Future

ACRL 2021 Conference opens with multiple views on access
By Amy Carlton | April 14, 2021

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ALA Announces COVID Library Relief Fund

$1.25 million in grants available for libraries significantly affected by pandemic
April 9, 2021
ALA Releases State of America’s Libraries Special Report: COVID-19

Report traces impact of pandemic
April 5, 2021
March Virtual Council Meeting

Working group updates presented during information-only session
By Amy Carlton | April 1, 2021
Remembering Leonard Kniffel

Colleagues and friends pay tribute to former American Libraries editor and publisher
March 24, 2021
Call Number Podcast: Supporting Seniors during the Pandemic

Episode 60 looks at library services to older adults during COVID-19
March 23, 2021
Call Number Podcast: Washington Talk

A conversation with US Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.)
March 12, 2021
What the American Rescue Plan Act Means for Libraries

Act provides historic levels of new funding for IMLS, E-Rate, and other programs
By Kathi Kromer | March 12, 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
7h

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
8h

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
9h

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
9h

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
9h

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
10h

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

View more Latest Library Links