Library Book Shelves on Casters (1)

December 3, 2024 800 × 533 Maximize Your Library’s Potential

Library book shelves on casters that are visible at the bottoms. They’re filled with books in an open and bright room.

Latest Library Links

15h

Daisy Auger-Domínguez writes: “Workplace burnout is often discussed as if it were a single condition with a single solution: fewer hours, better boundaries, more resilience. That framing is incomplete and misleading. Burnout takes different forms depending on where someone sits in the organization; what they’re accountable for; and how much clarity, control, and moral alignment they have. Burnout is rarely a personal failure. It is usually a design failure. When capable, committed people are exhausted, the issue is not resilience—it is work engineered without regard for human limits and systems that quietly reward overextension.”

Harvard Business Review, Apr. 3
19h

Claire Woodcock writes: “Conservative parents’ advocacy groups have been experimenting with using commercially available artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help them flag more books they’ve deemed pornographic to be removed from public schools and libraries. Even though LLMs are notoriously error-prone, and the books in question aren’t pornographic, these groups continue to explore use cases for AI anyway. One such experiment indicates a desire to accelerate content production of book reviews for conservative book-rating sites and explicitly defines ‘educational inappropriateness’ as ‘content offensive to conservative values.’”

404 Media, Apr. 1
22h

Rebekkah Smith Aldrich writes: “Building on the work of the ALA Task Force on the Environment (formed in 1989) and the momentum of the Sustainability Round Table (formed in 2013), ALA Council passed the Resolution on the Importance of Sustainable Libraries in 2015. The resolution suggested the beginning of a ‘new era.’ That was a bold statement—and once it made, it called for action. Fortunately, the right leadership was in place at the right time.”

ALA150, Apr. 2
2d

Elizabeth Szkirpan writes: “In a field shaped by strong values, many librarians cite ethical concerns with labor, copyright, privacy, and the environmental impact of artificial intelligence (AI). Some professionals are shirking it altogether. However, as vendors continue to integrate AI into library platforms, patrons increasingly rely on these tools for everyday tasks, and institutions commit to AI-forward strategies, complete disengagement is not an option for today’s librarian. So, what does ethical AI interaction look like in a role where you can’t ignore or cut it out altogether? Balance is key.”

Choice 360 LibTech Insights, Apr. 6
2d

A supermajority of ALA employees formally requested that ALA management voluntarily recognize their union, ALA Workers United, in a letter delivered to ALA Executive Director Dan Montgomery March 30. “Voluntary recognition is an established process that allows workers to freely exercise their right to choose union representation without the unnecessary duplication and delay of an election,” according to a statement from union leaders. Employees have also filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to trigger an election if the union is not voluntarily recognized.

AFSCME Council 31, Apr. 2
3d

Samantha Ingerson writes: “The first day of a conference is always incredibly exciting… and incredibly tiring. However, there is something very different about the Public Library Association Conference. I’m not sure what it is: seeing different librarians from different states who have the same ideas as you, learning new things, or maybe it’s just exciting because it’s exciting. Either way, day one didn’t disappoint.” Find recaps of sessions on advocacy, serving migrant families, fat-inclusive libraries, teen spaces, and more.

ALSC Blog, Apr. 1–3
3d

On April 6, ALA announced the 10 recipients of the 2026 I Love My Librarian Award, nominated by library users for their expertise, dedication, and impact on the people in their communities. This year’s award recipients include three academic librarians, four public librarians, and three school librarians. Honorees will receive a $5,000 cash prize as well as complimentary registration and a $750 travel stipend to attend ALA’s 2026 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago, to be held June 25–29. The award ceremony and reception will begin at 7:30 p.m. Central on Friday, June 26, and will stream live on YouTube.

AL: The Scoop, Apr. 6

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