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The Scoop

11 Questions: Bill Ladewski

Meet ALA’s new director of Member Relations and Services
November 19, 2024
ALA Announces 2025 Carnegie Medals Shortlist

Six finalists chosen for excellence in fiction and nonfiction
November 13, 2024
11 Questions: Amy Katzenberger

Meet ALA’s new director of development
November 12, 2024
Call Number Podcast: Small Libraries, Big Ideas

Two Midwest libraries expand community connection
November 11, 2024
ALA Vows to Defend Core Values
November 6, 2024
11 Questions: Kerri Price

Meet ALA’s new Office for Accreditation director
November 5, 2024
High Bay Storage Solutions

Offsite, but not out of reach
November 4, 2024
Call Number Podcast: The Haunting of Peoria Public Library

A ghost-hunting tale
October 25, 2024
Recommended Reading: Books for Election Season

Picks from Booklist for exploring the big questions that underlie elections
By Annie Bostrom and Donna Seaman and Sarah Hunter and Susan Maguire | October 16, 2024
ALA Releases Statement on Helping Communities Affected by Hurricane Helene
October 3, 2024
‘We Have to Work Together’: Action Beyond Banned Books Week

Chair Ava DuVernay talks about fighting censorship
By Paula Mauro | October 2, 2024
Call Number Podcast: Check Out Your Library

OverDrive initiative reintroduces communities to their local libraries
September 26, 2024

Latest Library Links

14h

Andrew Limbong writes: “A federal judge has halted President Trump’s attempt to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)—the agency which provides federal funding to libraries and museums across the country. Attorneys general from 21 states sued the president to stop him from dismantling IMLS, the Minority Business Development Agency, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service [in his March 14 executive order]. District court Judge John J. McConnell Jr. issued an injunction on the order May 6, stating that it violated the Administrative Procedure Act.” This lawsuit is separate from one filed by ALA and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, which resulted in a restraining order temporarily blocking the dismantling of IMLS on May 1.

WRKF-FM (Baton Rouge, La.), May 6
15h

Daniel Kool writes: “The Maine State Library has rescinded three layoff notices it issued last month after it regained access to half its federal funding. The library avoided two other layoffs by shifting employees from their federally funded positions to positions unrelated to that funding, State Librarian Lori Fisher wrote in an email May 5. That leaves eight layoffs still in effect, though Fisher said those have been delayed until May 8. ‘The remaining layoffs could be rescinded if federal funding is restored in full,’ Fisher said.

Portland (Maine) Press Herald, May 5
17h

Brian Dobreski and Christopher Hastings write: “Libraries show an increasing interest in incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) tools into their workflows, particularly easily accessible and free-to-use chatbots. In this study, researchers sought to assess the performance of AI tools in performing basic subject heading and classification number assignment. Overall performance of these tools was poor, particularly for assigning classification numbers. Frequent sources of error included assigning overly broad numbers or numbers for incorrect topics. Although subject heading assignment was also poor, ChatGPT showed more promise here, backing up previous observations that chatbots may hold more immediate potential for this task.”

Library Resources & Technical Services, Apr.
20h

International Workers’ Day is May 1. American Libraries’ By the Numbers column in May collects data about labor and libraries, including the number of library workers represented by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees; the size of the 2024 grant received by the University of California, Santa Cruz library from the Mellon Foundation to establish an archive chronicling the life and work of labor activist Dolores Huerta, and the number of oral histories from survivors of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire housed at the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

American Libraries Trend, May
2d

Cindy Hohl writes: “Our profession, and our humanity, are in jeopardy. As we saw with the White House’s executive order calling for the Institute of Museum and Library Services to be eliminated, libraries—and everything we value as information professionals—are under attack. Make no mistake: The American people need to brace for more waves of uncertainty and oppression. And in our role as stalwart information warriors, we shall hold the front lines of democracy to ensure that intellectual freedom and the First Amendment are held in the highest regard.”

American Libraries column, May
2d

Marshall Breeding writes: “The library technology industry showed its maturity in 2024. Businesses have become increasingly stable and robust products delivered rich functionality. But decades of consolidation have created a narrower slate of competitors, resulting in a smaller number of products available for each type and size of library. The marketplace is seeing more specialized solutions but fewer options. Companies continue to tailor products to the diverging service needs and collections of public, academic, school, and special libraries. Library services platforms designed for academic libraries, for example, are not well suited for public libraries. This stratification further narrows customers’ choices.”

American Libraries feature, May
2d

“On May 1, ALA announced that the US District Court for the District of Columbia temporarily blocked the Trump administration from dismantling the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), as directed by a March 14 executive order. The temporary restraining order was issued in response to a lawsuit filed by ALA and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the largest union representing library workers. ALA’s full statement regarding the court’s temporary restraining order reads as follows.

AL: The Scoop, May 2

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