The Scoop

The Other America

Virtual Sunrise Celebration advocates for equity, access, activism
By Sanhita SinhaRoy | January 25, 2021
2021 Youth Media Award Winners

Top books, video, and audiobooks for children and young adults revealed at ALA Midwinter Virtual
January 25, 2021
Pandemic Programming

School librarians discuss how COVID-19 has changed their work
By Phil Morehart | January 24, 2021
Uncomfortable Conversations

Emmanuel Acho tackles the questions about race that white people are afraid to ask
By Terra Dankowski | January 24, 2021
The Future of Fundraising

Foundations and Friends groups find ways to reach donors at a distance
By Terra Dankowski | January 24, 2021

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Libraries and Invasive Technology

Top Tech Trends panelists on deepfakes, surveillance, biometrics
By Amy Carlton | January 24, 2021
Little Libraries, Big Problems

Small and rural libraries discuss concerns, solutions
By Phil Morehart | January 24, 2021
Caring for the Caretakers

Strategies for coping with distress
By Carrie Smith | January 24, 2021
Midwinter 2021 Top Tweets—Day 3
By Heather Cho | January 24, 2021
“Our Songs Came Through”

US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo on Indigenous poetry
By Sallyann Price | January 24, 2021
The Autobiography of Ms. Cicely Tyson

Legendary actor speaks about race, advocacy, and living history over her 60-year career
By Sanhita SinhaRoy | January 24, 2021
Council I: Forward Together Reports Presented
By Amy Carlton | January 24, 2021

Latest Library Links

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Julia Skinner writes: “In 1918, World War I was coming to a close, and widespread changes were afoot. It was in some ways a moment similar to today: rapid technological development brought sweeping changes to workplaces and homes. Fights for labor and voting rights were under way. Then, in the spring, a pandemic began to sweep the globe, killing millions. Libraries across the US helped people stay informed, entertained, and cared for as they disseminated information and resources, shifted their services, and reimagined how they brought collections to the communities they served.”

JStor Daily, Apr. 14
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Amy Carlton writes: “On April 14, the second day of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) 2021 Virtual Conference, Kaetrena Davis Kendrick invited attendees to think beyond the idea of openness in library and archival spaces—a concept that generally involves open access to resources—to imagine the idea of welcome for both library users and library workers. Kendrick, dean of the Ida Jane Dacus Library and Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, said that her theory of welcome has been proven through her own experience and research, as well as through national and international perspectives on the practice.”

AL: The Scoop, Apr. 15
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Simon & Schuster said April 15 that it had scrapped plans to distribute a book by one of the Louisville police officers who shot Breonna Taylor during the botched drug raid last year that resulted in her death. The book by the officer, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, is being published by Post Hill Press, a Tennessee-based house whose specialties include Christian and conservative political books.

New York Times, Apr. 15
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Vartan Gregorian—historian and humanities scholar, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom—died April 15 at 87. Gregorian served as president of Brown University (1989–1997) and is renowned for revitalizing New York Public Library during his tenure as president (1981–1989). Related: “Remembering Andrew Carnegie’s Legacy”

Carnegie Corp., Apr. 16
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New York Times–bestselling author Jason Reynolds will serve as the inaugural Honorary Chair of Banned Books Week, September 26–October 2. Reynolds is a multiple National Book Award finalist and has received a Newberry Honor, several Coretta Scott King Awards, and an NAACP Image Award. He is currently serving as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for the Library of Congress. Two of his works (Stamped, with Ibram X. Kendi, and All American Boys) are on ALA’s list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Book of 2020.

Entertainment Weekly, Apr. 13
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Amy Carlton writes: “Award-winning author, educator, podcaster, and cultural critic Tressie McMillan Cottom opened the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) 2021 Virtual Conference on April 13 by noting how the conference theme—“Ascending into an Open Future”—parallels conversations she’s been having with colleagues around the idea of what openness means in an information-based society.”

AL: The Scoop, Apr. 14
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America’s public library workers have adjusted and expanded their services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to initiating curbside pickup options, they’re doing many things to support their local communities, such as extending free Wi-Fi outside library walls, becoming vaccination sites, hosting drive-through food pantries in library parking lots and establishing virtual programs for all ages, including everything from story times to Zoom sessions on grieving and funerals. In 2018, there were 143,518 library workers in the US, according to data collected by IMLS. While newer data isn’t available, the number is probably lower now, and recent history suggests more library jobs may be on the chopping block in the near future.

The Conversation, Apr. 13