Columns Archives | Page 2 of 67 | American Libraries Magazine

Academic Insights, by Raymond Pun, Melissa Cardenas-Dow, and Kenya S. Flash

Prioritizing Ethnic Studies

In August 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed California Assembly Bill 1460, requiring all students in the 23-campus California State University system to take a three-unit ethnic studies class—in Native American studies, African American and Black studies, Asian Pacific American studies, or Chicanx and Latinx studies. During the 2021–2022 academic year, thousands of students enrolled in … Continue reading Prioritizing Ethnic Studies →

A Model for Privacy?

Columns
Dispatches from the Field
By Marshall Breeding | March 1, 2022

In general, there are four approaches that libraries can take in relation to patron privacy. As library leaders consider implementing new tools for improving user outreach, they need to consider which model best suits their mission and strategic initiatives: Strict privacy. At one end of the spectrum, the library configures its integrated library system (ILS) … Continue reading A Model for Privacy? →

Rethinking Digital Literacy

Columns
Youth Matters
By Molly June Roquet | March 1, 2022

But instead of helping students understand these phenomena, digital literacy curricula tend to focus on individual behavior and responsibilities: Do protect your private information. Don’t cyberbully your classmates. Do use citations. These lessons often aim to correct perceived misbehavior or build academic skills but do little to raise students’ awareness of the complex social issues … Continue reading Rethinking Digital Literacy →

Broadening Outreach

Columns
On My Mind
By Cynthia Kiyotake | March 1, 2022

My eight-branch library system in the Denver metro area serves about 655,000 people across much of Arapahoe County, covering a diverse social landscape: lower-income communities, rural Coloradans, a county jail, and a variety of residential and commercial interests. Various groups within our libraries administer programming work collaboratively to meet the particular needs of children and … Continue reading Broadening Outreach →

Librarian's Library by Araceli Mendez Hintermeister

Harbingers of Harmony

Columns
Librarian's Library
By Araceli Méndez Hintermeister | March 1, 2022

Library Next: Seven Action Steps for Reinvention By Catherine Murray-Rust The pandemic has presented libraries with unusual challenges, creating an atmosphere in which change comes quickly and often. Library Next offers takeaways and activities you can adapt to your work style and organizational culture while navigating new developments in the profession. A self-proclaimed library disrupter, … Continue reading Harbingers of Harmony →

Devices on the Go

Columns
Solutions and Services
By Carrie Smith | March 1, 2022

Launchpad User: Rebecca Colbert, head of collection and bibliographic services, Las Vegas–Clark County (Nev.) Library District What are Launchpads? Launchpads are tablets with preloaded educational apps and games, produced by Playaway. They enable digital learning without the need for Wi-Fi or internet access. Each tablet is for a different educational level and subject area, such … Continue reading Devices on the Go →

Image of ALA President Patricia "Patty" M. Wong

Two Decades of ALA-APA

Columns
President's Message
By Patricia "Patty" M. Wong | January 3, 2022

Through your ALA membership, you are already part of ALA-APA. And as president of ALA, I’m also president of ALA-APA, so this work is very close to my heart. I’m proud that the leaders who came before me had the foresight to establish ALA-APA to offer resources for librarians, library staff, and library managers to … Continue reading Two Decades of ALA-APA →

Photo of ALA Executive Director Tracie D. Hall. Text says "From the Executive Director by Tracie D. Hall"

Belonging as Technology

Columns
Executive Director's Message
By Tracie D. Hall | January 3, 2022

This is a critical area of focus for the American Library Association (ALA) and for the LIS community at large. This past year exposed digital access barriers such as expensive and low-quality broadband, the ongoing paucity of technology in the lowest-income households, and the overlap of limited reading skills and limited digital literacy. Left unchecked, … Continue reading Belonging as Technology →

Building ALA’s Future

Columns
Treasurer's Report
By Maggie Farrell | January 3, 2022

However, as we start 2022—and as my term as ALA treasurer winds down—I have much good news to share regarding ALA’s financial situation. First, the ALA Executive Board, Budget Analysis and Review Committee (BARC), and Finance and Audit (F&A) Subcommittee worked closely with ALA leadership to balance expenditures on the revenue base and adjust them … Continue reading Building ALA’s Future →

Crisis Averted

Columns
Youth Matters
By Linda W. Braun | January 3, 2022

Consider, for example, a library activity in which teens can talk about the spaces that make them feel comfortable and can help design an area of the library that is just for them. In this exercise, teens articulate what evokes happiness and calm—two emotional states that are central to positive mental health—and are given an … Continue reading Crisis Averted →

Work Made Visible

On My Mind
By Rachel Ivy Clarke | January 3, 2022

Invisible labor is a concept from feminist scholarship that aims to bring attention to underpaid, unrecognized, and undervalued work, often performed by women. Household work is an example, but the term also applies to some intellectual work, like that performed in libraries. When a job is done well—a program goes off without a hitch, for … Continue reading Work Made Visible →

Ways to Connect

Dispatches from the Field
By David Lee King | January 3, 2022

Most libraries use one or more library engagement platforms—such as newsletters, mobile apps, or reservation systems—for communications like notifying customers about upcoming events or inviting them to browse materials and check something out. These interactions are touchpoints where the library and customer connect, not unlike a physical reference or circulation desk. Let’s consider how libraries … Continue reading Ways to Connect →

Latest Library Links

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Richard Byrne writes: “In the book Outdoor Kids in an Inside World, Steven Rinella presents a lot of ideas for getting kids interested and involved in learning about nature. In the first chapter, he presents a big list of ideas for things that you can do to spark kids’ curiosity before you even head outside. As I was reading through those ideas, it struck me that many could be done or be aided by the use of Google Earth. Inspired by Rinella’s book, here are five Google Earth activities that you can do to get kids interested in learning about the world around them.”

Free Technology for Teachers, May 21
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Yashvi Peeti writes: “Music has been a way to feel connected to the world beyond my existence. This comes in the form of singing in the car, too. Lending music to words also increases their impact. A lot of lyrics end up casually scribbled or earnestly penned in my many, many notebooks. However, music’s most defining quality, for me, is that it isn’t always something I have to ponder. It is something I can simply rejoice in or be comforted by even without actively listening. Everything that music means to me has led me to wanting to read about it. So here’s a list of diverse and brilliant nonfiction books about music.”

Book Riot, May 20
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Sallyann Price writes: “Long before the popularity of true-crime podcasts, there was True Detective, a pulp magazine published from 1924 to 1995 that, at its peak, chronicled real-life crimes for millions of readers. Edward S. Sullivan, an editor for The Los Angeles Examiner and a True Detective correspondent, would arrive at a crime scene with his notebook and camera, find out what he could from law enforcement, and begin his own investigation into what really happened. In early 2020, University of Southern California (USC) Libraries acquired Sullivan’s personal archive of 1,200 photographs and 50 meticulously annotated case files: murders, assaults, stick-ups, forgeries, grifts, kidnappings, and other criminal acts spanning from the 1930s through the 1960s.”

American Libraries feature, May
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Andrew Albanese writes: “While a federal court is now deciding how to dispatch with Maryland’s library ebook law, lawmakers in Rhode Island this week have advanced the state’s own library ebook bill. On May 18, the Rhode Island Senate Education Committee unanimously voted to recommend passage and advanced Senate Bill 2842 out of committee and to the floor for a full vote. Like Maryland’s library ebook law—which was preliminarily enjoined after federal judge Deborah L. Boardman in February ruled that the law is preempted by the federal Copyright Act—Rhode Island’s law would also require that publishers that offer ebook licenses to the general public also offer to license those works to libraries and schools on ‘reasonable terms’ that would ‘permit libraries, schools, and educational institutions to provide their users and students with access.'”

Publishers Weekly, May 20
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Amelia M. Anderson and Abigail L. Phillips write: “The US Census Bureau reported in 2019 that 40.7 million Americans—or about 12% of the population—have some sort of disability. Libraries work hard to meet the needs of patrons and staff with disabilities and make our facilities accessible to all, but there’s one space that’s too often left out of these conversations: the makerspace. Acknowledging that gap, our research team set out to explore the accessibility of public library makerspaces. Every makerspace is different, we learned, but there were some common themes in our discussions with participants.”

American Libraries column, May
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Gretchen Corsillo writes: “High school students around the country could now stand to lose even more as a result of the recent widespread efforts to ban and challenge books. Earlier this month, College Board, the nonprofit that administers testing and college readiness programs such as the SAT, Advanced Placement (AP) Program, and PSAT, released a new set of guiding principles. Titled What AP Stands For, the statement directly opposes censorship and clarifies that schools that remove essential topics or readings from AP classes could lose their official designation.”

Intellectual Freedom Blog, May 18; College Board
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Taylor Healey-Brooks and Michelle Lee write: “Research across many fields has shown that having a mentor can be crucial for people of color. Mentoring can lead to knowledge, experience, networking opportunities, and increased job satisfaction. One of the most important things mentoring offers is a sense of community and emotional support in one’s career. But it can be difficult for new librarians to find such a person with years of training. Because of the lack of diversity in librarianship (in 2020, approximately 83% of credentialed librarians were white) and problems retaining librarians of color, it can be challenging for new librarians to find a mentor with ample experience in the field. Peer mentoring—a relationship in which the participants are at similar points in their career—can help fill this gap.”

American Libraries column, May; AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees, June 10, 2021

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