Features Archives | Page 50 of 92 | American Libraries Magazine

Librarian responses to the survey question: "What does the best model look like for the digital humanities?"

How Librarians and Faculty Use Digital Humanities

By George M. Eberhart | March 3, 2016

The sea change brought about by digital humanities (DH) resources is still rippling through academia. As Stewart Varner and Patricia Hswe write in their special report on “Digital Humanities in Libraries” (American Libraries, Jan./Feb. 2016), libraries are “unsure how they should respond as DH attracts more and more practitioners and its definition evolves to cover … Continue reading How Librarians and Faculty Use Digital Humanities →

Clockwise from left: AFU Director Anders Liljegren and librarian Ingrid Collberg; one of several alien models in the AFU archive; the AFU library walls, decorated with UFO book covers; UFO modeled after photos taken by US contactee George Adamski in the 1950s; The Supernatural Magazine, published in Dublin in 1809. (Photos: Clas Svahn)

Bookend: The Real X-Files

March 1, 2016

Director and archivist Anders Liljegren, who created AFU’s specialized subject classification scheme, works with Collberg and more than 20 volunteers. “Since 1973, AFU has grown from a single bookshelf to a facility used by researchers from many countries,” Liljegren says. “Ingrid’s background in working with French materials is particularly valuable.” AFU also houses 50,000 issues … Continue reading Bookend: The Real X-Files →

Libraries Transform

By Hallie Rich and Nancy Dowd | March 1, 2016

The notion of telling and retelling the library story is at the heart of Libraries Transform, the American Library Association’s (ALA) new public awareness campaign. Libraries Transform is meant to give voice to the library profession, providing one clear, energizing message that showcases the transformative nature of libraries, elevating the critical role that libraries of … Continue reading Libraries Transform →

Libraries Transform in a Community College

By Julie B. Todaro | March 1, 2016

In fact, as higher education changes, as administrators redesign the educational process, as faculty refocus pedagogy, as educational vendors repurpose content, and as students and community users change how and when they learn, the community college library finds itself identifying and marketing what it already has to meet needs as well as what it redesigned … Continue reading Libraries Transform in a Community College →

School Libraries Transform

By Joyce Kasman Valenza | March 1, 2016

According to its mission, the American Association of School Librarians empowers leaders to transform teaching and learning. The words “leaders” and “transform” are key. As a faculty member in a preservice program, and as a school librarian for more than 25 years, I know that’s exactly what I want my students to do when they … Continue reading School Libraries Transform →

Moving Forward with Libraries Transform

By Marci Merola | March 1, 2016

While bold banners and thought-provoking statements might be enough to capture the community’s attention, the question that library professionals have been asking is what it means to be a “Libraries Transform library.” What does the campaign look like inside the library doors? We’ve been responding to that question with a question of our own: What … Continue reading Moving Forward with Libraries Transform →

Emerging Leaders 2016

By Phil Morehart | March 1, 2016

Initiated in 1997 as a one-year program under former ALA President Mary R. Somerville and revived in 2006 under former ALA President Leslie Burger, Emerging Leaders recognizes the best and brightest new leaders in our industry. It’s open to librarians under 35 years of age or those new to the library profession of any age … Continue reading Emerging Leaders 2016 →

New Routes to Library Success

By Elisabeth Doucett | March 1, 2016

I’m director of Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, Maine. As the result of being a worrywart and wanting to make sure that the library makes a successful transition to a technology-driven, digitally dominated future, I spend a great deal of time identifying and evaluating new library programs, processes, and management methods. After years of struggling … Continue reading New Routes to Library Success →

Trend Thinking in Libraries

By Miguel Figueroa | March 1, 2016

These changes, as subtle or significant as they may be, represent libraries’ continuing alignment with new trends and user needs. Whether it’s emerging adulthood, the unplugged and maker movements, or the growing influence of fast casual restaurants, libraries are taking advantage of trends in the larger environment and putting them to work in their spaces, … Continue reading Trend Thinking in Libraries →

Susan Hildreth, candidate for ALA treasurer

Meet the Candidate for ALA Treasurer: Susan Hildreth

By Susan Hildreth | March 1, 2016

As your treasurer, I will be dedicated to ensuring the financial success of ALA at this critical time for our Association and our profession. We must increase revenue and effectively align our resources to support key priorities—advocacy, information policy, and professional and leadership development—so that libraries and librarians can be relevant and successful now and … Continue reading Meet the Candidate for ALA Treasurer: Susan Hildreth →

Meet the Candidates for ALA President: Jim Neal

By James Neal | March 1, 2016

As your president, I will build on the Libraries Transform focus of current ALA President Sari Feldman, and the Expert in the Library theme of President-Elect Julie Todaro. My vision projects that we are: virtual, engaged with our users and in our communities in ever more rigorous and effective ways; we are virtuoso, smart but … Continue reading Meet the Candidates for ALA President: Jim Neal →

Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe, candidate for ALA president

Meet the Candidates for ALA President: Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe

By Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe | March 1, 2016

By joining together as a community of colleagues, we accomplish more than we can alone. We raise the visibility of the impact that libraries have in our communities. We challenge each other to innovate and transform our practices. We support each other. We are strong. But we can be stronger. ALA is the oldest and largest library association … Continue reading Meet the Candidates for ALA President: Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe →

Latest Library Links

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Jackie Jennings writes: “It feels like the debate over whether #BookTok is bad has been raging since the moment the term was first coined. I’m starting off with a strong stance: BookTok is indeed bad. However, the problem with BookTok is not crappy books or bogus influencers. The problem with BookTok is TikTok itself. BookTok isn’t actually a community driven by fans, writers, influencers, or even publishers: it’s part of a social media corporation, controlled by the most mysterious, fickle god of all, the algorithm.” Not surprisingly, librarian recommendations can overcome some of BookTok’s limitations.

Jezebel, Apr. 18; Book Riot, Apr. 22
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ALA announced the launch of its state Intellectual Freedom Helpline grant program April 22. Over the next two years, 10 pilot program sites will operate a confidential reporting system that will help connect those experiencing censorship attempts with professional support, in-state peers, or referral to ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, as appropriate. State or school library associations or agencies wishing to either establish an Intellectual Freedom Helpline in their state or expand existing efforts may apply for $10,000 grants through July 14.

ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, Apr. 22
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In celebration of the release of his latest nonfiction title, The Secret Lives of Booksellers & Librarians, bestselling author James Patterson is honoring select American Bookseller Association and American Library Association members with bonuses. He announced plans April 11 to give $200 each to 250 library workers across the country. The deadline for ALA members may nominate members to receive bonuses through April 30. Winners will be announced at ALA’s 2024 Annual Conference in San Diego.
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Catherine Hollerbach writes: “In early 2020, when the world shut down for COVID, many people got interested in houseplants. Anne Arundel County (Md.) Public Library’s Crofton Library embraced this trend and then some!” While preparing to reopen after the COVID shutdown, the library installed plants at the information desk to discourage patrons from sticking their heads through gaps in newly installed acrylic shields. They were well received and cared for, and the library gradually added more plants and built educational tools, programming, and partnerships around the plants.

Public Libraries Online, Apr. 18
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Rodney Freeman writes: “I am proud to be a librarian—and rare. Less than 7% of librarians in the US are Black. Libraries symbolize the literacy that was denied to so many of our ancestors. For our enslaved forebears, something as fundamental as learning to read was illegal and dangerous, but they did it anyway. Separate but ‘equal’ schools and ‘colored’ libraries filled with cast-offs from white libraries were key features of the Jim Crow era. Today we are seeing the same impulse to distort access to information into a tool to suppress and control, and to make some people ‘other.’”

Newsweek, Apr. 16
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Lori Birrell writes: “Staff want to feel valued, and they want their work to have an impact. A reorganization process can help leaders to surface such areas of impact and give staff a feeling of empowerment and value. Practitioners considering any sized reorganization are strongly encouraged to consider what models and resources will best support them as they plan and lead this work. Regardless of the model or resources, any reorganization process should be more than just moving boxes and reporting lines around on an organizational chart.”

Library Leadership and Management, Apr. 15
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Megan Bennett writes: “Two decades ago, while Daily Show Senior Correspondent Dulcé Sloan was doing summer shows at a community theater in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, the library was her main hangout spot. In the small town of 9,000 people, it was a place to gather with other young actors—and the only place with internet access. American Libraries spoke with Sloan before her closing session at the Public Library Association 2024 Conference in Columbus, Ohio, about her new book, her journey in stand-up comedy, and her memories of libraries.”

American Libraries Trend, Apr. 17

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