Archives

Person, Ruth

July 20, 2016

Ruth J. Person, chancellor emerita at Indiana University Kokomo, received an honorary doctorate from the university in May.

Holtslander, Linda

July 20, 2016

Linda Holtslander, who retired in May as programming division manager for Loudoun County (Va.) Public Library, received the first Friends of Fulbright Finland Alumni Enrichment Award for her research and planning for Helsinki City Library during and since her 2008 Fulbright fellowship in Finland.

Baish, Mary Alice

July 20, 2016

Mary Alice Baish, US Government Publishing Office superintendent of documents, retired in April.

Watson, Kelvin

July 20, 2016

Kelvin A. Watson has been promoted to chief operating officer and senior vice president at Queens (N.Y.) Library.

Levine-Clark, Michael

July 20, 2016

Michael Levine-Clark was named dean and director of university libraries at the University of Denver, effective June 1.

Leonard, David

July 20, 2016

Boston Public Library’s Board of Trustees named Interim Presiden David Leonard as president in June.

Buron, Nicolas

July 20, 2016

Queens (N.Y.) Library promoted Nicolas Buron to chief librarian and senior vice president in May.

Barber, Melissa

July 20, 2016

Melissa Barber was promoted to manager of the Patterson Branch of Lubbock (Tex.) Public Library April 16.

Wilson, Robert

July 20, 2016

In May Robert Timothy Wilson joined Bridgewater (Mass.) State University’s Clement C. Maxwell Library as emerging technologies and systems librarian.

Weibley, Chelsea

July 20, 2016

June 6 Chelsea Weibley became director of the Palmyra branch of the Library System of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania.

Unsworth, John

July 20, 2016

John M. Unsworth became university librarian and dean of libraries at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville June 25.

Trout, Karla

July 20, 2016

In June Karla Trout became executive director of Adams County Library System in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Latest Library Links

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Rodney Freeman Jr. writes: “We are living through a period of profound uncertainty and systemic challenge—where erasure of truth and history is not only possible but actively underway. History is protected by those who collect, preserve, and share the facts, and the archive becomes a battleground where every saved story is an act of resistance. The future will only remember what is preserved today, and the choice is between standing by as stories are diluted or destroyed—or fighting for the record, for the archive, and for the truth with steady, everyday work that anyone can participate in.”

Common Dreams, Nov. 2
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John Herrman writes: “Drawing on a new global survey of 250,000 adults in 50 countries by analytics firm GWI, John Burn-Murdoch at the Financial Times provocatively argues that, amidst all the fervor about artificial intelligence, another consequential story is unfolding more quietly: ‘In years to come, we may well look back on September 2025 as the point at which social media jumped the shark and began rapidly accelerating its transition from the place to be seen,’ he writes, ‘to a gaudy backwater of the internet inhabited by those with nothing better to do.’”

New York Magazine: Intelligencer, Nov. 10; Financial Times, Oct. 3
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While there were relatively few local elections in the US November 4, several that were held delivered good news for libraries. Washington County, Oregon, approved a library levy increase from 22 to 37 mills. School board members who had supported book bans lost in Cypress-Fairbanks (Tex.) Independent School District. In Ohio, 18 of 20 public library levies passed, and voters rejected several school board incumbents who ran on culture-war issues including banning books. In Pine-Richland School District in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, a slate of candidates opposing the school board’s new policy giving themselves power to add or remove library books, won the majority of board seats.

OregonLive, Nov. 5; Houston Press Nov. 5; Cleveland.com, Nov. 5; Signal Ohio, Nov. 10; TribLive (Pittsburgh), Mar. 18, Nov. 5
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For the first time since 2018, ALA will host the National Library Legislative Day February 25–26, 2026. The event will combine advocacy education, networking, and in-person meetings with legislators and congressional staff. Interested participants must complete an interest form by December 12 to be considered, as capacity is limited to 235 people and ALA is working to ensure equitable state representation. During the February 25 training portion, participants will share advocacy stories, learn from policy experts, and strategize for meetings on Capitol Hill the next day.

ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office, Nov. 10
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Corey Halaychik writes: “Libraries have long been the backbone of academic and public access to knowledge. But over time, we have handed over too much control to vendors—companies that provide us with books, databases, discovery systems, and other essential services. If we continue down this path, we risk losing our ability to shape the future of information access. But libraries don’t have to be passive consumers of vendor products. We can be creators, leaders, and innovators. The question is: Are we ready to take that step?”

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, Nov. 7
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Amanda Jones, the Livingston Parish (La.) school librarian who became one of the first librarians to sue book-banning activists for defamation after relentless assaults on her character, has received an apology from one of the critics who accused her of giving inappropriate materials to children. Jones settled her lawsuit against Ryan Thames, who operates the Bayou State of Mind Facebook page, for $1 and an apology, in which he acknowledged that his claims about her were not true.

Louisiana Voice, Nov. 3; American Libraries feature, Sept./Oct. 2023; Instagram, Nov. 2
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On November 5, ALA, Unite Against Book Bans, and the Interfaith Alliance launched the “Faith for Libraries: Diverse Faith Communities Supporting Libraries and Librarians” campaign to defend the freedom to read. The organizations have launched a pledge for people of faith to defend the freedom to read, and a campaign for houses of worship to send supportive postcards to their local librarians. They will also announce a major event in Chicago next year to coincide with ALA’s Annual Conference.

ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office, Nov. 5

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