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2024 Annual Conference Preview

2024 Annual Conference Preview

June 3, 2024

Annual promises an array of educational programs, speakers and authors, unique exhibitors, awards and celebrations, and networking opportunities. Making a return appearance from LibLearnX in January, a selection of Timely Topics—categories of sessions pertaining to current, critical issues in the profession—will be featured: artificial intelligence (AI), health and wellness, intellectual freedom, justice-involved services, and strategic … Continue reading 2024 Annual Conference Preview


A table with a spread of different seafood dishes

A Taste of San Diego

June 3, 2024

Seafood takes top billing at many spots, along with the region’s exceptional produce. Chefs put a SoCal twist on everything from sushi to Wagyu steaks, with inspired global flourishes everywhere. Mexican dishes and influences pop up in all sorts of menus, thanks to our proximity to the busiest land border crossing in the US. San … Continue reading A Taste of San Diego


Seeking Sanctuary

Seeking Sanctuary

June 3, 2024

Texas House Bill 900, which would have restricted materials in school libraries and required vendors to assign book ratings based on so-called appropriateness before selling them to schools, had just been signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in June and was set to go into effect September 1, 2023. (On September 19, the bill was temporarily blocked … Continue reading Seeking Sanctuary


Image of multiple drawn faces with different moods.

Working for Well-Being

June 3, 2024

Institutions continue to innovate while meeting community needs, piloting targeted tools, dedicating roles and spaces to well-being, and investing in specialty programming and services for both patrons and staff. American Libraries spoke with workers from four libraries that are pioneering mental health practices in the field. Supporting Staff Strategically Oak Park (Ill.) Library When, in … Continue reading Working for Well-Being


Grade school students stand around a table with a science project on it as a grad student talks about it.

Shaking Up Science

June 3, 2024

The event was RPL’s second Flip the Fair, introduced in 2022 to help graduate students develop skills to effectively communicate their research while engaging local elementary students with STEM topics and the library. It’s an example of how libraries are seeking innovative ways to share science and research with new audiences. “We wanted to give … Continue reading Shaking Up Science


Library staff posed in Bridgerton period garb

Sip, Sip, Hooray

June 3, 2024

In the corner broods a striking, enigmatic figure—tall, fastidiously groomed, and drawing the attention of everyone nearby. But that’s not the Duke of Hastings from Bridgerton, and this isn’t 19th-century London. It’s the 21st century, these guests are gathered at Collier County (Fla.) Public Library (CCPL), and the figure in the corner is a life-sized … Continue reading Sip, Sip, Hooray


Summer reading program participants at Montgomery County (Md.) Public Libraries choose brand-new books to take home, courtesy of Friends of the Library, Montgomery County.

A Greener Way to Read

June 3, 2024

When school lets out, children gravitate to public libraries. Meanwhile, libraries strive to help those children maintain or improve their reading and critical-thinking skills throughout those school-free months, often by way of summer reading programs. At Montgomery County (Md.) Public Libraries (MCPL), we have redesigned our summer reading challenge in hopes of inspiring our young … Continue reading A Greener Way to Read


Portrait of author Dave Eggers

Newsmaker: Dave Eggers

June 3, 2024

Eggers has received many prestigious awards, among them the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award for Education, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and, most recently, the Newbery Medal for The Eyes and the Impossible (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2023), an honor Eggers will celebrate at ALA’s 2024 Annual Conference in San Diego. American Libraries caught up … Continue reading Newsmaker: Dave Eggers



Kelley Woolley poses with items from the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance library collection

Bookend: From A to Zoo

June 3, 2024

“I’ve been a huge animal person my whole life,” Woolley says. Today, she oversees the library and archive for the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA), the nonprofit that runs the zoo and park. Her workplace is one of a handful of zoo libraries across the US that employs a full-time librarian. SDZWA’s 16,000-item library comprises … Continue reading Bookend: From A to Zoo


Photo of ALA President Emily Drabinski

United for Success

June 3, 2024

Building that collective power is hard work and, as the storied organizer Jane McAlevey says, there are no shortcuts. The heart of any project is listening to one another. We must take the time to open our minds to the perspectives of others, attempt to understand their circumstances, and share what we find. The gift … Continue reading United for Success


Headshot of Sheila Craft-Morgan

Citational Justice

June 3, 2024

These findings contribute to the notion that scholarly knowledge comes from a homogenous group of researchers, thereby overlooking the contributions of other groups. This phenomenon has been referred to as epistemological racism or screening, among other terms. In 2017, I read about the “Cite Black Women” campaign founded by Christen A. Smith, an anthropologist whose … Continue reading Citational Justice