Archives

Meet the Candidates for ALA President: Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada

By Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada | March 1, 2021

As your president, I will lead with the Association’s core values, centering equity, strengthening advocacy, and promoting organizational excellence through connection and collaboration. I have and will continue to seek out, listen to, and act on the varied perspectives and experiences of our members to move ALA forward. As a 14-year member, past ALA Executive … Continue reading Meet the Candidates for ALA President: Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada →

Portrait of On My Mind author Lesley Garrett

Bookmobiles for Justice

By Lesley Garrett | March 1, 2021

During my time as an organizer apprentice with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, our chapter led a successful campaign in partnership with the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Kentucky Fairness and ACLU of Kentucky to pass a 2018 civil rights ordinance in the city of Paducah that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. … Continue reading Bookmobiles for Justice →

Building Morale in a Pandemic

By Meredith Farkas | March 1, 2021

I’ve heard countless stories of library workers who have gone above and beyond to support their communities during this time. But I’ve also wondered how many libraries surpassed expectations to meet their staffers’ needs. I spoke with several librarians about what they’ve done to support their workers as whole people. Early in the pandemic, administrators … Continue reading Building Morale in a Pandemic →

Portrait of Dispatches author Monika Glowacka-Musial

Visualize This

By Monika Glowacka-Musial | March 1, 2021

Digital collections, however, are not simply representations of physical collections but resources in their own right. Unlike physical collections, their digital counterparts feature detailed metadata. Often, they also feature full text, thanks to optical character recognition conversion of text images into machine-encoded data. Both metadata and data can be mined, analyzed, and visualized—not only opening … Continue reading Visualize This →

It’s Okay to Be Wrong

By Linda W. Braun | March 1, 2021

With the pandemic prompting us to step back and think critically about our users and the programs we bring online, it’s also a good time to reflect on past missteps. I’d like to share some of the wrong ideas I’ve had and why some of my original thinking was incorrect, as a reminder of the … Continue reading It’s Okay to Be Wrong →

Librarian's Library by Araceli Mendez Hintermeister

Engagement at a Distance

By Araceli Méndez Hintermeister | March 1, 2021

Pivoting during the Pandemic: Ideas for Serving Your Community Anytime, Anywhere Edited by Kathleen M. Hughes and Jamie Santoro This collection includes 22 reflections from library staffers across the US on how public libraries have responded to challenges posed by COVID-19. Whether you seek to serve specific patron groups, address larger community needs, or … Continue reading Engagement at a Distance →

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

Revolutions Where We Stand

By Tracie D. Hall | March 1, 2021

Those words seem especially prescient now as we look across the country at the libraries that have struggled most during this period of widespread library defunding and service reductions. Though the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the issue, there has long been an unmistakable correlation between communities that navigate high rates of poverty and those that … Continue reading Revolutions Where We Stand →

From the President, by Julius C. Jefferson Jr.

A Place within ALA

By Julius C. Jefferson Jr. | March 1, 2021

What do these events mean for libraries and the Association? Libraries and library workers had an important role leading up to the 2020 presidential election by encouraging and supporting voter registration, which led to more than 66% of eligible voters participating—making 2020 the most engaged election since 1900. No matter who you voted for, as … Continue reading A Place within ALA →

Newsmaker: Kazuo Ishiguro

By Alison Marcotte | February 25, 2021

Klara and the Sun is a powerful commentary on the ethics of technological advances and artificial intelligence. What inspired you to address those themes? It was an opportunity to have a narrator with an interesting perspective. The Artificial Friend is almost like a baby at the beginning: completely fresh, completely open, but taking things in … Continue reading Newsmaker: Kazuo Ishiguro →

Latest Library Links

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Jodi Fortino writes: “Some Lee’s Summit (Mo.) School District Board of Education members said they’ve heard from parents concerned about what content their children can access in school libraries. Starting this month, parents can place their student on a restricted checkout status. Parents can call their school’s librarian and list up to 20 titles that their student won’t be able to check out. School librarians said they received 89 formal reconsideration requests in the 2022–2023 school year, but none of them came from parents whose children had checked out a book.” No requests were received in the 2023–2024 school year.

KCUR-FM (Kansas City, Mo.), Mar. 10
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Jeffrey Brainard writes: “The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday told staff members it has canceled subscriptions carried by its National Agricultural Library as part of a drive by President Donald Trump’s administration (and its Department of Government Efficiency) to cut federal spending. The move appears to drop nearly 400 of the library’s roughly 2,000 journals, including many prominent in various agricultural subfields—but curiously none from the world’s three largest scientific publishers, all of which are for-profit. Most of the affected publishers are university or nonprofit scientific society presses. USDA staff members depicted the move as hasty, indiscriminate slashing.”

Science, Mar. 17
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Amanda Rogers and Dianndra Roberts write: “Neurodiversity is the natural variation in human neurological functioning. Approximately 15%–20% of the global population is neurodivergent. Organizations that do not actively include and support neurodivergent individuals risk missing out on exceptional talents and undermining employees’ ability to work to their full potential. Workplace practices that support diverse working styles can build a positive and supportive environment without enforcing neuronormativity. By fostering an inclusive environment that values different ways of thinking, organizations can drive innovation, enhance problem-solving, and improve overall team performance.”

The Scholarly Kitchen, Mar. 17
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Dawson Damico writes: “For nearly 80 years, Iberia Parish (La.) Library has offered services to the public. It is now on the verge of closing down if a reduced millage renewal is not passed in the March 29 election. Last year, the renewal failed to pass, making this year’s election vital for the future of the system. It will be at a reduced rate from six mills to 4.5 mills. All libraries in the system are [currently] operating off a reduced balance of $3.3 million. If [the millage is] not passed, Hills said the funds will be depleted by March 2026.”

KLFY-TV (Lafayette, La.), Mar. 12
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Ian Trawinski, Lisa Picker, and Andrea Berstler write: “Makerspaces are commonly expected to host a younger demographic, while libraries are thought of as a space mostly visited by older generations. [But at] Carroll County (Md.) Public Library’s Exploration Commons, we have found that our makerspace is enjoyed across all generations. In fact, we have found that the customers who most take advantage of the tools and programs supplied by Exploration Commons, in ways we had not anticipated, are seniors. Exploration Commons regularly hosts programs designed to help ease seniors into learning how to operate the equipment available in this makerspace.”

Information Technology and Libraries, Mar. 17
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Alan S. Inouye writes: “On the evening of March 14, President Trump launched an assault on libraries by signing an executive order titled Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy. The president cannot fully eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services without congressional approval, but his order takes every possible step in that direction. The good news is that there is a groundswell of opposition to Trump’s order. Since ALA’s March 15 statement, more than 55,000 messages have been recorded and sent to Congress members through ALA’s action center. In addition to grassroots advocacy, ALA is opposing the executive order in a number of ways.” ALA has published an FAQ to help library workers, advocates, and users understand the order.

AL: The Scoop, Mar. 19; ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office, Mar. 18
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Hannah Weinberg writes: “Since President Trump retook office on January 20, libraries and librarianship have been assaulted via executive orders and other actions. While the legality of many of these actions is still being decided by the courts, librarians, archivists, and other information professionals have been working through the confusion to preserve access to information. Below are several examples of the challenges libraries have faced over the past two months and the ways in which librarians and advocates have responded—and continue to respond.”

American Libraries Trend, Mar. 19

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