In those early days, libraries grappled with the same issues as everyone else: closed buildings, plans put on hold, and diminished access. With this special report, we take a look at some libraries’ behind-the-scenes decisions to keep their communities connected and missions fulfilled. On the following pages, you’ll find stories about: early-pandemic adaptations and innovations … Continue reading Three Years Later
Three years on, which early-pandemic adaptations have stuck around? Which trends went by the wayside? American Libraries asked public, academic, school, and special librarians to reflect on how COVID-19 changed their work in the short and long term, and what these innovations taught them about their workplaces and users. Curbside service is here to stay … Continue reading From Makeshift to Mainstay
In a milieu of uncertainty caused by worldwide shutdowns, Brooks, executive director of Friends of the Library, Montgomery County (FOLMC) in Maryland and a United for Libraries board member, didn’t know if it was insensitive to ask the community to support the library with donations. She attended a workshop in 2020 on fundraising during a … Continue reading Getting Back to Giving Back
The library served as a hub for the school’s approximately 400 students and faculty. It had separate spaces for elementary and high school students to study, check out books, and use computers. Maria and its aftermath claimed most of the library’s collections. Of an estimated 4,000–5,000 books, 90% were no longer usable. “Everything was full … Continue reading A Perfect Storm
American Libraries spoke with the creators of two initiatives—virtual reality programs for medical students at Greenblatt Library at Augusta (Ga.) University (AU) and a specialized book club for pediatric staff at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). Both innovations were presented at the 2022 Medical Library Association’s Annual Conference and demonstrate the impact of medical librarianship. … Continue reading On the Cutting Edge
Learning centers also work well in the school library, where makerspaces have similarly paved the way for innovative library instruction. Makerspaces can vary according to setting, participant grade level, budget, and purpose. In general, they’re places where learners have choices and where learners make something. Many learning centers share these qualities. The difference is that … Continue reading At the Center of Learning
To alleviate the country’s ongoing litter problem, some public libraries are creating kits to help patrons clean up their neighborhoods. “We want people to be involved in the community,” says Samantha Hanchett, marketing coordinator at Thomas County (Ga.) Public Library System (TCPLS). “Doing something that benefits everyone, even though it’s quite quiet, is really what … Continue reading Talking Trash
“We’re a fairly tight-knit, smaller community, so we get to know our patrons very well and we hear a lot of different challenges that they’re facing in their everyday lives,” says Lepore, director of North Scituate (R.I.) Public Library (NSPL). She and library staffers began searching for ways to address pandemic recovery with a focus … Continue reading A Checkup for Checkout
When Las Vegas–Clark County (Nev.) Library District (LVCCLD) closed its doors at the start of the pandemic, the technological barriers that existed within the community were laid bare, particularly those affecting people facing homelessness. Last April, LVCCLD launched its Cellphone Lending Program, an innovative approach to providing hundreds of unhoused individuals with access to needed … Continue reading Libraries on Call
American Libraries spoke with Smith ahead of his appearance at the American Library Association’s 2023 LibLearnX conference in New Orleans, about how the city has influenced his identity and how fatherhood has shaped his writing. You’re a New Orleans native. What impact has the city had on your work? There’s obviously the food and the … Continue reading Newsmaker: Clint Smith
1976 Year that author Larry Wilde founded National Humor Month, held annually in April. 70 Number of oral history interviews available online through the American Comedy Archives, housed at Iwasaki Library at Emerson College in Boston. Interview participants include Margaret Cho, Dick Van Dyke, Betty White, and “Weird Al” Yankovic. 628,300 Number of print materials … Continue reading By the Numbers: Humor
The library’s ephemera provides an illuminating look at Tinseltown and a record of the guild and its members: a Cold War–era FBI file on blacklisted screenwriting couple Hugo Butler and Jean Rouverol, two lifetime achievement awards given to seven-time Oscar recipient Billy Wilder, and screenwriter Linda Woolverton’s correspondence related to the development of Disney’s animated … Continue reading Bookend: Flipping the Script
