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Summer Reading Stats Skyrocket in Indianapolis infoZone

By Beverly Goldberg | September 20, 2011

A library-museum partnership has resulted in a 60% jump in summer-reading participation at the Indianapolis–Marion County Public Library’s infoZone branch, which is located inside the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. “All of our library locations were buzzing with activity, but the Children’s Museum exceeded our expectations,” IMCPL Director of Programming and Project Development Chris Cairo said … Continue reading Summer Reading Stats Skyrocket in Indianapolis infoZone →

September 11, 2001: Traumatized by Terrorism

By Leonard Kniffel | September 6, 2011

Ten years ago, American Libraries wrote: In New York City, Washington, D.C., and across the nation, neighborhood public libraries are helping a population traumatized, saddened, and angered by the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to cope and return to the comforting routines of daily life. First Lady Laura … Continue reading September 11, 2001: Traumatized by Terrorism →

A Tribute to H. W. Wilson

By Robert Wedgeworth | June 3, 2011

In the summer of 1973, I attended my first conference of the International Federation of Library Associations (held in Grenoble, France) after becoming executive director of the American Library Association. The conference buzz was speculation about me (“Who is this Bob Wedgeworth?”), since I had just succeeded David Clift. Leo M. Weins, president of the … Continue reading A Tribute to H. W. Wilson →

How Overdue Books Caused the Civil War

By Rob Lopresti | May 18, 2011

I admit that the title is a bit of an exaggeration. For one thing, most of the books were not actually overdue. Also, some people claim there were other causes for the Civil War: slavery, states’ rights, and stuff like that. Nonetheless, the fact remains that 150 years ago, when this country was debating whether … Continue reading How Overdue Books Caused the Civil War →

Born Here, Died Here

By Kevin Grace | April 26, 2011

On July 29, 1900, Mary Ayres died of consumption in Cincinnati, Ohio. An Irish immigrant who labored as a cook, Mary was 51 years old and a widow. On her official death record, no home address is given. Presumably when the disease set in, she was removed to the city infirmary. We do not know … Continue reading Born Here, Died Here →

I’m Not Your Scapegoat

By Audrey Barbakoff | March 7, 2011

I’ll admit it: I’ve always thought unions were a little passé. I just couldn’t shake the image of a typical union dude as a hard-bitten, grimy-fingered steelworker swigging black coffee spiked with gin. So despite the fact that as a public librarian I’m a dues-paying member myself, I’ve never mustered the enthusiasm to attend a … Continue reading I’m Not Your Scapegoat →

Midwinter’s WikiLeaks Letdown

By Al Kagan | February 1, 2011

One of the key problems of our time is lack of government transparency, and therefore restricted public access to U.S. government information. The ongoing WikiLeaks disclosures highlight the need to protest these policies and get them changed. Several of the American Library Association’s core values are directly relevant to this discussion; “access,” “democracy,” “the public … Continue reading Midwinter’s WikiLeaks Letdown →

Running a Passport Acceptance Facility at Your Library

By Robert J. Rua | February 1, 2011

Becoming a PAF has paid off for Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Public Library. Last April, we made passport processing and photo services available seven days a week at seven branches from opening until one hour before closing. We have since collected more than $100,000 in execution fees. This new revenue stream has enabled us to restore … Continue reading Running a Passport Acceptance Facility at Your Library →

Plugging into the TED conference @ your library

By Gabriella Radujko | January 25, 2011

Princeton (N.J.) Public Library hosted a two-day TEDx event, December 7-8, 2010, while thousands of “Tedsters” simultaneously attended over 100 similarly organized events about women’s issues in cities as diverse as Geneva, Pittsburgh, and Dubai. TEDx events, spinoffs of the TED annual nonprofit conference whose mission is “ideas worth spreading” are free, independent, and highly … Continue reading Plugging into the TED conference @ your library →

Telephone Reference: A Children’s Author Learns to Work the Wires

By Johanna Hurwitz | January 24, 2011

When I was growing up in the Bronx during the 1940s and ’50s, my family was the only one in our apartment building to own a telephone. It meant we could be in communication with family and friends. And for our neighbors, it meant they were secure in knowing that my mother would let them … Continue reading Telephone Reference: A Children’s Author Learns to Work the Wires →

12 Ways Libraries Are Good for the Country

By Leonard Kniffel | December 21, 2010

Americans love their libraries, and advances in technology have multiplied the ways in which libraries enrich the quality of life in their communities. Whether they are in an elementary school or a university, a museum or a corporation, public or private, our nation's libraries offer a lifetime of learning. To library supporters everywhere—Friends, trustees, board … Continue reading 12 Ways Libraries Are Good for the Country →

(At Least) 21 Programming Ideas for Women’s History Month

By Kay Ann Cassell and Kathleen Weibel | February 10, 2010

Promote healthy conversation. In every community there is someone (a physician, nurse, pharmacist, physical therapist, etc) who can address women’s health issues. Plymouth (Mich.) District Library worked with the speaker’s bureau of the local hospital to present an exercise and nutrition program. Ask a local physician. That’s what the Bartholomew County (Ind.) Public Library did … Continue reading (At Least) 21 Programming Ideas for Women’s History Month →

Latest Library Links

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Librarians joined the world in mourning Dolly Parton and remembering both her artistic achievements and her philanthropy. Parton’s award-winning Imagination Library initiative, inspired by her father’s inability to read or write, has put hundreds of millions of books into the hands of children, and she considered it one of her greatest achievements. ALA conferred Parton with honorary lifetime membership, its highest honor, in 2023. American Libraries interviewed Parton in 2018 as the Imagination Library was delivering its 100 millionth book. Libraries, including Knox County (Tenn.) Public Library and Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Public Library, created commemorative displays and book lists, while the University of Louisville (Ky.) Archives and Special Collections and the University of North Carolina Libraries shared rare photos and recordings.

I Love Libraries, Aug. 27; American Libraries Trend, Jan./Feb. 2018; Knox County (Tenn.) Public Library, Aug. 26; Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Public Library, Aug. 26; University of Louisville (Ky.) Archives and Special Collections, Aug. 27; Chapelboro.com, Aug. 27
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Yasir Mahmood writes: “I’ve been gradually building up my Excel shortcut knowledge over time, and it has genuinely helped me work with spreadsheets more efficiently. Once you start incorporating shortcuts into your daily workflow, there’s honestly no going back to the old way.” Shortcuts can speed navigation, data selection, formatting, formula-building, data management, and simply working with worksheets.

MakeUseOf, Aug. 27
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Dan Johnson writes: “Viktoria Haidai surveys the mangled remains of the printing press, which should have been busy churning out textbooks ready for the new school year. The plant, on the edge of Kyiv, was hit during the night by a Russian missile, just as production was ramping up to deliver 1.3 million books—10% of Ukraine’s schoolbooks. Russia has hit printing presses and publishing houses across Ukraine in a series of recent attacks, destroying 12 million books and damaging other icons of Ukrainian history and culture.”

BBC, Aug. 30
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“Public libraries nationwide are reaching a breaking point as a result of mounting pressures to censor collections, increased intimidation against library staff, and disruptions to library operations, according to a September 1 report by PEN America. Out of Circulation: Expanding Censorship in Public Libraries examines the fallout from book bans, canceled story hours, harassment of librarians, funding cuts, and the undoing of libraries’ independent governance. Taken together, the report argues, these actions threaten ‘the very existence of public libraries’ as a cornerstone of democracy.”

PEN America, Sept. 1
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Hana Lee Goldin writes: “More than half a billion people around the world now listen to podcasts, across more than 4 million shows. Buried in that catalog is a kind of source material that barely existed a generation ago: experts talking about their own work, at length and in their own words. The clearest proof that podcasts already work as sources is how often we quote them. Each repetition runs on memory alone. So the archive is already in use as a source, just without a way back to the moment.”

Card Catalog, Sept. 1
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Leah Weinryb-Grohsgal writes: “As the steward of over 200 petabytes of data, the Library of Congress (LC) has spent decades building infrastructure and services to preserve and provide access to digital materials. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies offer enticing possibilities for maintaining, delivering, and analyzing some of the nation’s most influential research and treasured cultural and historical artifacts. Yet the use of these technologies requires extensive evaluation and monitoring before implementation. In 2025, LC introduced its AI Sandbox for Staff to do just that. The most recent cohort of the Library’s AI Sandbox for Staff supported over a dozen small-scale experiments.”

Library of Congress: The Signal, Aug. 31
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Tess Vrbin writes: “Saline County, Arkansas, agreed this week to pay $275,000 to Patty Hector, the former library director who was fired in October 2023 after speaking against local conservatives’ push to limit children’s access to books. County Judge Matt Brumley’s firing power came from an ordinance approved by the all-Republican quorum court, which previously urged Hector to move books with ‘sexual content or imagery’ out of children’s reach. The books in question pertained to LGBTQ+ topics, sex education, and systemic racism, which Saline County conservatives called ‘indoctrination’ and inappropriate for children.”

Arkansas Advocate, Aug. 27; Oct. 9, 2023; Aug. 21, 2023; Apr. 17, 2023

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