Archives

Virtual and Augmented Reality

By Hannah Pope | September 4, 2018

Budget-friendly VR and AR devices are available that can reach a broad spectrum of library users. One option launched in 2014 is still useful: Google Cardboard. Using a combination smartphone and simple viewer, the Cardboard headset allows patrons to experience a multitude of low-level VR applications. While not comprehensive, it does offer a taste of … Continue reading Virtual and Augmented Reality →

Students at Overlook Middle School in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, built a pyramid with EverBlock bricks.

Ready, Steady, Build!

By Carrie Smith | September 4, 2018

EverBlock EverBlock took the typical plastic brick toy and made it larger—almost the size of a cinderblock. The bricks fit together with lugs and can be used to build modular furniture, walls, and even small buildings. As a free-play tool, the possibilities are vast, limited mostly by the size of the play space and number … Continue reading Ready, Steady, Build! →

Future Strategies

By Karen Muller | September 4, 2018

In Six Issues Facing Libraries Today: Critical Perspectives, John M. Budd calls these issues persistent and thorny—and they are. The first topic addressed is information: what it is and what it is not. Budd explores the criteria used to evaluate statements and suggests further avenues for considering the theory of information. Next is information literacy, an … Continue reading Future Strategies →

Liz Quakenbush and students at Orchard Park Elementary School in Indianapolis pose in the library.

Bookend: Shaking up Book Sales

September 1, 2018

For nearly 20 years, she held yearly used book sales at Orchard Park Elementary School in Indianapolis, where she is the media specialist. As her community grew more economically diverse, she wanted to help children add to their home libraries year-round, and she turned to her students for ideas. They wrote a business plan, set … Continue reading Bookend: Shaking up Book Sales →

Latest Library Links

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K.A. Holt writes: “As a young person I struggled to find any kind of personal representation. I read voraciously, not realizing I was searching for visibility, for recognition, for relevance. When I was unable to find any relevant reflections, I began to morph into who I thought I should be; who I thought would find acceptance and relevance. I stayed cloaked in this carefully constructed camouflage until [one art history professor interrupted me as I parroted] an Old Dude’s Accepted Opinion. No. I want you to tell me how this piece makes YOU feel, not how someone else has told you to feel about it.”

Knowledge Quest, Feb. 14
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Daniel G. Tracy, Elizabeth A. Budd, and Thomas H. Teper write: “With increasing requirements for open access (OA) by funders, academic libraries have begun piloting so-called ‘transformative agreements’ with publishers. This study documents the broad success of two transformative agreement pilots at a large research university and argues that the growth of such agreements could help transition a broad proportion of research to OA at the university and within the consortium. The success of these agreements was true across disciplines and stages of career seniority.”

Library Resources and Technical Services, Jan.
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Ann Schimke writes: “Elizabeth (Colo.) School District officials say they have returned to school libraries 19 books they removed last fall. But most students won’t be able to read or check out the books, which include The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. That’s because the district decided to make the returned books available only to a small number of people: Specifically, plaintiffs in a recent lawsuit against the district over the book removals. Those allowed access to the books include two district students, and members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and their children.”

Chalkbeat Colorado, Feb. 12; Dec. 19, 2024
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The US Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) announced on February 7 that it would remove and review “books potentially related to gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology topics” in DoD schools, and suppress programs, activities and holidays related to those topics. Additionally, ALA has received confidential reports that library workers on military installations are being forced to remove books from shelves, take down displays about Black History Month and cancel cultural events. Among the books removed from DoD schools is Freckleface Strawberry, a picture book by actor Julianne Moore about a girl who dislikes her freckles.

ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office and American Association of School Librarians, Feb. 14; Stars and Stripes, Feb. 7; Variety, Feb. 16
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Megan Bennett writes: “Growing up in remote, rural areas, singer-songwriter Neko Case found that her love of reading provided an escape. In her memoir, The Harder I Fight the More I Love You (Hachette, January), she recalls repeatedly flipping through the same October 1972 issue of Mad magazine, poring over her stepdad’s collection of archaeology books, and forcing herself to finish David Copperfield. American Libraries spoke with Case about writing her first book and the role libraries have played in her life.”

American Libraries Trend, Jan./Feb.
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Megan Bennett writes: “Theater for young audiences may not receive the same recognition as productions by Shakespeare or Tennessee Williams, but it deserves its time in the spotlight, says Caelin Ross, performing arts librarian at Arizona State University (ASU) Library in Tempe. Ross oversees ASU’s Theatre for Youth and Community Collection. The collection, which Ross estimates to be approximately 5,000 linear feet, holds research materials like curricula and books, as well as scripts, production design samples, sketches, and costumes.”

American Libraries column, Jan./Feb.
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“2025 has started off with a great deal of instability to federal programs, funding, and governance. During such times as the 2025 Federal Shift, it is the role of a governing board to assess factors that could risk the achievement of an institution’s mission and develop plans to address them. While confronting risk can be intimidating, it can also be empowering. And while not every risk can be avoided, risks can often be mitigated. Now is a good time to inventory newly emerging risks and develop a response plan.”

Western New York Library Resources Council, Feb. 4

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