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Sheila Craft-Morgan writes: “Citations are a key measure of the impact of a researcher’s work. However, research in a variety of disciplines has found that women are less likely to be cited than men; citations contain geographic bias; and the Matthew effect—in which those who begin with advantage continue to gain advantage—leads to more citations for prominent scholars in a specific discipline. These findings contribute to the notion that scholarly knowledge comes from a homogenous group of researchers, thereby overlooking the contributions of other groups.”
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Mel Baldwin writes: “Regardless of why someone comes into a library, every patron should be free to interact with staff, browse materials, and use the internet without fear of harassment or worse. That freedom depends on libraries upholding patron privacy. With nearly 400 active anti-trans bills pending in state legislatures as of April 2024, it is a dangerous time in the US to be gender nonconforming, someone whose gender expression does not align with the traditional male or female binary. And for trans people of color, studies show the risk of discrimination and violence is higher.”
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Greg Landgraf writes: “On a school morning last September, small groups of 5th-graders crowded around tools connected to scientific research—a microscope, a robotic camera, and even a snake named Morgan Freeman—clipboards and pencils in hand. They were at the Melrose branch of Roanoke (Va.) Public Libraries (RPL), judging graduate students from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on their research. 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.”
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Aaryn Bierly writes: “Disability Pride Month is traditionally celebrated in July to celebrate the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. The ADA regulates laws regarding service animals, requires employers to accommodate their employees’ physical and medical needs, stipulates the number and placement of accessible parking spaces and restrooms, and more. One in five Americans has some type of disability that makes working more difficult, and the ADA has made working conditions easier for a significant number of Americans. We’ve got several great lists of books for kids and teens of different ages featuring characters with a range of disabilities.”
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“Many people already turn to libraries as sources of trusted information ahead of elections, and organizations like ALA and the League of Women Voters are hoping to expand those numbers. We’ve curated a selection of resources, tools, and ideas to help inform your library’s approach to this important work.”
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“A federal appeals court in New Orleans is taking another look at its own order requiring a Texas county to keep eight books that deal with subjects including sex, gender identity, and racism on public library shelves. Llano County officials had initially removed 17 books from its shelves amid complaints about the subject matter. The June 6 order was vacated July 3 after a majority of the 17-member court granted Llano County officials a new hearing before the full court. The order did not state reasons and the hearing hasn’t yet been scheduled.”
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Todd Spangler writes: “In the days after Paramount Global disabled mtvnews.com and mtv.com/news in June—removing a trove of hundreds of thousands of articles about music and pop culture from the internet—the not-for-profit Internet Archive assembled a searchable index of 460,575 web pages previously published at mtv.com/news. The Wayback Machine’s archive of MTV News is not the full complement of what was published over the span of more than two decades. But the new collection at least ensures, for the time being, that much of MTV News’ articles remain accessible in some form.”
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The City of Altamonte Springs, Florida, writes: “With a heavy heart, we announce that after 64 years of service, Altamonte Springs City Library will close on September 30. This decision was not made lightly. With budget constraints, rising costs and five quality Seminole County libraries around us, we have made the hard decision to close the doors and consolidate resources. We trust that the community’s needs will continue to be met through Seminole County’s public libraries. We understand the significance of the library to residents and city staff and recognize its special place in Altamonte Springs’ history.”
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The Public Library Association published the 2023 Public Library Technology Survey report July 9. The annual, national survey updates emerging trends around technology capacity, resources for patrons, infrastructure, digital literacy, and staffing in US public libraries. Key findings include that nearly half of libraries offer hotspots for checkout, an increase of 14.4% from 2020; that 52% of libraries applied for the federal E-Rate program to support library technology needs; and that subscription costs or payment terms are the most significant factor affecting libraries’ ability to offer digital content.
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Steve Tetreault writes: “New Jersey (and many other states) require public schools provide a ‘thorough and efficient education.’ Numerous studies find that students achieve improved outcomes at schools with a full-time librarian. A district near my home proposed cutting their high school librarian’s position from full time to part time. During the public comments of the meeting where the board proposed this idea, I shared a statement focused on the data of school librarianship. If you find this statement or any of its parts helpful, please use it.”
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Enas Saleh writes: “In 2018, I was led to an evaluation that changed my life. After some initial research, I was evaluated and discovered that I have an unspecified neuro-cognitive disorder. While we often discuss accessibility for library patrons with disabilities, we sometimes overlook the needs of staff members with disabilities and the accommodations they may require. I have discovered many strategies that have helped me, and I offer them here in the hopes that they may help others cope and be successful in their work and personal life.”
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Ashley Bressingham writes: “Whether it’s your first conference or your fiftieth, I think it’s quite easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of wonderful ideas that you just learned. I love going to conferences, but I’ve found myself struggling to actually put into practice all of that new knowledge. When we come home from conferences, we most likely will come back to a ton of emails and things that need to be taken care of. So how do we take the exciting information we’ve acquired and enact it once we’re back in real life?”
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