From the interim executive director: The next chapter

ALA Interim Executive Director Leslie Burger's headshot Leslie Burger writes: “I don’t know about you, but June always seems to mark the end of the year for me. The end of June will also mark the end of my time with ALA as we plan to welcome a new executive director to lead and guide the Association. ALA Forward, a future-facing initiative already underway, includes a new strategic plan, an organizational assessment, and the repositioning of the Association well beyond its 2026 sesquicentennial anniversary. My year and a half as ALA’s interim executive director has been exciting, intellectually challenging, and marked by change.”

American Libraries column, June

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Stephen Town writes: “Little research exists about how library leaders develop their ethical identity, how they manage their work to facilitate library excellence, and how they overcome the difficult and complex problems arising in the academic context. This study provides evidence and a unique perspective toward answering these questions, based on narratives from research library leaders demonstrating the deployment of a range of virtues to improve the character and performance of their libraries.”

portal: Libraries and the Academy, vol. 25 no. 3, July
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Robert Costa writes: “On May 8, Carla Hayden received an email, one she thought may have been fake. It began simply, ‘Carla,’ and stated: ‘On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately.’ Hayden said there had never been any issues between her and President Trump. Hayden’s firing is seen by many as part of a broader story.”

CBS News Sunday Morning, June 8
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Chelsey Roos writes: “Families with students in special education may not get all the support they need from public libraries in the lead up to a new school year. Navigating the special education system is challenging. There are individualized education programs (IEPs), 504s, evaluations, and tons of documentation, and families new to the IEP system can find it especially overwhelming. But what if the library could build a program that connected parents and caregivers with the expert advice and support they needed before they begin another adventure through special education?”

ALSC Blog, June 7
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Peter Broadwell and Lindsay King write: “Facing a digital accessibility compliance deadline, we wondered whether and how AI tools could be implemented to generate alt text for existing online images within the Stanford Libraries’ digital exhibits. New large language models called ‘vision language’ models have a sophisticated understanding of the relationship between text and image. Could we bring vision language models’ understanding of the images together with existing metadata to create alt text that would be useful to patrons who need it?”

Choice: LibTech Insights, June 9
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Reanna Esmail writes: “Though commonly imagined to be dusty spaces containing rare objects from the distant past, archives are deeply tied to the present and to questions of knowledge, power, and authority. They preserve some cultural histories, practices, and artifacts while excluding others. Archivists decide which histories are told and which are not, as well as who has access to these resources. The books on this list address problematic archival histories, practices, and structures, while also reimagining the archive as a potential site for community-building.”

American Libraries column, June
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As libraries nationwide begin their annual summer reading programs, discover intriguing statistics, including the number of tote bags Los Angeles Public Library distributed to participants last year, the number of minutes of reading time logged by participants in Hawaii State Public Library System’s Summer Reading Challenge last year, and the amount of time that teen volunteers read with “little buddies” during Skokie (Ill.) Public Library’s Booking with a Buddy summer reading program.

American Libraries Trend, June
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On June 6, a federal judge denied a motion to block the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). ALA issued a statement about the ruling and vowed to continue the case and continue fighting for libraries in every state to receive promised funding. The statement also noted that on May 6, a federal district court in Rhode Island issued a preliminary injunction in a separate case, prohibiting IMLS from shutting down while that case is pending. That decision remains in effect.

AL: The Scoop, June 7

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