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Shoshana Wodinsky writes: “A new report published May 4 by the tech-focused nonprofit Me2B Alliance found the majority of school utility apps were sharing some amount of student data with third-party marketing companies. The Me2B team surveyed a few dozen so-called utility apps for school districts—the kind that students and parents download to, say, review their school’s calendar or busing schedules—and found roughly 60% of them sharing everything from a student’s location to their entire contact list, to their phone’s mobile ad identifiers, all with companies these students and their parents likely never heard of.” -
Kimberly Knight and Melanie Lyttle write: “Many states have enacted mask mandates at some point during the pandemic. However, some never enacted a mandate and at the writing of this piece, more states are dropping or relaxing their requirements every day. While it would be tough to list those here, AARP has a continually updated list of how each state is handling masks. Some library systems in states without mandates have been able to rely on city, county, or local mandates. Still others may not have any consistent support or guidance.” -
According to data from Statista’s Advertising & Media Outlook, ebook sales still trail print books by a wide margin across the globe. In the US, 23% of the population are estimated to have purchased an ebook last year, compared to 45% who bought a print book. These findings suggest that ebooks will not be the final nail in the coffin of print books but rather a complementary product that should benefit the publishing industry. -
Andrew Tarantola writes: “Last week, the US Senate played host to a number of social media company VPs during hearings on the potential dangers presented by algorithmic bias and amplification. While that meeting almost immediately broke down into a partisan circus of grandstanding grievance airing, Democratic senators did manage to focus a bit on how these recommendation algorithms might contribute to the spread of online misinformation and extremist ideologies. The issues and pitfalls presented by social algorithms are well-known and have been well-documented. So, really, what are we going to do about it?” -
Marshall Breeding writes: “In a year complicated by a global pandemic, the community of vendors providing technologies to libraries made important strides to meet pressing needs and make ongoing progress in their longer-term initiatives. Though the pandemic disrupted library services—as well as funding—in 2020, concerted efforts were made to fulfill the demands of users to the extent possible. Almost all vendors made sharp turns to expand access to digital collections and services in order to compensate for diminished access to physical materials.” -
ALA President Julius C. Jefferson Jr. writes: “Are library professionals making our communities stronger? Are we addressing inequities, disparities, and racism? Are we making a difference? These are questions I ask myself every day as your president amid a deadly crisis and heightened racial violence. I am beginning to see the light at the end of a dark COVID-19 tunnel.” -
A study published in Computers in Human Behavior suggests that brief exposure to online misinformation can unknowingly alter a person’s behavior, as evidenced by a change in their performances on a test called the Finger Tapping Test. People increasingly use online platforms to read and discuss news, and algorithms help tailor this environment to a user’s interests and behavior. Study author Zach Bastick says that these filtered environments risk creating a “distorted reality.” -
Alexia MacClain writes: “Do you remember the excitement of filling out your first library borrower’s card? Or the ‘ca-chunk’ of the date stamp when you checked out a book? What products come to mind when you think of your early library experiences? Obvious materials might be books and shelving but to keep a library functioning other items are needed as well. Supplies for circulating, tracking, and identifying books are often behind the scenes but are just as important. Classified Illustrated Catalog of the Library Department of Library Bureau by Library Bureau, a trade catalog in the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives collections, provides a glimpse of the supplies and equipment that library staff might have used to complete their everyday tasks in 1899.” -
In 2016, StoryCorps shared the story of Rich Jean, his daughter Abigail, and Hasina Islam, children’s librarian at Brooklyn (N.Y.) Public Library. Jean credits Islam for sparking a love of reading in Abigail. Five years later, the trio recorded another StoryCorps installment to catch up with each other during the pandemic, when most BPL branches are closed. -
Zeahaa Rehman writes: “Like every other romance subgenre, historical romance has traditionally consisted of a white man and a white woman falling in love and overcoming obstacles to form a relationship and live happily ever after (or, in the case of most contemporary novels, happy for now). Though a historical romance can be set in any period prior to 1950, the most popular time by far is Regency England: the era covering 1811 to 1820 and immortalized by Jane Austen. The version of Regency England that viewers are accustomed to, both onscreen and in books, is one that excludes BIPOC and queer characters.” -
The two ambassador opossums at the Alexandria (La.) Zoo, Champ and Ivy, received their honorary library cards and helped pre-record stories for the Rapides Parish Library’s Summer Reading Program focused around animals. Champ and Ivy became the first marsupials in the state to receive a library card, even getting approval from the Louisiana State Librarian Rebecca Hamilton. The cards do work, and although the opossums won’t make an appearance in the library, they can check out digital books. -
In this special bonus episode, Call Number with American Libraries celebrates Preservation Week (April 25–May 1) by looking at the 1619 Project, a collection of historical records, essays, photos, and audio that aims to reframe the consequences of slavery in the US and highlight the contributions of Black people to the American experience. American Libraries Senior Editor and Call Number host Phil Morehart speaks with New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of the 1619 Project and honorary chair of Preservation Week, about the project’s origins, her team’s research, and why community archives are vital to preserving history
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