Latest Library Links
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Ruby Helyer writes: “Despite being expensive and having difficult-to-cancel long-term subscription plans, Adobe has monopolized the creative design industry. I curated the perfect list of free alternatives to all of Adobe’s major creative software apps, so you can pursue your creativity without paying a penny.” Included in the list are alternatives to Illustrator, Photoshop, Lightroom, After Effects, Premiere Pro, InDesign, Adobe Express, and Acrobat.
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Meghan Phillips writes: “In recent discussions at conferences and within local networks, a recurring topic has been the restructuring of library departments. Whether you are a middle manager or the person being managed, it is difficult to transition. In a large system, different departments can have vastly different managers and managing styles. In my experience, I was the one being moved to a new department. Although the major aspects of my job and job description remained the same, it was impossible for my working style not to change. Here are some tips that I found useful.”
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“The Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) is aware that Midwest Tape/Hoopla plans to offer an audience or content filtering system to librarians and library workers. OIF has reached out to Midwest Tape to discuss our concerns about the proposal. While we appreciate that Midwest Tape has clarified that the Universal Content Ratings System is not intended to apply additional public-facing ratings to library materials and will not be public or available to library users, we have ongoing concerns about utilizing ratings and categories that resemble morality-based labels and filtering systems.”
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Matthew Weirick Johnson writes: “In the past four decades, we’ve come a long way in recognizing the prevalence of burnout among librarians. However, library leaders need to activate this recognition to develop meaningful solutions. As we move past proving that librarians are burning out, we need to consider causes and responses, looking beyond individual actions and self-care. We need to examine the professional, organizational, and occupational causes of burnout, including those that are unique to librarianship, libraries, and library workers, and determine practical approaches for library workers and leaders to identify and ameliorate them.”
Association of College and Research Libraries Keeping Up With…, June
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Claire Savage writes: “Idaho librarian June Meissner was closing up for the day at the downtown Boise Public Library when a man approached her asking for help. As an information services librarian, answering patrons’ questions is part of Meissner’s day-to-day work, and serving the community is one of her favorite parts of the job. But when the man got close enough, ‘he took a swing at me and tried to punch me in the head,’ said Meissner, a transgender woman. ‘I blocked it, and he started yelling slurs and suggesting that he was going to come back and kill me.’”
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Philip Kennicott writes: “The Great Hall of the Folger Shakespeare Library [in Washington, DC] used to be a dark space, its tall windows covered to prevent damage to the rare books and documents on display there. Today, the light floods in, illuminating the Great Hall’s intricate wood paneling, the ornate plaster ceiling and the two curious seals—an eagle for the US and the coat of arms of Elizabeth I—above the doors. After a more than four-year renovation and expansion, the Folger is a building transformed, better able to serve its core mission of scholarship, but with greatly expanded public access.”
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Isabelle Marak writes: “A new K–12 book regulation policy took effect across South Carolina on Tuesday. This means that, for the first time, a state agency can rule on what instructional materials can be used inside a classroom.” Parents can file up to five challenges at a time and, if a district opts to keep materials, the parent can appeal to the state Board of Education. The board’s decision will then apply to all K–12 schools in the state.
WYFF-TV (Greenville, South Carolina), June 25; Popular Information, June 24
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Megan Bennett writes: “Kelley Woolley remembers visiting San Diego Zoo and its Safari Park as a kid. The big cats, giraffes, and koalas were often her first stops. She recalls watching elephants do tricks and riding the now-closed monorail, which offered great views of the tiger habitat. Today, she oversees the library and archive for the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, the nonprofit that runs the zoo and park. Her workplace is one of a handful of zoo libraries across the US that employs a full-time librarian.”
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Jennie Rose Halperin writes: “In October 2023, Library Futures gathered a dozen library experts and practitioners to create principles for library ownership of digital books. These principles are meant to establish a foundation of trust between publishers and libraries so that publishers can sell digital books to libraries and libraries can build permanent digital collections. Library ownership is key to an equitable digital future. We continue to believe that authors should write books, publishers should publish them, and libraries should purchase, preserve, and share them. We believe these principles can guide libraries and publishers as we continue our work in the digital age.”
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Carmen Nesbitt writes: “Before school begins this fall, Utah officials will send a list of books to all public schools, ordering their ‘disposal.’ Under a new law that takes effect July 1, a book can be removed from all schools across the state if at least three school districts (or at least two school districts and five charter schools) determine it amounts to ‘objective sensitive material.’ Until now, a statewide ‘objective’ sensitive material standard has never existed, but June 7, the state school board solidified that process.”
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Misha Stone writes: “The phrase ‘more than books’ continues to crop up when someone in leadership or on staff is asked to talk about all the amazing and varied services and programs that libraries provide. While I understand why it is said, and how many people have no clue how much libraries have changed over the years, it irks me deeply that we use a phrase that plays into the rhetoric of library detractors that simultaneously dismisses how much the ‘books’ invoked still do to serve our diverse communities.”
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Melissa Heikkilä writes: “If you post or interact with chatbots on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, or WhatsApp, Meta can use your data to train its generative artificial intelligence (AI) models beginning June 26, according to its recently updated privacy policy. If you’re uncomfortable with having Meta use your personal information and intellectual property to train its AI models in perpetuity, consider opting out. Although Meta does not guarantee it will allow this, it does say it will ‘review objection requests in accordance with relevant data protection laws.’”
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