Latest Library Links
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Jae Thomas writes: “While supporting Black creators and getting educated on Black history and antiracism are things we all should be doing every month of the year, Black History Month is a great reminder to put even more time and energy into those pursuits. Each of these programs was made by a Black creator or educator, can be completed in the comfort of your home, and involves both historical education and contemporary tools for antiracism work.” -
In a video titled A Tale of Two Fritters, Ozoz Sokoh is in her kitchen making both akara, a Nigerian bean fritter, and acarajé, the Brazilian equivalent. Sokoh, a food historian born in Nigeria and currently living in Canada, is an expert at making connections between different food cultures. To share her research, she recently launched Feast Afrique, a website of free digital books (housed on the Internet Archive) that explore the influence of West African foods on culinary cultures around the world. -
Librarian Michelle J. Fernandez writes: “Twenty-first-century public librarians and paraprofessionals in public-facing positions are accustomed to rapid-fire shifting from de facto social workers to custodians to tech instructors to babysitters, and anyone who’s set foot in a public library since the beginning of the COVID pandemic can tell you that public libraries represent the front of the frontlines. So why aren’t public librarians in the United States further up in line for the COVID vaccine?” -
Barbara Krasnoff writes: “Ever since LastPass announced that it was tweaking its free tier to only allow a single category of device—mobile or computer—there’s been a lot of interest in finding alternatives among LastPass users. Luckily, once you do find an alternative, it’s pretty easy to pull your data from LastPass and upload it to another password manager.” -
Libraries across the country will observe National Library Outreach Day (formerly known as National Bookmobile Day) on April 7 during National Library Week. Communities will celebrate the invaluable role library professionals and libraries continuously play in bringing library services to those in need. ALA, the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services, and the Association for Rural and Small Libraries agreed to rebrand National Bookmobile Day in recognition of all that outreach library professional do within their communities.Office of Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services, Feb. 22
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Charlie Warzel writes: “Misinformation rides the greased algorithmic rails of powerful social media platforms and travels at velocities and in volumes that make it nearly impossible to stop. That alone makes information warfare an unfair fight for the average internet user. But Michael Caulfield [digital literacy expert at Washington State University Vancouver] argues that the deck is stacked even further against us. That the way we’re taught from a young age to evaluate and think critically about information is fundamentally flawed and out of step with the chaos of the current internet.” -
On February 15 Iowa state lawmakers advanced a measure requiring public universities to publish all course outlines online, part of a growing catalog of proposed legislation this session aimed at addressing Republican concerns over suppression of conservative voices at Iowa’s universities. Lawmakers also have advanced a pair of widely-debated bills to make Iowa the first state in the nation to ban tenure, and another requiring universities poll and report to the General Assembly the political affiliation of all of its tens of thousands of employees. -
Three brown recluse spiders were discovered in University of Michigan’s Shapiro Undergraduate Library at the end of January, an email sent to library staff on February 22 announced. A pest management system is monitoring the situation, employing traps and pesticides within and near the tunnels, but no more spiders have been found since late January. The library will reopen February 23 for individual study by appointment only. -
Academic librarians Sommer Browning and Kelsey Brett write: “Auraria Library is the library for the Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and the University of Colorado Denver. We are committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in our services, resources, spaces, and organization. In 2020, we focused on algorithmic bias and how it can perpetuate racism against marginalized communities.”ALA Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services Intersections blog, Feb. 19
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Ashley Hoffman and Jessica Bohrer write: “As children’s librarians, we are always trying to showcase the importance and meaning of words on the page (or screen, as the pandemic has moved us more towards digital storytimes). We can take any topic and turn it into a storytime lesson, but free speech is often a theme that is overlooked. Here are some ways librarians can play an active role in educating children about freedom of speech, free expression, and encouraging them to use their voices and respect the voices of others.” -
The US Census Bureau said February 12 it won’t be delivering data used for redrawing congressional and state legislative districts until the end of September, causing headaches for state lawmakers and redistricting commissions facing deadlines to redraw districts this year. Officials at the statistical agency blamed operational delays during the 2020 census caused by the pandemic. -
Katie Barrett writes: “As our global society grows ever more connected, it can be easy to assume that all of human history is just one click away. Yet language barriers and physical access still present major obstacles to deeper knowledge and understanding of other cultures, even on the world wide web. That is why the Internet Archive is thrilled to announce a new partnership with the University of Tokyo General Library.”
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