September/October 2024

Features & Trends

2024 Library Design Showcase

By Phil Morehart

From Brutal to beautiful Toronto Public Library, York Woods branch The York Woods renovation and addition retains the original 1970 brutalist library and connected theater while enhancing them with a new 2,000-square-foot glass entrance pavilion, topped with a timber roof to create a welcoming entryway. The interior retains the original structure but now incorporates exposed … Continue reading 2024 Library Design Showcase →

2024 ALA/IIDA Library Interior Design Awards

New English Canaan (1637) by Thomas Morton

Censorship Throughout the Centuries

By Cara S. Bertram

OIF, which began collecting data about censorship attempts in US libraries in 1990—and started observing Banned Books Week in 1982—was formed in 1967 to provide tangible support to library workers as they sought to uphold the intellectual freedom tenets of the Library Bill of Rights and ALA’s Freedom to Read Statement. As high-profile battles with … Continue reading Censorship Throughout the Centuries →

Columnists

We All Belong
By Cindy Hohl
Busy Intersections
by Jasmine Shumaker and Joe Lee
Gearing Up for a Great Build
By Toni Lombardozzi
Designing for Equity
By Linda W. Braun
Picking Up the Pieces
By Dan Groberg
Beyond the Bookshelves
By Araceli Méndez Hintermeister

Latest Library Links

16h

Steve Tetreault writes: “Educators face more pressure and push-back than at any point I can recall. Decision-makers at the national, state, and local levels resist the idea of educators as trained professionals. Too many parents feel entitled to dictate every second of students’ lives, both in and out of the classroom. Even students exhibit widespread attitudes of disrespect and disdain for school. In short: Education is in a dark age. But within that darkness, there are points of light. We are each a star. And if we are willing to connect with others, we can create fabulous constellations.”

Knowledge Quest, Sept. 9
19h

“Choice and LibTech Insights have published a white paper developed by Sandy Hervieux and Amanda Wheatley, two librarians from McGill University in Montreal with extensive experience in artificial intelligence (AI) and librarianship (long before the wave of generative AI), that offers an innovative framework for AI literacy. ‘Building an AI Literacy Framework: Perspectives from Instruction Librarians and Current Information Literacy Tools’ integrates interviews with many librarians on the ground who are teaching AI and AI literacy to highlight the shortcomings of current models and the needs a new one must address.”

Choice 360 LibTech Insights, Sept. 4
22h

Betsy Gomez writes: “Award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay has been named honorary chair for Banned Books Week 2024, which takes place September 22–28. DuVernay will be joined by youth honorary chair Julia Garnett, a student activist who fought book bans in her home state of Tennessee. A staunch advocate for education and free expression, DuVernay directed two films inspired by frequently banned books: A Wrinkle in Time and Origin. Garnett has been honored for her advocacy for the freedom to read by First Lady Jill Biden and is a leader in the National Coalition Against Censorship’s Student Advocates for Speech program, educating other students about advocacy.”

Intellectual Freedom Blog, Sept. 6
2d

Kate Knibbs writes: “The Internet Archive has lost a major legal battle—in a decision that could have a significant impact on the future of internet history. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled against the long-running digital archive September 4, upholding an earlier ruling in Hachette v. Internet Archive that found that one of the Internet Archive’s book digitization projects [the pandemic-era National Emergency Library] violated copyright law. Notably, the appeals court’s ruling rejects the Internet Archive’s argument that its lending practices were shielded by the fair use doctrine.”

Wired, Sept. 4
2d

Anne Ford writes: “From outside, Downtown Reno Library of Washoe County (Nev.) Library System looks like a big square brown box. ‘There’s no pizazz out front,’ says Kristen Ryan, branch manager. So when people walk inside and find a lush central atrium with an abundance of philodendrons, spotted begonias, and other greenery; several towering trees; and a reflection pool, they tend to gasp the same thing: ‘Oh my god, look at all the plants!’”

American Libraries column, May
2d

“Every year, ALA recognizes the achievements of more than 200 individuals and institutions with an array of awards honoring their service to librarians and librarianship. Winners are chosen by juries of their colleagues and peers and embody the best of the profession’s leadership, vision, and service as well as a continued commitment to outreach and equity, diversity, and inclusion. Award recipients were honored at a June 30 ceremony and reception during ALA’s 2024 Annual Conference and Exhibition in San Diego.”

American Libraries feature, Sept./Oct.
5d

Rick Anderson writes: “‘Are libraries neutral?’ This is the question that was posed at the ALA Midwinter President’s Program in Denver a few years ago. A diverse panel of librarians was asked to take turns responding to that question, with results that were sometimes very interesting and sometimes fairly predictable. There was a very big problem, though, and it lay in the organizing question itself. One can’t really answer it meaningfully without first asking a clarifying question: ‘neutral’ about what? In some ways neutrality in the library is clearly a very bad idea—and yet in some important ways, it’s absolutely essential.”

The Scholarly Kitchen, Sept. 3