Archives

Illustration of people sitting on chairs in a circle and talking about their feelings related to climate change

Climate Connection

March 3, 2025

That’s when Garmon, then a civic engagement specialist at Kansas City (Mo.) Public Library, first thought, “We need a space to talk about the feelings related to climate change.” Garmon researched ways patrons in her own community could share their emotions about the environment and discovered the work being done by Sami Aaron, founder of … Continue reading Climate Connection


A bee bungalow from West Vancouver Memorial Library’s bee lending program

Generating Buzz

March 3, 2025

Most people would be fired for bringing a box of bees to work. But not coauthor Taren Urquhart, West Vancouver (B.C.) Memorial Library’s (WVML) arts and special events programmer and resident insect enthusiast. Urquhart has been caring for bees in her backyard for more than 25 years and maintains a colony of Blue Orchard mason … Continue reading Generating Buzz


Headshot of John Green

Newsmaker: John Green

March 3, 2025

John Green, the celebrated young adult author and vlogger, has been an advocate for TB treatment access since 2019, when he met Henry, a teenager with TB, during a trip to Sierra Leone. Henry gave Green “the view from below,” he says, quoting his late friend and global health pioneer Paul Farmer, who described the … Continue reading Newsmaker: John Green




Cindy Hohl, president of the American Library Association

Spectrum of Leadership

March 3, 2025

It is with this certainty that I choose to view the world around me: relying on cycles, recognizing the strength of the constants, and respecting the resilience we gain by how we respond to changes. Change is a constant, but it doesn’t always result in upheaval. It can be comforting to create a personal plan … Continue reading Spectrum of Leadership


ALA Interim Executive Director Leslie Burger's headshot

Rising to the Occasion

March 3, 2025

ALA, as an organization, has survived and thrived for nearly 150 years—through wars, economic downturns, changing political environments, and pandemics. With each of these challenges, we rose to the occasion with strong leadership, consistent messaging, and a membership base that devoted its efforts to sharing stories about the important work of all libraries and how … Continue reading Rising to the Occasion


Headshots of authors Jennifer Embree and Neyda Gilman

Growth Report

March 3, 2025

At the time, we each were working independently on similar, smaller projects within BUL’s Science Library, like using a small area to feature some of the library’s sustainability resources and research happening on campus, as well as providing meeting spaces for sustainability-focused student clubs. But we recognized we could think bigger. In 2020, we received … Continue reading Growth Report


Headshot of Martha Meyer

Nurturing Nature

March 3, 2025

Our mid-size Midwestern public library thought: Why not develop an award to honor excellent titles that buck this trend? In 2022, Evanston (Ill.) Public Library (EPL) announced the inaugural recipients of its Blueberry Awards. These awards, the first of their kind in the library world, recognize and elevate fiction and nonfiction books that teach children … Continue reading Nurturing Nature


Headshot of Sarah Tribelhorn

Assessing AI

March 3, 2025

Training and operating AI tools like large language models, for instance, require substantial computational power. Generating one image could use as much energy as charging an average smartphone, according to a 2023 study by AI developer Hugging Face and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, the first study of its kind to measure the carbon and … Continue reading Assessing AI


Librarian's Library by Allison Escoto

Sustainable Efforts

March 3, 2025

Information for Sustainable Development: Technology, People, and Society By G. G. Chowdhury and Sudatta Chowdhury Sustainability is a worldwide endeavor, and the participation of information professionals in its achievement is front and center in this book. The authors parse out the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and explain that the sharing of data and … Continue reading Sustainable Efforts


Food cart on wheels whose sign reads "Pier Tamales"

By the Numbers: Small Business

November 1, 2024

With small businesses employing almost half the US workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, public libraries contribute significantly to the economy through resources that support small businesses and the entrepreneurs who start them. 5.5 million The record-breaking number of new businesses started in 2023, according to the US Census Bureau. 50% Approximate number … Continue reading By the Numbers: Small Business