Tiffany Haddish

Bringing Joy

June 26, 2022

Haddish appeared as a featured speaker on June 25 at the American Library Association’s 2022 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. In a lively conversation with Andrew Medlar, president and director of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, she spoke about her early experiences with libraries, her new picture book, and her outlook on life. “This is my … Continue reading Bringing Joy


KayCee Choi (standing at left) and Alicia Deal (standing at right), librarians at Dallas Public Library, present at "Deaf Culture: A Strategy for Inclusive Deaf Community Engagement,” a June 26 session at ALA’s 2022 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C. Photo by Rebecca Lomax for American Libraries.

Deaf Is a Culture

June 26, 2022

“After joining ALA, I saw a lot of changes,” said Hagemeyer, who now leads Bridging Deaf Cultures, an interest group of ALA’s Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. While services and outreach to Deaf people have improved over the last 50 years, libraries could be doing more in this area. That was the takeaway … Continue reading Deaf Is a Culture


Seated at left, author and MacArthur Fellow Reginald Dwayne Betts speaks into a microphone. Seated to the right is author and professor Randall Horton. Both are presenters at "Defending the Fifth Freedom: Protecting the Right to Read for Incarcerated Individuals," a June 25 session at the American Library Association's 2022 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C. Photo by EPNAC.

‘Our Access Point to the Humanity We Cannot Touch’

June 26, 2022

“The Association’s membership is called on at this moment to interrupt the systemic information poverty that is going on in American’s detention facilities,” she said. As ALA prepares to revise its Standards for Adult Correctional Institutions for the first time since 1992, Hall was joined in conversation by a panel of advocates who are fighting for … Continue reading ‘Our Access Point to the Humanity We Cannot Touch’


Catherine Tong (seated at left), Bridget Kowalczyk (seated center), and Tiffany Bradford-Oldham (seated at right) speak about the speech and debate program they run at San José (Calif.) Public Library at the American Library Association's 2022 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C., on June 25. Photo by Rebecca Lomax/American Libraries.

Up for Debate

June 25, 2022

Since then, the library has offered six speech and debate series for grades 3–5 over Zoom, with each 12-week session focused on a different social justice topic, such as Black Lives Matter, anti-Asian sentiment, and climate change. Instructors from the program shared insights into their curriculum and success at “Inspiring the Next Generation to Champion … Continue reading Up for Debate


John Cho

Breaking the Cycle

June 25, 2022

Cho used the 1992 Los Angeles riots as a backdrop for exploring Jordan’s family dynamic. “The boy [Jordan] sees the LA riots and it’s a personal problem,” he said. “It endangers his father … The father sees it as a livelihood issue—they’re threatening my store, perhaps, and the store is our college fund, it’s food, … Continue reading Breaking the Cycle



2022 Annual Conference Preview

2022 Annual Conference Preview

June 1, 2022

In addition to the face-to-face networking opportunities that so many have missed, Annual will offer a full slate of programs, including educational sessions, author talks, exhibit hall attractions, and new ideas to shape the future of libraries. Also available is the Digital Experience, a virtual option for those who cannot attend the celebration in the … Continue reading 2022 Annual Conference Preview


Call Number episode 69: Year-End Author Chats

Call Number Podcast: Year-End Author Chats

December 27, 2021

Featured in this installment are never-before-released clips from conversations with Fox Sports analyst and former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho, acclaimed writer Isabel Allende, reggae musician and philanthropist Ziggy Marley, TV host and producer Padma Lakshmi, bestselling horror author Max Brooks, Dance Theatre of Harlem alumni Judy Tyrus and Paul Novosel, and lawyer and speaker Savala … Continue reading Call Number Podcast: Year-End Author Chats


2021 ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition Virtual

2021 Annual Conference Wrap-Up

July 8, 2021

Headlining speakers talked about books, libraries, and the exchange of ideas in the greater context of major societal challenges. Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and Opening Session speaker Nikole Hannah-Jones, who developed the 1619 Project for The New York Times Magazine, recalled an elective course on Black studies she took as a teenager. “It was the first … Continue reading 2021 Annual Conference Wrap-Up


Barack Obama

Hope and Harmony

June 29, 2021

Interviewed by Lonnie Bunch III, the first African American secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and introduced by ALA President Julius C. Jefferson Jr., Obama talked about A Promised Land (Crown, November 2020)—the first of two memoirs spanning his paradigm-breaking presidency—and the role of libraries in shaping the story of American democracy. “A Promised Land chronicles … Continue reading Hope and Harmony


ALA logo

Council III: Resolutions and Updates

June 29, 2021

Memorials were read for John T. Ma (M#9), Vartan Gregorian (M#10), Kathie Coblentz (M#11), Henrietta M. Smith (M#12), Cheryl McCarthy (M#13), Eleanor “Penny” Brome (M#14), Latanya N. Jenkins (M#15), Anita Schiller (M#16), Xiaoqiu Li (M#17), Bernadette Storck (M#18), William C. Robinson (M#19), Margaret R. Myers (M#20), Michele Leber (M#21), Leonard Kniffel (M#22), William G. Asp … Continue reading Council III: Resolutions and Updates


Amy Franco

The Struggle Is Real

June 29, 2021

“Nurses and social workers get the support that they need to recognize and cope with compassion fatigue, but in the world of libraries it’s a relative unknown,” she said. “We generally do not do a good job of promoting our own health and well-being.” Franco introduced attendees to the body’s major stress chemicals—adrenaline and cortisol—and … Continue reading The Struggle Is Real