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11 Questions with Christopher Murphy

By Laurie D. Borman | June 22, 2016

Murphy has nearly 30 years’ experience in editorial, production, and marketing positions at nonprofit organizations, most recently with the Association of International Educators (NAFSA), where he was senior director of publications and communications. He has a B.A. from Loyola University in Baltimore and a master’s from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Before packing his bags for Orlando, Murphy … Continue reading 11 Questions with Christopher Murphy →

A Conversation with Author Debra J. Knoll

June 15, 2016

What made you want to write this book? Well, frankly, I didn’t want to write it—I wanted to read it! I wanted to pick up something in writing that I could point to and say, “Yes! Here are some real answers to the daily issues we keep bemoaning, such as how to entice nonusers, how … Continue reading A Conversation with Author Debra J. Knoll →

The Weeding Handbook: A Shelf-by-Shelf Guide

A Conversation with Author Rebecca Vnuk

May 11, 2016

What made you want to write this book? Library weeding has always been something I enjoy—and that I’ve had lots of experience with—so when I came to Booklist, I started writing a series of online columns called Weeding Tips. The response to it was huge, so turning those columns into a book seemed like a … Continue reading A Conversation with Author Rebecca Vnuk →

Cover of New Routes to Library Success, by Elisabeth Doucett

A Conversation with Author Elisabeth Doucett

March 30, 2016

What made you want to write this book? I spend a lot of time scanning the library environment to identify new directions in library services that I can use at my library. Over time I started to notice that truly new ideas popped up occasionally in the library world but that, as a profession, we … Continue reading A Conversation with Author Elisabeth Doucett →

New Routes to Library Success

By Elisabeth Doucett | March 1, 2016

I’m director of Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, Maine. As the result of being a worrywart and wanting to make sure that the library makes a successful transition to a technology-driven, digitally dominated future, I spend a great deal of time identifying and evaluating new library programs, processes, and management methods. After years of struggling … Continue reading New Routes to Library Success →

A woman using the card catalog at the main reading room of the Library of Congress, circa 1940.

The Evolving Catalog

By Karen Coyle | January 4, 2016

Today when we say “technology,” it is often shorthand for “computer technology.” Of course this is not the only technology in our lives, but it is the one that defines our modern age. A century and a half ago, the defining technology was electricity and all things electric. The light bulb was literally the bright … Continue reading The Evolving Catalog →

Better Communication, Safer Facilities

By Steve Albrecht | September 14, 2015

Safety and security are everyone’s jobs. This includes the library director, every department head, every supervisor, all full- and part-time employees, library board members, Friends of the library members, elected officials, and even patrons—who can and should tell us about safety or security concerns when using our branches. Safety and security themes Facility safety and … Continue reading Better Communication, Safer Facilities →

Ephemera from the local history reference collection at Albany County (Wyo.) Public Library in Laramie.

What To Collect?

By Kathy Marquis and Leslie Waggener | July 29, 2015

Where to begin The patron base for your LHRC will help determine types of materials and subject matter to acquire. Another factor is how much space you have to house the materials. And, of course, your budget is an important consideration. What can your library afford? You may have to build slowly, but that’s okay. You … Continue reading What To Collect? →

Marketing in the Real World

By Ben Bizzle with Maria Flora | May 12, 2015

Social media is a cost-effective marketing tool, but libraries should still market in traditional media. Social media is not intended to replace real-world marketing altogether. An overarching theme One key to successful marketing is to make your promotional materials memorable so they don’t get lost in the clutter that inundates people daily. Libraries can accomplish this … Continue reading Marketing in the Real World →

Intellectual Freedom: A Core Tenet

By Karen Muller | September 11, 2014

The essays in the 2014 edition of Banned Books: Challenging our Freedom to Read, by Robert P. Doyle, outline how case law has extended the protection of the freedoms of speech and press to include freedom of expression of ideas and information. This background reading informs use of the “First Amendment Action Guide,” an advocacy … Continue reading Intellectual Freedom: A Core Tenet →

To Catch a Library Thief: Black Belt Security

By Laurie D. Borman | March 21, 2012

Graham peppered his talk with anecdotes as he described how to create and maintain safer libraries. He should know. He’s a frequent presenter on security at ALA and the author of the 2006 classic Black Belt Librarians: Every Librarian’s Real World Guide to a Safer Workplace (now published as The Black Belt Librarian: Real-World Safety and … Continue reading To Catch a Library Thief: Black Belt Security →

Latest Library Links

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Jennifer LaGarde writes: “I was over the moon excited when Jeff Zentner announced that he was going to be reading his The Serpent King, in its entirety, on Instagram Live over the next several weeks. It was during one of those readings that Jeff came to a scene in which the three main characters are shushed by a librarian. Almost immediately, all the librarians listening lost their minds—filling the screen with comments declaring that ‘librarians don’t shush anymore!’ But even before their chorus of friendly outrage began, Jeff predicted the reaction, offering a caveat about how his understanding of librarianship has grown since the book was published.”
The Adventures of Library Girl, Apr. 6
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The Tennessee Association of School Librarians has received the 2020 AASL Chapter of the Year Award. The $1,000 award recognizes the AASL chapter most active and dynamic in achieving the goals of AASL at the state and local level. The group was cited for its work on Tennessee Library Legislative Day, developing school librarian leadership capacity through professional development, webinars, TASL Talks, Twitter Media Minutes, and promoting AASL events and elections.
AASL, Apr. 6
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Bruce Schneier writes: “Over the past few weeks, Zoom’s use has exploded since it became the video conferencing platform of choice in today’s COVID-19 world. (My own university, Harvard, uses it for all of its classes.) Over that same period, the company has been exposed for having both lousy privacy and lousy security. My goal here is to summarize all of the problems and talk about solutions and workarounds. In general, Zoom’s problems fall into three broad buckets: (1) bad privacy practices, (2) bad security practices, and (3) bad user configurations.”
Schneier on Security, Apr. 3
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Tina Jordan, Elisabeth Egan, and Joumana Khatib write: “If you’ve finished tearing through all seven episodes of the hit show ‘Tiger King’ and you’re looking for more, we’ve got some reading suggestions.”
New York Times, Apr. 2
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Veronica Roth writes: “I am a pessimist. It has served me well in life—and in writing. Science fiction, my preferred genre in reading as in writing, is therefore a predictable match for me. Science fiction warns us. 1984 cautions us against government surveillance, propaganda, and totalitarianism. The Handmaid’s Tale shows us the horrors of systemic misogyny. Science fiction is also a mirror: It reveals us to ourselves, shows us both our complicity in harmful systems and our individual frailties. The Power by Naomi Alderman is an example of the former—what would women do with extraordinary power? The same things as men, it turns out; the system is the problem. People are always people, science fiction says. Even in the future.”
Literary Hub, Apr. 6
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Sarah S. Davis writes: “Natural Poetry Month is the perfect time to start introducing poetry into children’s lives. Thanks to generous online resources, it’s never been easier to find free, quality educational lessons on poetry for kids. In this article, we’ll review six great resource hubs to find children’s poetry for free online. Whether you’re looking for free, printable short poems for kids, rhyming poems for kids, or funny children’s poems, these dynamite websites offer what you need.”
Book Riot, Apr. 6
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Ruth Gilligan writes: “In his 1919 paper on the uncanny, Freud reckoned ‘the frightening element is something that has been repressed and now returns.’ As a nation whose traumatic past is still coming to light, it is safe to say Ireland remains a haunted place. There is also our unique relationship with the supernatural—not just the churchy stuff, but all the myth and superstition. We can be fierce believers in the sinister. Four years ago, I started writing The Butchers, a novel set in the borderlands during the 1996 crisis over mad cow disease. Here are 10 Irish Gothic offerings from which I drew eerie inspiration.”
The Guardian (UK), Apr. 1

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