ALA President Archives | American Libraries Magazine

American Library Association President Loida Garcia-Febo (at podium) addresses the crowd at the High Prairie Library Harvest Festival in Falcon, Colorado, as part of her Libraries = Strong Communities tour.

Libraries = Strong Communities Tour Launches in Colorado Springs

October 9, 2018

Libraries = Strong Communities is a national advocacy effort aimed at highlighting the value of academic, public, and school libraries. The goal is to ignite public awareness of the value of libraries and library workers and create a groundswell of support at the local, state, national, and even global level. Garcia-Febo says she chose PPLD … Continue reading Libraries = Strong Communities Tour Launches in Colorado Springs →

From left: Maria Taesil Hudson McCauley, ALA President Loida Garcia-Febo, and John Spears

My Library, My Story

By Terra Dankowski | September 30, 2018

American Library Association (ALA) President Loida Garcia-Febo hopes these prompts and others can be leveraged to create better advocates and visibility for libraries on the local, national, and international level. “This is a time for action. We’re living in challenging times,” she said. “We need a seat at the table.” At “My Library, My Story,” … Continue reading My Library, My Story →

From Local to Global

By Loida Garcia-Febo | September 4, 2018

Take, for example, Los Angeles Public Library, which partners with the city to provide patrons access to free classes to obtain a high school diploma. Or librarians in Alaska, who have partnered with the state to use devices to identify bats in danger of extinction and help preserve the biodiversity of the region. As many … Continue reading From Local to Global →

Libraries = Strong Communities

By Loida Garcia-Febo | July 18, 2018

Change takes commitment, courage, and effort. By collaborating, we can take action to ensure that libraries receive the support needed to continue serving communities at academic, public, school, special, and all other types of libraries. The voices of our big ALA team of more than 58,000 members and advocates from across the globe make us … Continue reading Libraries = Strong Communities →

Emily Knox speaks at the Midwinter President’s Program. Photo: Cognotes

Are Libraries Neutral?

June 1, 2018

The Moderator ALA President Jim Neal Are libraries neutral? Have they ever been? Should they be? Can libraries be neutral as part of societies and systems that are not neutral? Are libraries, through their processes, their practices, their collections and technologies, able to be neutral? ALA has long advocated for certain principles, detailed in the … Continue reading Are Libraries Neutral? →

Hope, Power, Action

By Jim Neal | May 1, 2018

The current and prospectively annual battles over funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and Innovative Approaches to Literacy have dominated our advocacy work. We have sustained and even expanded funding for IMLS in FY2018, but we are already pushing for support for FY2019 appropriations. At the same time, other important aspects … Continue reading Hope, Power, Action →

Are Libraries Neutral?

By Amy Carlton | February 12, 2018

The program featured a sprawling discussion in which multiple definitions of neutrality were proposed, and various positions were argued for and against them. The rhetoric was lively and occasionally prickly on the stage, in the audience, and on social media. Are libraries neutral spaces? Have they ever been? You're not going to want to miss … Continue reading Are Libraries Neutral? →

Your Efforts Are Helping to #saveIMLS

By Jim Neal | September 20, 2017

I am pleased to report that on September 14, the full House of Representatives voted as part of a large spending package (H.R. 3354) not to make any cuts in federal funding for IMLS. This includes all funding for IMLS programs under the Library Services and Technology Act, and for the Department of Education’s Innovative Approaches to … Continue reading Your Efforts Are Helping to #saveIMLS →

Our Shared Responsibility

By Jim Neal | September 1, 2017

The 120,000 libraries of all types across the US—public, school, academic, government, special—are an essential component of the national information infrastructure, and library workers are critical leaders in their communities. We stand for individual rights, democracy, diversity, intellectual freedom, and social responsibility. We are trusted, helping to address community concerns and needs, and championing our … Continue reading Our Shared Responsibility →

ALA Condemns Racism and Violence in Charlottesville

August 15, 2017

“The ALA expresses our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those lost and injured during this weekend’s protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. We will not forget their efforts to enlighten and safeguard their communities from bigotry while opposing racist, anti-immigrant, anti-GLBTQ, and anti-Semitic violence. We stand in solidarity with the people of Virginia as … Continue reading ALA Condemns Racism and Violence in Charlottesville →

Garcia-Febo Wins 2018–2019 ALA Presidency

April 12, 2017

Garcia-Febo received 3,278 votes, while her opponents, Scott Walter, university librarian, DePaul University, Chicago, received 3,209 votes, and Terri Grief, school librarian at McCracken County High School in Paducah, Kentucky, received 2,636 votes. As ALA president, Garcia-Febo will be the chief elected officer for the oldest and largest library association in the world. She will … Continue reading Garcia-Febo Wins 2018–2019 ALA Presidency →

America’s Librarian

By Greg Landgraf | November 1, 2016

Hayden didn’t use any privileges of her new position to access Parks’s notes, however, because LC has digitized the collection and posted it online. “I pulled it up on my iPad,” she says. “To think that a kid in Baltimore who just experienced the unrest there could look at Parks’s handwritten thoughts about unrest, that … Continue reading America’s Librarian →

Latest Library Links

47m

ALA Graphics’ winter catalog is on its way, and will unveil new products that will educate, excite, and inspire. The catalog cover highlights a new Wolf in the Snow poster from Caldecott Medal–winning artist Matthew Cordell. A matching bookmark is also available. These heartwarming items are perfect for Picture Book Month celebrations this November and throughout the winter. Shop all of the new products at the ALA Store.

ALA Graphics, Oct. 18
17h

The winner of the 2018 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction is Pulse Points by Jennifer Down. The prize is one of three literary prizes that Readings awards each year, the other two being the Readings Children’s Book Prize and the Readings Young Adult Book Prize. Each exists to celebrate the work of early-career Australian writers. There are 14 short stories in Pulse Points, each very different, but all dealing in the moments of everyday life that sting.

Readings, Oct. 18
18h

Alex Harrington writes: “As a reference librarian, I get a lot of the same questions day in and day out. How do I find a book on my topic? How does the printing system work? Where is the bathroom? I used to get frustrated or annoyed answering the same questions 20 times a day, but then I remembered this XKCD comic, and it reminded me of a few things. One: We are here to teach people the things they don’t already know. Two: Everyone has to learn a thing before they know it.”

ACRLog, Oct. 18
19h

Sharpening participants’ problem solving and collaboration skills by mashing up real-time adventure, immersive theater, gaming, and old-fashioned entertainment, escape rooms are a natural for libraries. And, as Ellyssa Kroski demonstrates in Escape Rooms and Other Immersive Experiences in the Library, published by ALA Editions, they’re feasible for a range of audiences and budgets. Kroski explains the differences between highly structured escape rooms and more casual immersive experiences.

ALA Editions, Oct. 18
19h

Guadeloupean author Maryse Condé has been awarded the 2018 New Academy Prize in Literature. She was named the winner at a ceremony held October 12 at the Stockholm Public Library main branch in recognition of the role played by Swedish librarians in nominating authors for the award. Condé receives the 1 million Swedish kronor award for an authorship that “describes the ravages of colonialism and the postcolonial chaos in a language which is both precise and overwhelming.”

Book Riot, Oct. 12
21h

Silvana Reyes Lopez writes: “Space opera novels are full of world-building, all-around action, and interesting characters. Space opera is inside the science fiction genre, and from there you can travel the stars, finding new books to read. It might contain fights or lost empires, or princesses running from their kingdoms and enemies trying to kill each other. It has everything for everyone, so you can’t go wrong on the direction you choose. Let’s go down this list of the 25 of the best space opera books.”

Book Riot, Oct. 18
22h

Thunderous applause echoed across Benjamin Banneker Charter Public School’s gymnasium as one of their own was surprised with a $25,000 national award October 16 for her efforts in engaging students and boosting literacy skills. Jennifer Gordon, a librarian at the Cambridge school, was named as a recipient of the Milken Educator Award. No one at the school knew who had won the award until the envelope with Gordon’s name was opened. Officials with the Milken Family Foundation said Gordon’s influence in her students’ and colleagues’ lives is what made her stand out.

Boston Herald, Oct. 17

View more Latest Library Links