#alaac23 Archives | Page 2 of 4 | American Libraries Magazine

Council III: Inquiry into Conference Date Changes Approved

By Megan Bennett | June 26, 2023

The meeting began with memorial resolutions honoring Josephine Maria (Riss) Fang (M-#8); David Goodman (M-#9); Chris Cottrill (M-#10); Jen Angel (M-#11); Bill Ott (M-#12); Kristen A. Cooper (M-#13); Esperanza Bravo de Varona (M-#14); Helene Lafrance (M-#15); James Henry Jacobs, Jr. (M-#16); Paul Cappuzzello (M-#17); Patricia A. Wand (M-#18); David S. Baugh (M-#19); Rebecca Taylor Bingham … Continue reading Council III: Inquiry into Conference Date Changes Approved →

Andiswa Mfengu, lecturer in the Department of Knowledge and Information Stewardship at the University of Cape Town talks about how the OCLC New Model Library Framework applies to libraries in Africa at the American Library Association's 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago.

A Global New Normal

By Carrie Smith | June 26, 2023

The session “From Pandemic to Endemic: Global Experiences and Perspectives on an OCLC New Model Library Framework” brought together library workers from three continents alongside members of the research team who created the model to explore commonalities and key differences in how international libraries experienced the pandemic. Clara M. Chu, director of the Mortenson Center … Continue reading A Global New Normal →

Jarrett J. Krosoczka, author of the Lunch Lady series, speaks at "Listen to Win: Hearing from Audiobook Winners and the Judges Who Select Them,” a June 26 session at the American Library Association’s 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago.

Making Audiobooks Special

By Diana Panuncial | June 26, 2023

“I had heard that for years, and years, and years,” he said. When he got the chance to turn the series into audiobooks, he dived deep into such ideas and experimented with all the ways he could bring a graphic novel to life for listeners as an audio producer for the Lunch Lady series. At … Continue reading Making Audiobooks Special →

Becky Calzada wearing a blue blouse, glasses and holding right hand in air as she speaks into microphone

Become Challenge-Ready

By Sanhita SinhaRoy | June 26, 2023

By working on these two areas, libraries can better prepare for potential materials challenges at their institutions, according to panelists on “Is Your Library Challenge-Ready?” a June 26 program at the American Library Association’s 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago. “We can’t just hope it doesn’t happen and not be prepared for it,” said … Continue reading Become Challenge-Ready →

Planting Seeds of Joy

By Diana Panuncial | June 26, 2023

That was the question presented by Rebecca Hass, programming and outreach manager at Anne Arundel County (Md.) Public Library, at “Building Joy-Centric Libraries,” a June 26 session held during the American Library Association’s 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago. Hass discussed the concepts of joy, how it can be worked into every interaction into … Continue reading Planting Seeds of Joy →

Jeanie Austin speaks at a podium during a session at ALA's Annual Conference and Exhibition.

Setting the Standards

By Megan Bennett | June 26, 2023

“I stood up and said, ‘I’m going to become a librarian,’” James remembered. “The laughter was quite intense.” Despite being told it was “unrealistic,” James went on to receive his master’s degree in information science from University of Texas at Austin in 2007. Since then, he’s worked with several American Library Association (ALA) groups advocating … Continue reading Setting the Standards →

James Patterson on Libraries, Librarians, and Book Bans

By Greg Landgraf | June 26, 2023

Patterson’s upcoming book, The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading (Little, Brown, 2024), shares stories from dozens of librarians and booksellers. But he attended American Library Association’s 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago largely in support of Amina Luqman-Dawson, whose Freewater won both the Newbery Medal and … Continue reading James Patterson on Libraries, Librarians, and Book Bans →

Children’s book author and poet Nikki Grimes at the American Library Association’s 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition on June 24.

Completing the Walk

By Terra Dankowski | June 25, 2023

Children’s book author and poet Nikki Grimes strode to the podium and read passages from her forthcoming title, A Walk in the Woods (Neal Porter Books, September). The audience at the American Library Association’s 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition on June 24 was rapt. The room was still, except for some rustling and verse, a … Continue reading Completing the Walk →

Stephanie Robertson, assistant professor and outreach librarian at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, speaks at the “It’s Not Either/Or!: How to Include Open Access Materials to Transform Curriculum and Collections” session at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago June 25.

Blending Open Access and Traditionally Published Materials

By Greg Landgraf | June 25, 2023

“I think that to have a collection that is high-quality and has the layers of complexity you would expect from a collection, you need both OER and traditionally published materials,” said Robertson, assistant professor and outreach librarian at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, in the “It’s Not Either/Or!: How to Include Open Access Materials to Transform Curriculum … Continue reading Blending Open Access and Traditionally Published Materials →

Mark Oshiro (left) and Robin Gow speak at the “Beyond the Middle School Rainbow: Intersectionality in LGBTQIA+ Middle Grade Books” session on June 25 at ALA's Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago.

‘The Kids Get It’

By Megan Bennett | June 25, 2023

Having access to stories about young, queer girls of color, she said, could have avoided years of shame. “It could’ve made me feel like even if my parents don’t know about this, there are people out there who are just like me, and I’m going to be okay one day,” Ortega said. “It would’ve not … Continue reading ‘The Kids Get It’ →

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden smiles on stage at the "In Conversation with Carla Hayden" session at the ALA Annual Conference

A Presidential Center Preview

By Greg Landgraf | June 25, 2023

“The presidency that is the main thrust of this particular story is also the story of the first digital president,” said Obama Presidential Center museum director Dr. Louise Bernard. Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden interviewed Bernard and Chicago Public Library Commissioner Chris Brown about the Center at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference and … Continue reading A Presidential Center Preview →

Melanie Huggins, executive director of Richland Library in Columbia, South Carolina, speaks in front of microphone with her hands in air

Rethinking Everything

By Sanhita SinhaRoy | June 25, 2023

Huggins co-presented with Patrick Quattlebaum, CEO of Harmonic Design, an Atlanta-based service design company, at “Leadership by Design: A Human-Centered Approach for Library Leaders,” a June 25 session of the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago. Library leaders across the country—new and seasoned alike—are facing increasingly complex community challenges, from … Continue reading Rethinking Everything →

Latest Library Links

10h

Genevieve Trainor writes: “The Guinness World Record holder for Most Prolific Book Thief is Ottumwa (Iowa’s) Stephen Blumberg. The 23,600 volumes he accumulated between the 1970s and his arrest in March of 1990 were all stashed in his 17-room home. Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, got involved with Blumberg as part of the FBI’s efforts to return the stolen manuscripts and rare books to their museums and libraries. Referred to as the Omaha Project, the information science proving ground involved four weeks, 44 catalogers and reference librarians and 600 volunteer hours to determine who might be the rightful owners.”

Little Village (Dubuque, Iowa), Dec. 4
14h

Casey Newton writes: “At the moment, no one knows for sure whether the large language models that are now under development will achieve superintelligence and transform the world. And in that uncertainty, two primary camps of criticism have emerged. The first camp, which I associate with the external critics, holds that artificial intelligence (AI) is fake and sucks. The second camp, which I associate more with the internal critics, believes that AI is real and dangerous. Today I want to lay out why I believe AI is real and dangerous.”

Platformer, Dec. 5
1d

Latia Ward writes: “One way to keep current with what students think of the library and its services is through Student Library Advisory Committee meetings. These meetings are a way to gather feedback and reinforce the library as a welcoming place. How do librarians create a welcoming environment within Student Library Advisory Committee meetings? Librarians create a welcoming environment through community, purpose, and dedicated space.” Also see part 1 of this blog post.

RIPS Law Librarian Blog, Nov. 13, Dec. 5
2d

Eleanor Hecks writes: “Few things are as frustrating to a user as when a site won’t respond. Unfortunately, it’s also an all-too-common scenario. Graceful degradation is a design approach that ensures the basics of a website will still function even if specific individual parts of it stop working. The approach removes single points of failure: just because one thing stops working doesn’t mean the system as a whole fails. A site following this principle fails in pieces instead of all at once, so the most important features remain available when some components encounter an error.”

Smashing Magazine, Dec. 6
2d

Camruinn Morgan-Rumsey and Lexi Lepof write: “On December 3, Knox County (Tenn.) schools received a list from the district of books to be removed from school libraries under Tennessee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act. Knox County’s board of education voted in July, passing a policy to remove ‘explicit’ books from everyday student access in response to the new law. Some of the books on the list of nearly 50 titles might surprise parents. Among those to be removed are Shel Silverstein’s A Light in the Attic and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five.”

WVLT-TV (Knoxville, Tenn.), Dec. 4
3d

Joe Foley writes: “Copyright rules vary from country to country and have changed over time. In the US, works created between 1929 and 1963 that gave notice and renewed copyright have 95 years from their first publication date. That means that on January 1, 2025, a host of works from 1929 will enter the public domain. This means that copyright will expire on Buck Rogers, Captain Easy, Horace Horsecollar, Tintin, Hal Foster’s first Tarzan comic strips and, yes, Popeye.” Other notable works entering public domain in the United States include the Marx Brothers’ first film, The Cocoanuts, contralto Marian Anderson’s first record, and Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms.

Creative Bloq, Dec. 7; Everybody’s Libraries, Dec. 3, Dec. 7; Public Domain Review, Dec. 10
3d

Brittany Adams writes: “The digital landscape of libraries is expanding rapidly, with an increasing shift towards electronic resources and online services. As members of the library community, we’re witnessing a transformative era where physical collections are complemented—and sometimes replaced—by digital ones. This transition offers new opportunities for enhancing accessibility and engagement, but it also presents challenges, especially for young patrons and their families. It is essential to equip children and their caregivers with the tools and knowledge they need to navigate this evolving space confidently.”

ALSC Blog, Dec. 9

View more Latest Library Links