#alaac24 Archives | American Libraries Magazine

Call Number Podcast: Sunny San Diego

June 18, 2024

First, American Libraries Associate Editor and Call Number host Diana Panuncial speaks with Tim Tully, instruction and outreach librarian for San Diego State University’s Surf and Skate Studies Collaborative. He shares the origins of these local subcultures, how they have evolved, and where to go if you want to catch waves or hit a kickflip. … Continue reading Call Number Podcast: Sunny San Diego →

2024 Annual Conference Preview

By Diana Panuncial | June 3, 2024

Annual promises an array of educational programs, speakers and authors, unique exhibitors, awards and celebrations, and networking opportunities. Making a return appearance from LibLearnX in January, a selection of Timely Topics—categories of sessions pertaining to current, critical issues in the profession—will be featured: artificial intelligence (AI), health and wellness, intellectual freedom, justice-involved services, and strategic … Continue reading 2024 Annual Conference Preview →

A table with a spread of different seafood dishes

A Taste of San Diego

By Maribeth Mellin | June 3, 2024

Seafood takes top billing at many spots, along with the region’s exceptional produce. Chefs put a SoCal twist on everything from sushi to Wagyu steaks, with inspired global flourishes everywhere. Mexican dishes and influences pop up in all sorts of menus, thanks to our proximity to the busiest land border crossing in the US. San … Continue reading A Taste of San Diego →

Newsmaker: Dave Eggers

By Donna Seaman | June 3, 2024

Eggers has received many prestigious awards, among them the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award for Education, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and, most recently, the Newbery Medal for The Eyes and the Impossible (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2023), an honor Eggers will celebrate at ALA’s 2024 Annual Conference in San Diego. American Libraries caught up … Continue reading Newsmaker: Dave Eggers →

Photo of the bronze Dr. Seuss and Cat in the Hat statue outside Geisel Library, the main library of University of California San Diego

By the Numbers: Literary San Diego

By Megan Bennett | June 3, 2024

The American Library Association’s 2024 Annual Conference and Exhibition will be held June 27–July 2 in San Diego. 4 Number of crown-shaped chandeliers designed by author L. Frank Baum for the Hotel del Coronado, located on San Diego Bay. The hotel, where Baum frequently stayed as a guest, is said to have inspired the Emerald … Continue reading By the Numbers: Literary San Diego →

Latest Library Links

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Melissa Heikkilä writes: “If you post or interact with chatbots on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, or WhatsApp, Meta can use your data to train its generative artificial intelligence (AI) models beginning June 26, according to its recently updated privacy policy. If you’re uncomfortable with having Meta use your personal information and intellectual property to train its AI models in perpetuity, consider opting out. Although Meta does not guarantee it will allow this, it does say it will ‘review objection requests in accordance with relevant data protection laws.’”

MIT Technology Review, June 14
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Julia Carpenter writes: “In 2022, the number of people living in prison increased for the first time in nearly 10 years, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The overwhelming majority of the more than 1.23 million incarcerated people in America are serving sentences of one year or more. And many of them say that access to libraries, books, magazines, and other reading material is both sanity-saving and life-preserving. But navigating the prison library system and obtaining books from the outside can be fraught.”

Esquire, June 17
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ALA invites library users nationwide to nominate their favorite librarians for the prestigious I Love My Librarian Award. The national award recognizes the outstanding public service contributions of librarians working in public, school, college, community college, or university libraries. Nominations are accepted through September 30. Ten librarians will each receive $5,000 in recognition of their outstanding achievements. Awardees will be honored at the I Love My Librarian Award ceremony at ALA’s 2025 LibLearnX Conference in Phoenix; honorees will also receive free full conference registration as part of their award packages.

ALA Communications, Marketing, and Media Relations Office, June 17
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Jessica Jones Capparell writes: “Our democracy is at a turning point. In mere months, we’ll head to the ballot for a critical presidential election. The past few years have seen a slew of antivoter laws that make it harder for people to cast ballots and for voting rights organizations to assist people at the polls. At the same time, forms of mis- and disinformation such as artificial intelligence–generated deepfakes—which spread false information through digitally manipulated images, videos, or audio recordings—pose a major threat. In the face of these antivoter attacks, civic organizations must take a stand.”

AL: The Scoop, June 18
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Diana Panuncial writes: “Next week, we’re on route to San Diego for the ALA’s 2024 Annual Conference and Exhibition. In Episode 96, Call Number explores ‘America’s Finest City’ through the lens of local librarians. We speak with Tim Tully, instruction and outreach librarian for San Diego State University’s Surf and Skate Studies Collaborative, and Kelley Woolley, who oversees the library for San Diego Zoo and Safari Park. Plus, local librarians recommend their favorite San Diego taco joints.”

AL: The Scoop, June 18
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Ken Irwin and Mike Bomholt write: “Miami University Libraries in Oxford, Ohio, developed an open-source software checkout system to allow patrons to make use of software licenses owned by the library. The service currently supports Adobe Creative Cloud, Final Cut Pro, and Logic Pro software. Built on a model developed by Pixar for managing employee software licenses, the Software Checkout system is believed to be the first of its kind for circulating licenses to library patrons.”

Information Technology and Libraries, June 17
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Christina Sikorski writes: “The community of English as a Second Language (ESL) learners is important and growing as the number of global immigrants increases. These English language learners form a community around their need to increase access and ultimately increase knowledge, not only of the English language, but of other services that support their community. This research paper seeks to understand the information needs of the ESL community and how libraries and information centers can best serve those needs.”

Endnotes: The Journal of the New Members Round Table, June

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