April Fools' Day Archives | American Libraries Magazine

myMcROBOT, a fully-autonomous humanoid robotic assistant available from McCracken County (Ky.) Public Library on April 1, 2019.

April Foolswatch 2019

By Greg Landgraf | April 4, 2019

Libraries are fir everyone Nearly half of Oregon is forest, but the state’s trees are a remarkably underserved population. Tigard (Oreg.) Public Library addressed that with a brand-new storytime for plants, guaranteed to help saplings grow healthy and strong. One Seed, One Library, 1 million damaged tires Pima County (Ariz.) Public Library already operates a … Continue reading April Foolswatch 2019 →

A portrait of Nugget, Duke University's famous golden retriever, is added to the reading room at Duke’s Rubenstein Library on Sunday, April 1.

April Foolswatch 2018

By Greg Landgraf | April 5, 2018

A purrfect library Noting the popularity of Bertie, the library cat at the University of Nottingham (England) Hallward Library and inspired by Nottingham’s Kitty Café, Hallward Library announced that it would turn its top floor into the #Cattic, where students can study surrounded by cats. “We’re working closely with our vet school to ensure the … Continue reading April Foolswatch 2018 →

Image from Hillsboro (Oreg.) Public Library's video of its take-home tattoo gun for April Fools' Day.

April Foolswatch 2017 Has Been Canceled

By Greg Landgraf | April 4, 2017

Okay, okay, on to the real library pranks. Go for the gold The National Library of Scotland has launched a campaign to make speed-reading an Olympic sport, with a video profile of Declan, an aspiring long-distance nonfiction competitor, and other top contenders. The sport’s not without its controversies, mostly involving the Polymer Handbook, but it’s … Continue reading April Foolswatch 2017 Has Been Canceled →

Library and Archives Canada announced the acquisition of the declassified journals and military records of soldier James “Logan” Howlett, who bears a striking resemblance to Hugh Jackman.

April Foolswatch 2016

By Greg Landgraf | April 4, 2016

A Soldier’s Life, Declassified The day’s clear viral victor was Library and Archives Canada’s (LAC) announcement of the acquisition of the declassified journals and military records of soldier James “Logan” Howlett. “Logan’s journals provide valuable insight into his early life in Canada, including work as a miner in a British Columbia stone quarry, a fur … Continue reading April Foolswatch 2016 →

Sacramento Public Library announced that the Library of Things had evolved into a new Library of Cats, with apparently a lengthy borrowing period: "Patrons can now borrow a kitten and return a cat."

April Foolswatch 2015

By Greg Landgraf | April 3, 2015

A Truly Cool House: King County (Wash.) Library System—already known for its architecture—announced that its next facility would be “an homage to the card catalog,” although it is unclear if the drawers were functional and, if so, whether the users would access the top row by climbing ladders or if they would need to rappel … Continue reading April Foolswatch 2015 →

#AprilFools @ Your Library

By Mariam Pera | April 2, 2013

In honor of April Fools’ Day, American Libraries compiled some of the best tweets circulating around the library twittersphere. In true LIS fashion, tweets range from information-centered and serious to whimsical and lighthearted. And as the internet has shown many a time: All’s well that ends with a kitten.

Professor Brian Trump of the British Library’s British Medieval Cookbook Project reported a near-miraculous find of a long-lost 14th-century cookbook with recipes for hedgehog, blackbird, and unicorn (pictured).

April Fools! The Year’s Best Library Pranks

By Greg Landgraf | April 4, 2012

Grilled Unicorn: Professor Brian Trump of the British Library’s British Medieval Cookbook Project reported a near-miraculous find of a long-lost 14th-century cookbook with recipes for hedgehog, blackbird, and unicorn. (If you’ve got a hungry family full of picky eaters, the book suggests marinating unicorn in cloves and garlic before roasting. Absolutely delicious.) No More Midwinter … Continue reading April Fools! The Year’s Best Library Pranks →

Latest Library Links

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Sheila Craft-Morgan writes: “Citations are a key measure of the impact of a researcher’s work. However, research in a variety of disciplines has found that women are less likely to be cited than men; citations contain geographic bias; and the Matthew effect—in which those who begin with advantage continue to gain advantage—leads to more citations for prominent scholars in a specific discipline. These findings contribute to the notion that scholarly knowledge comes from a homogenous group of researchers, thereby overlooking the contributions of other groups.”

American Libraries column, June
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Mel Baldwin writes: “Regardless of why someone comes into a library, every patron should be free to interact with staff, browse materials, and use the internet without fear of harassment or worse. That freedom depends on libraries upholding patron privacy. With nearly 400 active anti-trans bills pending in state legislatures as of April 2024, it is a dangerous time in the US to be gender nonconforming, someone whose gender expression does not align with the traditional male or female binary. And for trans people of color, studies show the risk of discrimination and violence is higher.”

American Libraries column, June
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Greg Landgraf writes: “On a school morning last September, small groups of 5th-graders crowded around tools connected to scientific research—a microscope, a robotic camera, and even a snake named Morgan Freeman—clipboards and pencils in hand. They were at the Melrose branch of Roanoke (Va.) Public Libraries (RPL), judging graduate students from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on their research. The event was RPL’s second Flip the Fair, introduced in 2022 to help graduate students develop skills to effectively communicate their research while engaging local elementary students with STEM topics and the library.”

American Libraries Trend, June
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Aaryn Bierly writes: “Disability Pride Month is traditionally celebrated in July to celebrate the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. The ADA regulates laws regarding service animals, requires employers to accommodate their employees’ physical and medical needs, stipulates the number and placement of accessible parking spaces and restrooms, and more. One in five Americans has some type of disability that makes working more difficult, and the ADA has made working conditions easier for a significant number of Americans. We’ve got several great lists of books for kids and teens of different ages featuring characters with a range of disabilities.”

Herrick District Library (Holland, Mich.), July 1
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“Many people already turn to libraries as sources of trusted information ahead of elections, and organizations like ALA and the League of Women Voters are hoping to expand those numbers. We’ve curated a selection of resources, tools, and ideas to help inform your library’s approach to this important work.”

WebJunction, July 3
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“A federal appeals court in New Orleans is taking another look at its own order requiring a Texas county to keep eight books that deal with subjects including sex, gender identity, and racism on public library shelves. Llano County officials had initially removed 17 books from its shelves amid complaints about the subject matter. The June 6 order was vacated July 3 after a majority of the 17-member court granted Llano County officials a new hearing before the full court. The order did not state reasons and the hearing hasn’t yet been scheduled.”

Associated Press, July 7
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Todd Spangler writes: “In the days after Paramount Global disabled mtvnews.com and mtv.com/news in June—removing a trove of hundreds of thousands of articles about music and pop culture from the internet—the not-for-profit Internet Archive assembled a searchable index of 460,575 web pages previously published at mtv.com/news. The Wayback Machine’s archive of MTV News is not the full complement of what was published over the span of more than two decades. But the new collection at least ensures, for the time being, that much of MTV News’ articles remain accessible in some form.”

Variety, July 2

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