“It is an idea that there’s no place where I end and you begin,” explained Shola Richards, opening keynote speaker of the 2024 Public Library Association (PLA) conference in Columbus, Ohio, on April 3. Richards—author of professional development books Go Together: How the Concept of Ubuntu Will Change How We Work, Live, and Lead (Sterling … Continue reading How We Work
ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) documented attempts to censor 4,240 unique book titles in schools and libraries in 2023. The previous record was set in 2022, when 2,571 unique titles were targeted. OIF reported 1,247 demands to censor library books and other materials in 2023, many of which targeted dozens or hundreds of titles … Continue reading Book Challenges Set New Record in 2023
Adlesic is codirector and producer of The ABCs of Book Banning, a 2023 film that has been nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Short category. Sheila Nevins, famed documentarian and current head of MTV Documentary Films, led the project, and journalist-turned-filmmaker Nazenet Habtezghi also codirected. American Libraries spoke with Adlesic and Habtezghi … Continue reading Newsmakers: Trish Adlesic and Nazenet Habtezghi
Authors told inspiring stories and emphasized the importance of having open conversations. Presenters addressed the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), covering different ways librarians have started using the technology, as well as measuring its impact. Speakers tackled critical topics in the profession, including intellectual freedom, community engagement, and leadership and management. A different dialogue Opening … Continue reading 2024 LibLearnX Wrap-Up
Johnson wishes it wasn’t the case for their 2020 book, All Boys Aren’t Blue, but they admit they are proud to have created a work that’s helped readers find healing, gain empathy for those who don’t look like them, and, notably, “pissed people off.” “I’m very proud of that,” said Johnson, who spoke at the … Continue reading ‘The Fight Has Chosen Me’
She started the Race Card Project with 200 postcards—printed at Kinko’s on her way to taking her kids to soccer practice—inviting whoever picked them up to share their thoughts on race, in exactly six words. She dropped them at a variety of venues while on a book tour. More than 500,000 personal narratives later, the … Continue reading Six Words, Countless Conversations
Another record year for book challenges Preliminary data from the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) through August 31 showed a 20% increase in reported book challenges for 2023—surpassing the record set in 2022. The data also showed an increase in challenges that targeted multiple titles, with libraries in 11 states receiving challenges that included 100 or … Continue reading 2023 Year in Review
Overall, library measures across the US continue to pass at a high rate. However, in many communities, the discourse over what materials can be held in certain sections of their libraries has escalated to people introducing ballot measures seeking to defund, shut down, or weaken the library’s authority. Tried and true campaign messaging, like touting … Continue reading Referenda Roundup 2023: Campaign Stories
At many of the country’s 4,000 rural library systems, staffers are operating by themselves, or nearly so. Solo librarianship can take a variety of forms. It can be a sole employee, a full-time employee managing part-timers or volunteers, or librarians working with small or spread-out teams. As libraries continue to recover from the worst of … Continue reading One of a Kind
To Free the Captives was written in response to assaults on Black life and the racial reckoning this country was experiencing in 2020, but the book is mostly set in the past. Were there challenges to weaving the historic aspects with more personal narratives? It was hard for me to pull the past away from … Continue reading Newsmaker: Tracy K. Smith
King knew the difference between being dejected and being disillusioned, drawing the distinction often in his writings and speeches. While being dejected is a natural reaction to opposition, the latter represents the capitulation of hope. King knew well that hope is needed for struggle. That connection is important for those of us who work in … Continue reading Our History Is Our Protection
Libraries and schools nationwide are working overtime to repel an unprecedented level of attacks on the freedom to read. Vigorous debate, advocacy, and coalition-building remain the backbone of the fight against book banning. But some libraries, groups, and individuals have recently taken innovative approaches to ensure information access for all. Books Unbanned is one of … Continue reading Unbanned
