disaster and recovery Archives | American Libraries Magazine

Firefighters in Pacific Palisades, California.

During Wildfires, Los Angeles Libraries Offer Community Lifelines

By Rosie Newmark | January 22, 2025

Amid the disaster, library systems, including Altadena (Calif.) Library District (ALD), Los Angeles County Library (LACL), and LAPL, are spearheading efforts to help community members as well as library staffers through fundraising and onsite support. The American Library Association (ALA) has also set up a relief effort through its ALA Disaster Relief Fund. In addition … Continue reading During Wildfires, Los Angeles Libraries Offer Community Lifelines →

ALA Announces Support for Libraries Affected by Los Angeles Wildfires

January 13, 2025

The full statement reads as follows: The American Library Association (ALA) extends our deepest sympathies to those who have been affected by and to those who have lost everything during the Los Angeles area fires. We know that the Los Angeles Public Library’s Palisades Branch Library was destroyed, and we await word on others that … Continue reading ALA Announces Support for Libraries Affected by Los Angeles Wildfires →

2024 Year in Review

By American Libraries staff | January 2, 2025

New values for challenging times On January 21, ALA Council approved five new Core Values • access • equity • intellectual freedom and privacy • the public good • sustainability Council cochairs Erin Berman and Sara Dallas explained the reasons for the changes: “This is a crucial moment for our profession, as our library community … Continue reading 2024 Year in Review →

ALA Releases Statement on Helping Communities Affected by Hurricane Helene

October 3, 2024

In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, our hearts are with those whose lives have been profoundly impacted. We extend our deepest sympathies to individuals facing devastating loss and the challenges of recovery and rebuilding. We recognize the unwavering dedication of libraries to show up, to step in, and to serve their communities during this difficult … Continue reading ALA Releases Statement on Helping Communities Affected by Hurricane Helene →

Picking Up the Pieces

By Dan Groberg | September 3, 2024

In just 48 hours, the Winooski River overflowed its banks and inundated the capital city. The river crested overnight on July 11, at more than three feet above major flood stage, the second highest reading on record. The basement of KHL, in the heart of downtown, filled with seven and a half feet of water. … Continue reading Picking Up the Pieces →

Call Number Podcast: Sustainability Strategies

May 13, 2024

First, American Libraries Managing Editor Terra Dankowski pays a visit to the Sulzer Regional branch of Chicago Public Library, which hosts a repair café every month. At these events, participants bring household items in need of mending to the library. Volunteers with toolkits fix the items, sparing them from the landfill. Next, members of ALA’s … Continue reading Call Number Podcast: Sustainability Strategies →

Marcia Mardis, professor of information science, director of Florida State University's (FSU) Information Institute, and associate dean for research at FSU’s College of Communication and Information

Eyeing the Storm

By Sanhita SinhaRoy | January 21, 2024

Librarians Denise Gomez and Marcia Mardis are from Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee, and they know a thing or two about natural disasters. The two researchers presented “Not Another Named Storm: Disaster Planning in Public Libraries” on January 21 at ALA’s 2024 LibLearnX conference in Baltimore. They shared findings from their three-year Institute of … Continue reading Eyeing the Storm →

Making Trouble That Matters

By Emily Drabinski | July 19, 2023

A few months into the gig, I made a mistake. I printed the number of bargains for one luxury department store on a two-page photo spread featuring a different luxury department store. I was in so much trouble. The magazine sent the store a huge bouquet of flowers as an apology, and I couldn’t stop … Continue reading Making Trouble That Matters →

Painted rocks memorializing the children and teachers who died at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas.

Hope and Healing in Uvalde

By Nora Neus | May 22, 2023

“Sometimes those emotions are so powerful, and we’re using the metaphor of a volcano because sometimes they erupt at any time, at any moment,” Ramirez explains. “We can’t help what comes out sometimes. We are here to help families maneuver through those very powerful emotions and those difficult days.” Counselors from CBCST, a nonprofit that … Continue reading Hope and Healing in Uvalde →

Three Years Later

March 1, 2023

In those early days, libraries grappled with the same issues as everyone else: closed buildings, plans put on hold, and diminished access. With this special report, we take a look at some libraries’ behind-the-scenes decisions to keep their communities connected and missions fulfilled. On the following pages, you’ll find stories about: early-pandemic adaptations and innovations … Continue reading Three Years Later →

An illustration representing libraries who utilized relief funding to support recovery from the pandemic as well as natural disasters.

A Perfect Storm

By Megan Bennett | March 1, 2023

The library served as a hub for the school’s approximately 400 students and faculty. It had separate spaces for elementary and high school students to study, check out books, and use computers. Maria and its aftermath claimed most of the library’s collections. Of an estimated 4,000–5,000 books, 90% were no longer usable. “Everything was full … Continue reading A Perfect Storm →

2022 Year in Review

January 3, 2023

Uniting against censorship attempts Organized book challenges continued to proliferate. From January through August, 681 attempts to ban or restrict library materials had been made in the US, with 1,651 unique titles targeted. In response to mounting censorship threats, ALA announced in May its Unite Against Book Bans campaign, a coalition with more than 60 … Continue reading 2022 Year in Review →

Latest Library Links

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Elisa Shoenberger writes: “These days, it seems that humor and murder mysteries go together like cookies and milk. With films like Knives Out and See How They Run and television shows like Only Murders in the Building, it seems that murder mysteries with a lot of humor are fashionable right now. Plus, we’re going to get the film adaptation of Richard Osman’s delightful The Thursday Murder Club later this year. I’ve put together a list of recently published humorous murder mystery books.”

Book Riot, Feb. 17
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Pranay Parab writes: “Google’s recent foray into artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t going to stop anytime soon. While you can hide Google Workspace’s Gemini buttons and prompts for now, you can’t actually stop the company from continuing to build its apps around a technology that revolves around getting its hands on as much data as possible. I rely on Google Docs for collaboration, but the company’s AI push has got me looking for alternatives, even if Google currently denies using your data to train its models. On that note, these are the best AI-free, encrypted alternatives to Google Docs.”

Lifehacker, Feb. 13
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Elizabeth Coen and Mary Manning write: “In the winter of 2023, we reimagined the curricular design of an undergraduate survey course called American Drama. We wanted students to think deeply about the nature of representation in American theatre, and whose voices are traditionally privileged in play anthologies and theatrical productions and whose voices are not. We also wanted students to examine these privileges and gaps through primary and secondary source research—through group discovery and ‘play’ in the archives and in the stacks.”

TPS Collective, Feb. 14
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Suzan Karabakal writes: “As a UX research and design student at the School of Information, I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to conduct user research on Library Search, the University of Michigan Library’s discovery layer, last summer. My goal was to uncover how novice users approach Library Search features and functions, and to identify design opportunities to improve student experiences. After conducting interviews with librarians in the Learning and Teaching division, student employees who provide ‘Ask a Librarian’ services, and undergraduate students, I compiled a list of five key findings and five key design recommendations.”

University of Michigan Library, Feb. 13
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María Evelia Emerson writes: “Diversity audits, like much of librarianship, are not a simple box to check off once complete. Collections, as well as other programs and services, need to be consistently revisited in order to stay abreast of current trends and make sure that libraries strive to be as inclusive as possible. Although this requires time (something few librarians have an abundance of), without consistent check-ins, reviews, and feedback, collections and services are at risk of catering to a specific group of people, without taking into account the variety and differences of experiences and needs that make up our society.”

Portal: Libraries and the Academy, Jan.
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ALA’s Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services will host “Libraries Respond: Racial Healing and Transforming Communities through Mental Health Practices,” a virtual panel discussion, on February 25 at 3 p.m. Central. The 90-minute event will feature mental health professional Grace Le sharing her expertise on how mental health can impact our individual journeys towards racial healing, and a moderated panel of ALA leaders sharing perspectives and experiences on collective community healing towards racial equity and our roles in our library spaces. Register to receive the Zoom link.

ALA Office for Diversity, Literacy, and outreach Services
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Michelle Reed and Tova Gaster write: “Neo-Censorship in US Libraries: An Investigation into Digital Content Suppression, a new Library Futures report, dives into an underreported area of library censorship—database bans that restrict youth access to ebooks, research resources, and other digital content. While bans on beloved print books are often more visible, challenges to databases and digital collections risk restricting children from viewing a wide range of content—from breast cancer awareness to resources for identifying and reporting sexual abuse.”

Library Futures, Feb. 13

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