health Archives | Page 5 of 5 | American Libraries Magazine

Mindful Librarianship

By Ellyn Ruhlmann | June 1, 2017

Participants sit in comfortable chairs arranged in a circle, and Allen sounds a low bell to begin. Overhead, sunlight sifts through the double windows as the meditators silently listen to the sounds of the bell and their own in-breaths and out-breaths. Then, while a recording of a meditation by Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh … Continue reading Mindful Librarianship →

New Trends in Library Security

By Steve Albrecht | June 1, 2017

Library directors and staffers in all parts of the country and in all types of libraries continue to be concerned about challenging patrons who sometimes adversely affect library services, including people who are homeless, have a mental illness, or abuse substances. But what follows are real experiences seen firsthand or recounted by library employees—security concerns that … Continue reading New Trends in Library Security →

The Health Effects of 3D Printing

By Sharon Roney, Amelia Klein, and Andrew Hart | October 11, 2016

Ultrafine particles and volatile organic compounds Several studies have shown that 3D printers produce high amounts of ultrafine particles (UFPs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) while in use, and that these particles and vapors are detectable for many hours after the printers have been shut off. UFPs have been linked to adverse health conditions, such … Continue reading The Health Effects of 3D Printing →

Tracking Ebola in Liberia

By Greg Landgraf | October 3, 2014

Information is an important tool in fighting the outbreak. Alison Blaine, a master’s student at the University of North Carolina School of Information and Library Science and a research assistant in the UNC Davis Library’s Research Hub, is part of an interdisciplinary team that developed ebolainliberia.org, a website that provides data and news about the … Continue reading Tracking Ebola in Liberia →

Latest Library Links

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Avani Kalra writes: “In 2022, Sami Aaron started facilitating virtual climate cafés, forums where people could express their anxieties about climate change and connect with like-minded individuals without the pressure to turn sessions into activism. Aaron has so far facilitated 32 virtual climate cafés—including several alongside ALA’s Sustainability Round Table (SustainRT)—and is in the early stages of developing in-person events for libraries. In recent years, dozens of other organizations, activists, and therapists have hosted similar cafés at libraries across the country.”

American Libraries Trend, Mar./Apr.
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Phil Morehart writes: “Hubbard (Ohio) Public Library’s (HPL) oldest patron, Lily Walter, who celebrates her 105th birthday in May, stopped by the library last month to renew her library card. She told the library she has loved reading and libraries for 101 years—as long as she can remember. Lily got her first library card at age four, and it began a lifelong love of the library. She volunteered at HPL during her 80s and 90s and said she was fascinated by learning about library circulation and what people did—and didn’t—read.”

I Love Libraries, Mar. 14
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Briana Mendez-Padilla writes: “To encourage students to read novels, teachers can employ strategies such as allowing students to choose their books, encouraging them to read ones outside their comfort zone, and providing supplemental reading materials. The reading of novels is being sacrificed for short passage reading because students are more likely to encounter these texts in standardized tests, said Alex Corbitt, assistant professor of literacy at the State University of New York at Cortland. Corbitt encourages teachers to create book clubs that are thematically organized but with three or four different novel options at varying reading levels for students to choose from.”

K-12 Dive, Mar. 19
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Barbara M. Pope and Samantha Thompson-Franklin write: “Students with disabilities attending institutions of higher education without accessible library resources and students who are unaware of available resources may be unable to fully participate in or complete their education. Accessibility in library resources and services helps to eliminate those barriers, but the information must be communicated to those who need it, including student disability services, teaching faculty, and students themselves. Ideally, academic libraries should collaborate with campus partners to assess existing resources and services to provide accessible learning and support materials.”

Journal of Creative Library Practice, Mar. 25
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Mike Olson writes: “Library catalogs have always been battlegrounds where content is not merely described but debated. President Trump’s Executive Order 14172 directing the renaming of longstanding geographical designations ‘Mount Denali’ and ‘Gulf of Mexico’ to the politically loaded ‘Mount McKinley’ and ‘Gulf of America’ reveal the naked truth of what cataloging has always been: a battlefield where meaning is contested and conquered. When catalogers implement politically motivated terminology changes, they become unwilling performers in a linguistic ritual that normalizes certain worldviews while erasing others. But there’s potential for subversion within these systems.”

The Scholarly Kitchen, Mar. 25
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Jonah Aragon writes: “There is a growing sentiment that the US shouldn’t be relied upon for the technologies that many people and businesses use every day. At Privacy Guides, we generally value technical guarantees over matters like jurisdiction. There is simply no alternative to privacy technologies like strong end-to-end encryption when it comes to protecting your information. Tools from the European Union (EU) also generally benefit from much stronger data protection laws, thanks to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of some of our favorites.”

Privacy Guides, Mar. 19
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Hannah Fingerhut writes: “Iowa cannot, for now, continue to enforce part of its book ban law, US District Judge Stephen Locher said March 25. The decision temporarily blocks the part of the law that prohibits school libraries and classrooms from carrying books that depict sex acts. In his decision, Locher stated that the unconstitutional applications of the book restrictions ‘far exceed’ the constitutional applications ‘under both legal standards the Court believes are applicable.’ Expecting an appeal, Locher included an alternative standard through which the restrictions could be considered constitutional, but added he does not believe it should be applied in this case.”

Associated Press, Mar. 25; May 26, 2023

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