Inside ALA Archives | Page 2 of 41 | American Libraries Magazine

ALA Recommends Libraries Leave Wi-Fi Open During Closures

March 23, 2020

Our current crisis demands extraordinary measures. As most states and the federal government declare states of emergency, we appreciate that libraries and other public facilities have closed temporarily to support critical social distancing efforts. Our top priority and concern is the health and safety of our library staffs and the diverse communities we serve. As … Continue reading ALA Recommends Libraries Leave Wi-Fi Open During Closures →

ALA Executive Board Recommends Closing Libraries to Public

March 17, 2020

The ALA Executive Board unequivocally stands in support of the safety and well-being of library workers and the communities we serve. To protect library workers and their communities from exposure to COVID-19 in these unprecedented times, we strongly recommend that academic, public, and school library leaders and their trustees and governing bodies evaluate closing libraries … Continue reading ALA Executive Board Recommends Closing Libraries to Public →

ALA Statement on COVID-19

March 13, 2020

The American Library Association is committed to supporting its members, staff, and all librarians and library workers during these uncertain times. We are closely monitoring the rapidly evolving COVID-19 developments. We know that in times of crisis, libraries of all kinds play invaluable roles in supporting their communities both in person and virtually. We are … Continue reading ALA Statement on COVID-19 →

Don’t Be Counted Out

By Wanda Kay Brown | March 2, 2020

Quite simply, representation matters. If people aren’t counted in, they will most likely be counted out. That’s because the census informs everything from districting for federal, state, and local offices to the allocation of as much as $1.5 trillion in federal funding to states and localities. The census intersects with the work of libraries in several … Continue reading Don’t Be Counted Out →

A Time for Change and Thanks

By Mary Ghikas | March 2, 2020

It has been an honor to serve in this role. It has been a time of necessary change and disruption. Both staff and member leaders have accomplished work that has shifted the trajectory of the Association. In thinking back over the past few years, the hard, collaborative work of many has created the possibility of—and … Continue reading A Time for Change and Thanks →

Dewey Decibel Podcast:
One-on-One with Tracie D. Hall

February 24, 2020

If you have feedback for the Dewey Decibel team, email deweydecibel@ala.org. Tell us what you like, what you don’t like, or what you’d like to see us cover. Follow us on Twitter and leave us a review on iTunes.

Hanging Up Her Hat

February 21, 2020

What plans do you have for retirement? The rumor is you’re going to Greece. Yes, that’s true. Well, that’s my plan. What’s the old saying? “People plan and then life happens,” right? I have two children. The younger one, who’s almost 38, she’s pretty much in Greece permanently and has been since 2007. She moved … Continue reading Hanging Up Her Hat →

ALA Responds to Financial Shortfall

By Wanda Kay Brown and the ALA Executive Board | February 14, 2020

For many years, the Executive Board and ALA staff have understood that the Association’s three main revenue streams—membership, conferences, and publishing—were declining while operations were experiencing inflationary pressures. We take our role as financial stewards of the organization very seriously, and, with an eye toward growing our revenues and strength as an association, in 2017 … Continue reading ALA Responds to Financial Shortfall →

Meet ALA’s Next Executive Director

January 15, 2020

Hall comes to the Association from the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation and has worked at Seattle Public Library, the New Haven (Conn.) Free Public Library, Hartford (Conn.) Public Library, and Queens (N.Y.) Public Library. She also previously worked at ALA in the early 2000s as director of the Office for Diversity. She received her MLIS from … Continue reading Meet ALA’s Next Executive Director →

American Library Association Executive Director Tracie D. Hall

ALA Appoints Tracie D. Hall as Executive Director

January 15, 2020

“The American Library Association is pleased to announce the appointment of Tracie D. Hall as its executive director, effective February 24, 2020. Following a nationwide search, Hall was selected to succeed Mary W. Ghikas, who has worked for ALA since 1995 and served as executive director since January 2018. Hall is the first female African-American … Continue reading ALA Appoints Tracie D. Hall as Executive Director →

2019 Year in Review

January 2, 2020

Macmillan Ebook Policy Draws Fire Macmillan Publishers announced a policy preventing libraries from purchasing more than one copy of a new ebook title for the first eight weeks after a book’s release. In protest, American Library Association (ALA) launched the #eBooksForAll petition, which by November 27 had garnered more than 216,000 signatures. Said ALA President … Continue reading 2019 Year in Review →

Forward Together

By Wanda Kay Brown | January 2, 2020

But as we hear often, many members find the path to engagement too confusing, too insular, and too expensive. How do we address these concerns while also modernizing the way our Association functions? This is where we start. For the past 18 months, as a member of the Steering Committee on Organizational Effectiveness (SCOE), I’ve … Continue reading Forward Together →

Latest Library Links

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The Library of Congress’s new AI tool lets users search through 16 million historical US newspaper pages for images that help explain the stories of the past. The Newspaper Navigator shows how seminal events and characters, such as wars and presidents, have been depicted in the press.

The Next Web, Sept. 16
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Library Media Specialist Karin Greenberg writes: “For most of us in school libraries, this year’s back-to-school season is unsettling. My administrators have designated our high school library as a special education testing center, a place for overflow classroom students, and a computer distribution site. In order to fulfill social distancing requirements, they have no choice but to utilize the large spaces of libraries, gymnasiums, and cafeterias. But school librarians, whose roles are no longer clearly defined, are worried about their jobs. Because of this, we’re challenged to find innovative ways to reach students and staff members.”

Knowledge Quest, Sept. 21
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Open access publishing has made academic research more accessible, but it has also become more precarious to preserve. Nearly 200 open access journals vanished between 2000 and 2019, a new study published on arxiv found. Another 900 journals are in danger of meeting the same fate. The Internet Archive has created its own scholarly search platform, which includes more than 25 million research articles and other scholarly documents preserved on its servers.

Open Culture, Sept. 22
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Banned Books Week 2020 kicks off on September 27. Throughout the week, libraries, schools, bookstores, and organizations will be hosting events that spotlight the freedom to read—make sure to check out events happening around you. Here are also some virtual events from the American Library Association and its friends to add to your calendar.

ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, Sept. 25
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In 2018, the Howard County (Ind.) Master Gardeners Association held a public meeting to gauge interest in installing a butterfly garden at the south branch of Kokomo–Howard County Public Library. That idea planted two years ago became a reality earlier this month when the library officially opened the KHCPL Community Butterfly Garden. Today, the site is packed with more than 30 native plants such as black-eyed Susans, golden alexander, Shasta daisies, rattlesnake master, and Joe-Pye weed, which are all expertly arranged to create a kind of living fireworks display of color.

Jeffersonville (Ind.) News and Tribune, Sept. 25
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School library instruction coordinator Leeanne Ellis writes: “The moon landing is fake. The earth is flat. 5G radio waves cause COVID-19 and suppress the immune system. What do these claims have in common? They are conspiracy theories. They are a massive part of the misinformation landscape and only increasing in scope and sequence. Teaching conspiracies provides a natural framework for lessons on information and media literacy: the construction of arguments, bias, context/background information, authority, author’s intention, types of evidence, and logical fallacies.”

Knowledge Quest, Sept. 18
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Help support a diverse workforce in the next generation of academic librarians by mentoring an ALA Spectrum Scholar through the ACRL Dr. E. J. Josey Spectrum Scholar Mentor Program. This program links library school students and new librarians who are of American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Middle Eastern and North African, and/or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander descent with established academic librarians who provide mentoring. If you are interested in becoming a mentor for a Spectrum Scholar, complete the online application.

ACRL, Sept. 22

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