Library of Congress Archives | Page 2 of 3 | American Libraries Magazine

Subcommittee Calls for Library Funding Increases

By Kevin Maher | September 14, 2018

Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS): $2 million increase Title IV-Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act: $70 million increase National Library of Medicine: $13 million increase Career and technical education state grants: $70 million increase Adult education state grants: $25 million increase Head Start: $200 million increase Level funding was provided for … Continue reading Subcommittee Calls for Library Funding Increases →

The Power of Primary Sources

By Tom Bober | September 4, 2018

My 1st-grade students recently prepared for a trip to the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis by analyzing photographs and films of streetcars to better understand the part they played in our city. Inspired to share their learning, students wrote about streetcars and built their own with simple tools like paper, scissors, tape, and … Continue reading The Power of Primary Sources →

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero in conversation at the American Library Association (ALA) 2018 Annual Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans

The Librarian and the Archivist

By George M. Eberhart | June 24, 2018

The two immediately began playing a friendly game of one-upmanship. Hayden kidded Ferriero about the Library of Congress (LC) being older (established in 1800) than the National Archives (1934). Then Ferriero mock-complained that in 1935, then–Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam refused to relinquish LC’s copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to the … Continue reading The Librarian and the Archivist →

During the tour of the Library of Congress Culpeper facility, guests learn about nitrate film decomposition from Nitrate Film Vault Manager George Willeman (center). Photo: Steve Zalusky

Crowdsourcing Cinema

By Steve Zalusky | June 22, 2017

Nearly 200 people had gathered for a labor of love and a test of their research skills and knowledge of film history June 15–17 at the Library of Congress’s (LC) Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation in Culpeper, Virginia. The 45-acre campus is where LC acquires, preserves, and provides access to the world’s largest and most comprehensive … Continue reading Crowdsourcing Cinema →

Keep Copyright in the Library

By Sara R. Benson | May 1, 2017

The Copyright Office’s future has sparked debate and controversy, specifically regarding the best location for the office. As librarians, we must seize this opportunity to advocate in favor of keeping the office within the Library of Congress (LC) and not, as some lawmakers would have it, as an independent agency under their purview. The framers of … Continue reading Keep Copyright in the Library →

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden delivers the closing address at the Association of College and Research Libraries conference in Baltimore on March 25, 2017.

ACRL Closes with Carla Hayden

By Amy Carlton | March 27, 2017

Social justice and information literacy The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions has declared that information literacy is a human right. If it’s a human right, what does this look like in practice? That question fueled the Social Justice and Information project discussed in “What’s Social Justice Got to Do with Information Literacy?” a … Continue reading ACRL Closes with Carla Hayden →

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden welcomes 4-year-old Daliyah Marie Arana of Gainesville, Georgia to be "Librarian for the Day," January 10, 2017. Photo by Shawn Miller.

Newsmaker: Daliyah Marie Arana

By Alison Marcotte | January 17, 2017

“She had a lot of fun,” Haleema says. “She got to help check out books, and she helped the librarians with shelving. When we got back home that night, I said, ‘Why not see if I can get her in the biggest library in the world?’” Haleema wrote to the Library of Congress, which invited … Continue reading Newsmaker: Daliyah Marie Arana →

America’s Librarian

By Greg Landgraf | November 1, 2016

Hayden didn’t use any privileges of her new position to access Parks’s notes, however, because LC has digitized the collection and posted it online. “I pulled it up on my iPad,” she says. “To think that a kid in Baltimore who just experienced the unrest there could look at Parks’s handwritten thoughts about unrest, that … Continue reading America’s Librarian →

Rethinking the National Library

By Bernard F. Reilly Jr. | November 1, 2016

The end of the James H. Billington era has prompted an outpouring of advice from scholars and pundits on a new agenda for LC, from mass digitization of the library’s book collections and wholesale archiving of websites to relaxing copyright restrictions. Yet many of these prescriptions align poorly with the realities of the digital present … Continue reading Rethinking the National Library →

Screenshot from C-SPAN coverage of Carla Hayden's Senate Rules Committee confirmation hearing, April 20, 2016.

Hayden Nomination Clears Senate Rules Committee

By Amy Carlton | June 9, 2016

Hayden has been a prominent figure in many critical library issues through her career. She was elected president of the American Library Association (ALA) in 2002, shortly after the passage of the USA Patriot Act. During her year as president-elect and her 2003–2004 presidency, Hayden was a vocal opponent of the Patriot Act, and one of … Continue reading Hayden Nomination Clears Senate Rules Committee →

Inclusivity in Any Library

By Teneka Williams | May 31, 2016

As a librarian who works for Georgia Libraries for Accessible Statewide Services—part of the Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped cooperative network—I feel a sense of oneness with less-served communities. After seeing this video, I believe Starbucks has reminded us of an insight we need to better integrate into … Continue reading Inclusivity in Any Library →

At the ALA National Policy Convening, Alan S. Inouye (left) moderates a panel on "Future Directions for the Library of Congress," featuring Robert Darnton, Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor and university librarian emeritus of Harvard University; Sascha Meinrath, Palmer Chair in Telecommunications at Penn State University; and Katie Oyama, senior policy counsel of Google.

ALA’s National Policy Convening

By Charlie Wapner and Alan S. Inouye | April 19, 2016

The National Policy Convening brought together experts from across the beltway policy ecosystem to address some of the most pressing policy issues facing the library community. Programming consisted of three sessions: “Youth Engagement with Technology,” “Advancing Economic Opportunities in Communities,” and “Future Directions for the Library of Congress.” Youth engagement with technology Sen. Angus King … Continue reading ALA’s National Policy Convening →

Latest Library Links

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The American Library Association and Unite Against Book Bans will host a Rally for the Right to Read: Uniting for Libraries & Intellectual Freedom at the Chicago Hilton on Thursday, June 22, 2023. Part of the 2023 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition, the program will feature anti-censorship activists from around the nation, the 2023 recipients of ALA intellectual freedom awards and internationally renowned author and scholar Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. A conference badge or a receipt for conference registration must be presented for entry. Admission is free, and donations to the Unite Against Book Bans campaign are encouraged.

ALA, June 5
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Want to get away from the hustle of conference and into the bustle of American Libraries’ home city? Here you’ll find staff members’ favorite jaunts—from neighborhoods gems to tourist attractions—just a bus, train, or bike ride away. Chicago’s grid system makes it an easy place to explore in between sessions, signings, and celebrations. Options to enjoy art, architecture, sports, history, and even nature are readily available.

American Libraries feature, June
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Ross Johnson writes: “Thirty days hath Pride month, and even in a year that’s been particularly fraught from the perspective of LGBTQ+ rights, that means you should have plenty of time to watch a few movies when you’re not tossing bricks, getting harassed at a Target, or disassociating to the new Kylie Minogue single. Though queer onscreen representation has definitely increased in recent years, the movies remind us that queer people (and queer films) didn’t just arrive on the scene—they’ve been here since the beginning.”

Lifehacker, June 1
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Sammy Ekaran writes: “Getting the perfect 3D print is challenging, especially if the design is detailed. It is important to carefully adjust the 3D printer and the slicer settings to achieve the desired results. Making these adjustments manually is difficult until you use a test print like a 3D Benchy. This unique design can help you assess the capabilities of your machine, optimize the settings for your specific designs, and use the results to tweak your settings until you achieve the perfect results.”

MakeUseOf, June 4
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Monica Westin writes: “While the popular history of the internet valorizes Silicon Valley coders, many of the original concepts for search emerged from library scientists focused on the accessibility of documents in time and space. Their advances can be seen everywhere in the current online information landscape, from general approaches to ingesting and indexing full-text documents, to free-text searching and a sophisticated algorithm utilizing previous saved searches of others. These and many other approaches developed by campus pioneers are still used by the multibillion-dollar businesses of web search and commercial library databases today.”

Aeon, June 5
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The Freedom to Read Foundation filed an amicus curiae brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Leila Green Little, et al. v. Llano County, et al., a lawsuit challenging the Llano County government’s decision to remove a large number of books from the Llano County Library shelves because certain library users, county residents, and county officials complained that the books’ contents were objectionable. The plaintiffs argue that the removal of books from the library’s collection violates the plaintiffs’ First Amendment right to access those books in the library.

ALA, June 2
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Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada writes: “As I look back on our year together, I remain inspired and encouraged by our brave communities. Despite the obstacles we face, libraries remain valued, trusted institutions. I know this because libraries are constantly evolving places, and our workers stand up to the test of constant change, ensuring our communities have access to information, the freedom to read, and a love of lifelong learning, now and for years to come.”

American Libraries column, June

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