national library week Archives | American Libraries Magazine

Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn., left) reads to a group of children at Great River Regional Library in St. Cloud with LuAnne Chandler, patron services associate. Photo: Abby Faulkner

August Is Peak Season for Advocacy

By Kathi Kromer | August 3, 2018

Invite your representative to your library to see in person how your library is meeting the needs of your community. The value of your library’s services may be crystal clear to you and the families, students, researchers, and other patrons you serve, but your elected leaders may not understand the value of your services unless … Continue reading August Is Peak Season for Advocacy →

National Library Workers Day 2018

By Alison Marcotte | April 10, 2018

And every year since 2004, the American Library Association (ALA) has celebrated librarians, support staff, and others for their valuable contributions on National Library Workers Day (NLWD), which this year falls on Tuesday, April 10. The American Library Association–Allied Professional Association (ALA–APA) asked patrons throughout the US to nominate stellar library workers for their hard … Continue reading National Library Workers Day 2018 →

State of America’s Libraries 2018

April 9, 2018

During this time of rapid social change, libraries of all types are providing welcoming spaces to an increasingly diverse population; working with the community to offer social service support and health resources, career, and small business development assistance; and combating fake news by providing tools to assess and evaluate news sources. The function of libraries … Continue reading State of America’s Libraries 2018 →

Esti Brennan (left) teaches a class in the DCPL’s central branch lab space. Photo: DCPL

Making Space for Libraries on Capitol Hill during National Library Week

By Emily Wagner | April 6, 2018

To invite members of Congress and their staffers into the world of library makerspaces, the Washington Office is working with DC Public Library (DCPL) to bring its Fab Lab to Capitol Hill in an event hosted by Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.Mex.) on Wednesday, April 11. Luján is a participant of the Congressional Maker Caucus, … Continue reading Making Space for Libraries on Capitol Hill during National Library Week →

National Library Week promotional materials through the ages. Photos: ALA Archives

“Wake Up and Read” to “Libraries Lead”

By Greg Landgraf | March 1, 2018

The American Library Association (ALA) and the American Book Publishers Council formed the National Book Committee (NBC) in 1954 to fight these trends. One of their ideas: a National Library Week (NLW). The concept wasn’t new. As Larry T. Nix’s Library History Buff blog notes, at the 1922 ALA Annual Conference ALA’s Publicity Committee had … Continue reading “Wake Up and Read” to “Libraries Lead” →

Newsmaker: Misty Copeland

By Amy Carlton | February 1, 2018

Copeland is author of Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina (Simon and Schuster, 2014); Firebird (Putnam, 2014), with illustrator Christopher Myers, which won the 2015 Coretta Scott King Book Illustrator Award; and Ballerina Body: Dancing and Eating Your Way to a Leaner, Stronger, and More Grateful You (Grand Central Life and Style, 2017). She spoke with … Continue reading Newsmaker: Misty Copeland →

Julie Foudy during the United States Women's National Soccer Team/South Korea Women's National Football Team international friendly match. (Photo by Joe Faraoni / ESPN Images)

Newsmaker: Julie Foudy

By Phil Morehart | April 11, 2017

Where did the title Choose to Matter come from? It comes from a summer leadership academy we’ve been doing for 10-plus years, which is a combination of sports and leadership woven together for a weeklong residential camp. Our tagline is “Choose to Matter” with the kids, because our message is that leadership is personal, not … Continue reading Newsmaker: Julie Foudy →

State of America’s Libraries 2017

April 10, 2017

The term “fake news” is recent, but the skills needed to evaluate information are not. Librarians provide users with expertise and the training needed to evaluate the quality of information in all formats. The report shows that the library community continues to share best practices to help fuel efforts to combat disinformation. With the massive … Continue reading State of America’s Libraries 2017 →

Dewey Decibel Podcast: Celebrating Women’s History

March 31, 2017

Host Phil Morehart talks to Julie Foudy, former professional soccer player for the US women’s national team, ESPN analyst and reporter, and 2017 National Library Week Honorary Chair, about her book, Choose to Matter: Being Courageously and Fabulously You (Disney Publishing Worldwide, 2017). American Libraries associate editor Terra Dankowski sits down with Donna Seaman, editor of adult books at Booklist, to discuss … Continue reading Dewey Decibel Podcast: Celebrating Women’s History →

National Library Week

By Wayne A. Wiegand | April 13, 2016

By any measure, the event was a huge success: Some 68 million subscribers to 22 national magazines could read well-placed articles about libraries. A total of 170 million homes served by radio and TV could hear or view 14 network programs on libraries. Readers could glean 11,607 stories celebrating libraries running in newspapers at the … Continue reading National Library Week →

The State of America’s Libraries 2016

April 11, 2016

This and other library trends of the past year are detailed in the ALA’s The State of America’s Libraries 2016 report, released April 11 in recognition of National Library Week, April 10–16. The report shows that libraries of all types add value in five key areas: education, employment, entrepreneurship, empowerment, and engagement. Local and national … Continue reading The State of America’s Libraries 2016 →

National Library Workers Day

By Laurie D. Borman | April 14, 2015

To honor them, the American Library Association–Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) gathered testimonials about library workers from all 50 US states, the District of Columbia, and some international libraries, and posted them as a “Galaxy of Stars” on the National Library Workers Day page. Here are just a few of the people mentioned there: “Lori Dekydtspotter, from … Continue reading National Library Workers Day →

Latest Library Links

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Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, a bestselling children’s book featuring 100 stories of prominent women, was published in Russia this year—but with one story missing. The story about Coy Mathis, an 11-year-old transgender girl from the US who won a 2013 lawsuit against her school to allow her to use the girl’s bathroom, was omitted. The Russian publisher, Bombora, excised the story due to a 2013 ban on spreading “propaganda for non-traditional sexual relations” to minors. Under the current laws, publishers can either remove LGBT content from books aimed at children and teenagers, or mark them as appropriate for audiences over 18.

Thomson Reuters Foundation News, Nov. 6
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3D printing is the way of the future, and in some cases it can even save lives. Northern Arizona University uses the technology to help injured animals. When Daisy, a 75-pound tortoise, was left with two holes in her shell after being hit by a car, doctors at Canyon Pet Hospital teamed up with the Maker Lab at Cline Library to print implants for Daisy’s shell with its 3D printer. Kathleen Schmand, library director of development and communication, said she never imagined the lab being used for something like this, but now that it has and it’s been this successful, she knows they will be able to help other injured animals.

KSAZ-TV, Phoenix, Ariz., Nov. 12
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Roger C. Schonfeld writes: “The Digital Public Library of America last week laid off six members of its small staff. Over the weekend, DPLA Executive Director John Bracken, in a talk at the LITA Forum, provided an overview of DPLA’s vision, which appears to include a change in strategic direction. The organization now appears to be pivoting more towards ebook distribution systems. It is also clearly facing some difficulties right now. As is often the case with an organization in the process of a substantial redirection, there is too little information for outsiders to offer a conclusive interpretation of events.”

The Scholarly Kitchen, Nov. 13
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Meredith Farkas writes: “A core value of librarianship is open and equal access to the library for all members of our communities. User experience research has taught us that access means more than just letting anyone into our spaces; it requires creating spaces that make people feel like they belong. Another core value is intellectual freedom, and we have a long and proud history of supporting it in the face of censorship. But what if a perspective repudiates the dignity and worth of a group of our patrons? What if a hate group discusses that perspective in your library’s meeting room?”

American Libraries column, Nov./Dec.
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When a university cuts majors, programs, or even an entire school, what happens to its library? The obvious answer: Nothing good. As universities across the country trim offerings in hopes of addressing budget deficits, academic libraries must attempt to maintain services, even as it becomes more and more difficult to fulfill their missions. The University of Wisconsin–Superior, which has a reported budget deficit of $2.5 million, has suspended 40 programs, including the library science minor, since 2014. The library budget has seen large cuts as well.

American Libraries Trend, Nov./Dec.
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Doug Johnson writes: “A recent conversation about favorite books we owned as a kid led me to purchase copies of Alfred Hitchcock’s Haunted Houseful and Ghostly Gallery short story collections. I’m not quite sure when or why I stopped being a regular reader of short works of fiction. If memory serves, I enjoyed the assigned stories in my English classes as a student and I loved teaching the short story as an English teacher. Authors tend to be more careful when writing in the shorter form. Each word needs to count. Characters are concisely developed, scenery is selective, plots tend to stay on course. The work feels more crafted.”

The Blue Skunk Blog, Nov. 13
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David Lee King writes: “Okay, my boss isn’t really a robot. But as smart machines, artificial intelligence, and big data continue to grow and mature, it’s very possible that some performance-based jobs will be measured by a machine instead of a human. Hence—a robo-boss. I know, that sounds sorta weird. But guess what? Some people already have robot bosses. Here are some examples.”

David Lee King, Nov. 13

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