Mo Rocca

Newsmaker: Mo Rocca

July 24, 2019

In your podcast Mobituaries, you exhume little-known facts about both relatively unknown and iconic people and events. How do you go about picking a story that you’d like to pursue? I pursue stories about people and things that interest me. There are people who had obituaries the first time around when they actually died, but … Continue reading Newsmaker: Mo Rocca


George Takei

Newsmaker: George Takei

July 17, 2019

Why did you choose to tell your story as a graphic novel? It’s been my mission in life to tell the story of my childhood imprisonment and to raise awareness of that chapter of American history. There’s a new generation of young people, and we want to target them in the best way. I thought … Continue reading Newsmaker: George Takei


Paul Jones

Newsmaker: Paul Jones

July 16, 2019

Paul Jones, professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s (UNC) School of Information and Library Science, is one of a few who worked on the Lunar Library, a 30-million-page archive in the size and shape of a DVD. The archive—which includes the English-language Wikipedia among nearly 200 gigabytes of content with 1.5 billion … Continue reading Newsmaker: Paul Jones



Tomi Adeyemi

Newsmaker: Tomi Adeyemi

June 3, 2019

Adeyemi will be an Auditorium Speaker at the 2019 ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C., on June 24. American Libraries spoke with her about writing, her inspirations, and the importance of representation in media. From being a New York Times bestselling debut author to getting a movie deal, what has been the most … Continue reading Newsmaker: Tomi Adeyemi




Dav Pilkey (center) with his Dog Man and Captain Underpants characters

Newsmaker: Dav Pilkey

April 16, 2019

Pilkey struggled with dyslexia and ADHD as a child. But being encouraged by his mother to read whatever he liked—”it didn’t matter if it was a magazine, or a comic book, or a bunch of Snoopy cartoons, or the Guinness Book of World Records,” he says—changed his life. He started drawing his Captain Underpants character … Continue reading Newsmaker: Dav Pilkey


Melinda Gates (Photo: Jason Bell)

Newsmaker: Melinda Gates

March 1, 2019

Gates spoke with American Libraries at the 2019 American Library Association Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits—where it was revealed that she would serve as this year’s honorary chair of National Library Week. The Moment of Lift is about lifting up women and girls. What do you mean by lift, and why is it so important? I … Continue reading Newsmaker: Melinda Gates


Andrew Luck Photo: Indianapolis Colts

Newsmaker: Andrew Luck

November 1, 2018

Have you always been an avid reader? Do you have any fond book or library memories from childhood? I always have been an avid reader. It was encouraged in our household. I remember an 18-hour car ride to Colorado from Houston, and reading Lonesome Dove [by Larry McMurtry] for like 17-and-a-half of those 18 hours. … Continue reading Newsmaker: Andrew Luck


Sonia Sotomayor (Photo: Elena Seibert)

Newsmaker: Sonia Sotomayor

October 16, 2018

Now she’s brought those stories to younger readers with two new books: The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor (Delacorte Press, September), for middle graders; and the picture book Turning Pages: My Life Story (Philomel, September). American Libraries spoke with Justice Sotomayor while she traveled to an appearance at Chicago Public Library. I understand that you … Continue reading Newsmaker: Sonia Sotomayor


Author Eric Klinenberg (Photo: Lisa DeNeffe)

Newsmaker: Eric Klinenberg

October 11, 2018

Klinenberg spoke with American Libraries about his lifelong love of libraries and the inadvertent lessons learned from Amazon stores. Your book opens with a discussion of the 1995 Chicago heat wave, which killed more than 700 people in just a few days. Why did you decide to start there? Eric Klinenberg: It was the first … Continue reading Newsmaker: Eric Klinenberg